Restaurant royalty and SoBe style

For Miami restaurateurs, this is Showtime.

With dozens of top toques — Bobby Flay, Todd English, Daniel Boloud and Masaharu Morimoto among the list — in town for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the pressure is on everywhere, from Michy’s to the new Catch Miami. The goal: Show everyone from around the country that Miami’s food scene has arrived on the national stage.

Chef Michelle Bernstein’s staff whipped up dishes designed to impress guests at Michy’s — like foie gras, oxtail and apple tarte tatin — while she juggled menus for multiple events. Bernstein kept her cellphone handy to make sure any chef friends could get a table, even though her namesake restaurant was sold out.

As always, Joe’s Stone Crab was a must-do stop for many, including Paula Deen and New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. Aussie Chef Curtis Stone attracted a string of admirers as he ate his way around town, with stops at Prime 112, Pubbelly Sushi and Puerto Sagua. Khong River House and Yardbird Southern Table & Bar hosted Meyer, The Food Network’s Anne Burrell and Chef Anita Lo.

Michael’s Genuine was another hot spot.

“This is kind of our coming out party for Khong and it’s our chance to knock it out of the park and wow people,” said John Kunkel, owner of Khong and Yardbird.

Prime 112 owner Myles Chefetz admits he’s a fanatic about checking plates when they come back from a chef’s table. And he’s always on the lookout for the table ordering 20 different items, because that’s usually a restaurateur doing research.

“If you have Jean-Gorges or Bobby Flay eating at your restaurant, you want to make sure he has a great experience,” Chefetz said. “You want to put your best foot forward because you know you’re going to get scrutinized.”

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is not just a forum for impressing the culinary elite. It’s among the top three tourist draws for Miami restaurants and hotels. In its 12th year, the festival draws more than 60,000 people to Miami Beach for a weekend of decadence, featuring more than 50 events spread over four days.

It is neck and neck with two of the area’s other most prominent weekends: Art Basel and Presidents’ Day (which coincides with the Miami International Boat Show).

There’s the immediate economic impact, of course, but the festival has made its mark in other ways: helping transform Miami’s food scene from a cultural wasteland to one of the country’s hot spots, one where top chefs all want to set up shop.

“Twelve years ago I don’t know if you could even name five really good restaurants. Now, you can’t think of where you want to eat because there are so many good restaurants,” said Lee Brian Schrager, festival founder and vice president of communications for Southern Wine & Spirits, its host. “What the festival can take credit for is introducing the culinary world to the great talent down here, and really highlighting South Florida as a great dining destination.”

There has been plenty of indulgence to go around. Flay finally broke his losing streak and took home top honors at the Burger Bash with his award-winning crunchified green chili burger. At the Q, barbecue lovers had their choice of Al Roker’s lamb ribs with baked beans or Geoffrey Zakarian’s smoked tagarashi crusted tuna, among other offerings.

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The case of the phantom ballots: an electoral whodunit

The first phantom absentee ballot request hit the Miami-Dade elections website at 9:11 p.m. Saturday, July 7.

The next one came at 9:14. Then 9:17. 9:22. 9:24. 9:25.

Within 2½ weeks, 2,552 online requests arrived from voters who had not applied for absentee ballots. They streamed in much too quickly for real people to be filling them out. They originated from only a handful of Internet Protocol addresses. And they were not random.

It had all the appearances of a political dirty trick, a high-tech effort by an unknown hacker to sway three key Aug. 14 primary elections, a Miami Herald investigation has found.

The plot failed. The elections department’s software flagged the requests as suspicious. The ballots weren’t sent out.

But who was behind it? And next time, would a more skilled hacker be able to rig an election?

Six months and a grand-jury probe later, there still are few answers about the phantom requests, which targeted Democratic voters in a congressional district and Republican voters in two Florida House districts.

The foreman of that grand jury, whose report made public the existence of the phantom requests, said jurors were eager to learn if a candidate or political consultant had succeeded in manipulating the voting system. But they didn’t get any answers.

“We were like, ‘Why didn’t anyone do something about it?’ ” foreman Jeffrey Pankey said.

The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office could not find the hacker because most of his or her actions were masked by foreign IP addresses. But at least some of the ballot requests originated in Miami and could have been further traced, The Herald found.

Prosecutors did not obtain that information as part of their initial inquiry, due to a miscommunication with the elections department.

On Friday, a day after The Miami Herald brought the domestic IP addresses to its attention, the office of State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said it is reviewing them.

Under state election laws, only voters, their immediate family members or their legal guardians can submit absentee-ballot requests. Violations may be considered felony fraud.

The thwarted attempt targeted voters in three districts: Democrats in Congressional District 26, where four candidates — including a suspected ringer criminally charged Friday with federal elections violations — were vying to take on vulnerable Republican Rep. David Rivera; and Republicans in Florida House districts 103 and 112, two competitive seats.

Nine candidates were involved in the campaigns: Joe Garcia, Gustavo Marin, Gloria Romero Roses and Justin Lamar Sternad in District 26; Manny Diaz Jr., Renier Diaz de la Portilla and Alfredo Naredo-Acosta in District 103; and Gus Barreiro and Alex Diaz de la Portilla in District 112.

