Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: Duff Goldman, Decadent Desserts, and a Dash of Nostalgia at SOBE Fest.

February 22nd, 2025

The Miami Beach Bandshell was the perfect, intimate location for Duff Goldman‘s singular event. From 9-9:30pm, before Duff took the stage, attendees strolled around sampling drinks and some wonderfully decadent desserts.

Some of the late-night bites were an absolute mastery of blending multi-layered flavors and textures at a high-end level. The best was created by Culinary Director Mercedes Kozlowski from Prime One Twelve (who even saved Duff Goldman with her paring knife as he was having difficulty peeling apples). Her dessert was a coconut custard mixed with a purple Ube purée, complemented by a mango sauce, whipped cream, and an Ube crunch reminiscent of a graham cracker crumble. It was truly next level, as is everything you find at Prime One Twelve.

Mercedes Kozlowski at Dessert Party with Duff Goldman

A close second was literally art on a plate. It was called Sunset Passion and was made by Angelica Lenox from Sweet Guilt. This creation featured a coconut cake infused with passion fruit reduction and St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, then topped with a tiny, perfect gold macaron.

Other notable treats included the Scotch Tiramisu Cake by Cakeology, served in a small jar, the (so good it should be outlawed) Mini Churrocone filled with Dulce de Leche Ice Cream, and Cry Baby Creamery’s S’more Baked Alaska which featured a Graham Cracker sponge cake, milk chocolate ice cream, and a torched meringue on top.

The next two hours were all about Duff Goldman and his ‘One Man Show.’ He spent the time making his Grandma Esther’s (or Mamo’s, as he called her) secret Apple Strudel recipe, while sharing stories of his life and culinary journey. Celebrity Chef Duff Goldman is one of the most beloved personalities on the Food Network. His down-to-earth, humble nature really draws you in like a friend.

It was this stylistic nature (or lack thereof) that set him apart from other one-man shows I had seen before with Alton Brown and Guy Fieri. Duff Goldman just walked onto the amphitheater stage, casually donning a pair of camo shorts and a Lego t-shirt. Even with so many television shows under his belt, like Ace of Cakes, Charm City Cakes, Kids Baking Championship, and Buddy vs Duff, stardom never went to his head like other celebrity chefs. He is just a simple Jewish man who plays bass guitar and loves to bake.

Tonight, he was making his Grandma Esther’s secret Apple Strudel. He went through the process of peeling and cooking down apples, stretching the dough as thin as humanly possible, and adding a little bit of this and that to the mix. This could have been epically boring, but Duff kept the audience entertained through hilarious stories of his life and his Mamo Esther’s.

He recounted a story of how Esther once owned a successful hat shop and opened a second hat shop right across the street from the first one. If a person came into the store and said the hat was too expensive, Esther would tell them to go to the other hat store across the street.

Duff Goldman shared many stories about himself as well. One in particular was about a low-production cooking show that had him strip down to just wearing a mask and a cup as the small audience threw eggs at him. Duff then went through a string of failed cake baking competitions, but the camera loved him, and he built up an extremely talented bunch of artists who were now making cakes.

The Food Network hired Duff Goldman and his crew for the show Ace of Cakes, and the rest was history. Duff told us of one proud record he achieved from the network: he was the first person to ever get bleeped on one of their shows. Duff mentioned that whenever he misbehaved, fellow Food Network judge Nancy Fuller would tell on him, as she was actually a good friend of Duff’s mother.

with Antonia Lofaso at Dessert Party with Duff Goldman

Nancy was there for Duff Goldman’s One Man Show, as was a host of other celebrity chefs to support him and hang out. Some of them included Alex Guarnaschelli, Antonia Lofaso, Aarti Sequeira, Jet Tila and Amanda Freitag. They all stayed until the end and, of course, left with some of his Apple Strudel.

with Alex Guarnaschelli at Dessert Party with Duff Goldman

The event was casually fun, intimate and a great send-off to Saturday night. Sobe Fest is loaded with expensive, formal, packed events, so Duff Goldman’s event was the perfectly placed balance to all of that.

with Aarti Sequeira at Dessert Party with Duff Goldman