Lee Brian Schrager is an American businessman and the senior vice president of communications and corporate social responsibility for the Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirit of America.[1] Schrager is known for his work with the Food Network South Beach and New York City Wine and Food Festivals.[2][3][4]

Early life

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Schrager was born to Ken and Marlene Schrager and grew up in Massapequa, New York. He is the second in a family of three children with one younger and one older brother. [1]

Education

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Schrager graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in the 1980s.

Career

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Schrager started an externship at Glorious Food, a catering company.[1] In 1987, he started a gay bar named Torpedo in South Beach[4] before becoming the catering director at Bahia Mar.[1] He then worked for InterContinental Hotels Group across the US for 17 years where he started as a room service manager.[5] Later, Schrager became IHG's vice president of food and beverage.[5] Schrager was hired by Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirit in 2000 to improve a wine testing event to raise funds for the FIU School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.[4] The wine testing event eventually became the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.[3]

Festivals

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South Beach Wine & Food Festival

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Renamed from the Florida Extravaganza in 2002 by Schrager, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival was originally a one day wine tasting dinner held to raise funds for the FIU School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.[3][4] The event takes place in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and lasts five days with more than 60,000 attendees.[6] The festival is sponsored by Food Network.[3][4]

New York City Wine & Food Festival

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The New York City Wine & Food Festival was created in 2008 after the success of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. It follows the same model and supports[7] non-profit organizations like No Kid Hungry and Food Bank For New York City.[7]

Personal life

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Schrager's husband is Ricardo Restrepo, a Pediatric Radiologist.

Books

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  • America's Best Breakfasts: Favorite Local Recipes from Coast to Coast (with Adeena Sussman)[8][9][10]
  • Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook: Recipes and Behind-the-scenes Stories from America's Hottest Chefs (with Julie Mautner)[11][12]
  • Fried & True: More than 50 Recipes for America's Best Fried Chicken and Sides (with Adeena Sussman, foreword by Whoopi Goldberg)[13][14][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mayo, Michael. "Meet Lee Brian Schrager, the food-fest impresario with humble Broward roots". southflorida.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  2. ^ Schrager, Lee. Fried & true : more than 50 recipes for America's best fried chicken and sides. ISBN 1306954649. OCLC 883892805.
  3. ^ a b c d "About the Festival". Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Salkin, Allen (11 June 2008). "The Food Festival Booker, Catering to Star Chefs". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  5. ^ a b "Food Informants: A Week In The Life Of Lee Schrager, Founder Of The New York Wine & Food Festival". Huffington Post. 2012-10-24. Archived from the original on 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  6. ^ "Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri Hit up South Beach Wine & Food Fest". USNews. Archived from the original on 2018-10-09.
  7. ^ a b "New York City Wine & Food Festival Founder Lee Schrager On The Future Of Eating". Fast Company. 2015-10-14. Archived from the original on 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  8. ^ Gardner, Ralph Jr. (2016-04-19). "How to Order Breakfast and Not Be Disappointed". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  9. ^ Lade, Diane C. "Breakfast? New book by SoBe food festival creator shows it's more than bacon and eggs". Sun-Sentinel.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  10. ^ "Read this cookbook: 'America's Best Breakfasts: Favorite Local Recipes From Coast to Coast'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  11. ^ Klein, Lee (2010-11-16). "Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  12. ^ Calta, Marialisa (2011-02-15). "New cookbook offers the best of South Beach's annual food fest". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  13. ^ Citara, Bill (2014-03-26). "Lee Schrager's Fried & True Is an Ode to Fried Chicken". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  14. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Fried & True: 50 Recipes for America's Best Fried Chicken and Sides by Lee Brian Schrager". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  15. ^ Calta, Marialisa. "Fried chicken made easy". Hanford Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.