Garcia, Diaz and Alex Diaz de la Portilla won their primary races, all by comfortable margins. In the end, the phantom absentee ballots would not have changed the results.

But there was no way to know that at the time. And the ballots would have brought more voters into the light-turnout election. The phantom requests targeted infrequent voters who had not applied for absentees, most of whom wound up not voting in the primary at all.

Only candidates, political parties and committees have access during an election to lists updated daily showing which voters have already requested and returned absentee ballots.

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Creep teach keeps his job

A lovesick Brooklyn teacher who stalked, assaulted and threatened another teacher for refusing to date him can keep his city job, The Post has learned.

Salvatore Sparacino, 46, a gym teacher at It Takes a Village Academy HS in East Flatbush, vented his fury at a colleague when she spurned his romantic advances, according to testimony.

“I’ll show you, you f--king bitch. You’ll pay for this,” he yelled.

Despite finding that Sparacino had terrorized the woman both in and out of school, Joshua Javits, a hearing officer who decides cases against tenured teachers, barred the city Department of Education from firing him.

J.C. Rice

Salvatore Sparacino

Instead, Javits slapped the crazed coach with a transfer and a $20,000 fine.

The trouble started when Sparacino and the colleague “became friends” in the 2010-11 school year. They went out to lunch and dinner, but the woman told him she wasn’t interested in a physical relationship, she said.

Undeterred, Sparacino showered her with favors and gifts. He gave Regents study aids and tennis lessons to her teenage daughter. While helping the woman move books in her classroom, he tried to touch her hand, she said. She told him not to.

After Sparacino paid $800 for tickets to Cirque du Soleil, the woman refused to go. He then bombarded her with angry phone and text messages, one day calling 18 times, she testified.

“I was crazy for you,” one said. “I was the jackpot because I would have done anything for you.”

The colleague tossed his letters without opening them, including one containing the circus tickets. Sparacino barged into her classroom, screaming. “It’s the end. You think you can throw me away,” she testified.

Sparacino then chased her around the desks. When she tried to get him to leave, he shoved a door that struck and bruised her forehead. Shouting “F--k you” and waving his fists, he followed her outside, slammed his body against her car and blocked her from leaving.

He then tailed the woman home and parked next to her car, so she could not leave with her daughter, according to testimony.

“I will kill you, bitch. I’ll sue you,” she quoted him as saying.

She called 911. Sparacino was arrested for second-degree harassment but pleaded guilty to a non-criminal violation. Under the deal, he had to do three days of community service, take an anger-management class and obey an order of protection to stay away from the woman.

He denied ever harassing or hitting the colleague, claiming he only wanted his money back for the circus tickets.

Hearing officer Javits called that excuse “absurd,” citing Sparacino’s “romantic desires.”

But Javits took pity on Sparacino, refusing to allow his firing after 15 years on the job.

“His stalking conduct and harassing behavior, while completely unacceptable, do not automatically render him completely unfit to return to his teaching career,” Javits wrote.

Sparacino, who makes $82,100 a year, is now assigned to a pool of substitutes who go to different schools each week, the DOE said.

susan.edelman@nypost.com

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Ian Schrager joins forces with chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for new Edition Hotel

Two of the best-known names in their respective fields — hotelier Ian Schrager and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten — have teamed up for the Edition Hotel in Miami Beach, they told The Miami Herald Friday.

The partnership had not previously been officially announced, but the two were set to host a cocktail party Friday night at the site of the old Seville Beach hotel, 2901 Collins Ave.

On Friday at the sales pavilion for the Residences at the Miami Beach Edition, the duo chatted nonstop as they examined an elaborate model of the hotel and grounds.

“We just have a good time together,” Vongerichten said. “He’s excited, I’m excited.”

Vongerichten pointed out a lower-level area on the model building that he described as a grab-and-go food court with a deli, bakery, hot kitchen and raw bar. Schrager referred to it as an “updated Wolfie’s,” referring to the deli eight blocks south on Collins Avenue that closed in 2002.

“It’s not just for the people at the hotel, it’s for everybody,” said Schrager, whose launch of the Delano in 1995 helped bring new life to South Beach.

Plans at the Edition also call for a beach eatery and upscale-but-modern restaurant that Vongerichten said would be “chic and glamorous” and focused on local ingredients. He referred to that restaurant as the Matador Room, a nod to the hotel’s previous life.

Vongerichten said Schrager approached him about the project nearly six months ago; they have worked together since he opened the Pump Room restaurant at Schrager’s Public Chicago in late 2011.

Vongerichten is also behind the lauded J&G Grill at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, which opened in January 2012, but the Edition will be his first foray into Miami Beach.

“You always have to wait for the right project,” Vongerichten said.

A partnership between Schrager and Marriott International, the Edition brand includes one hotel in Istanbul. A site in London is set to debut in August, followed by Miami Beach in early 2014, possibly late in the first quarter. Other locations in New York and Bangkok are scheduled to come online in 2015.

Already years in the making, the Miami Beach project has been closely watched since Marriott bought the property in July 2010. Now, construction at the massive site is well underway, with cranes towering over the gutted existing buildings and a new tower. The finished product will include a hotel with about 250 rooms as well as 26 residences, nearly half of which are already sold. The property also features an ice skating rink, a bowling alley and historic outdoor details including a sundial and diving board.

“It’s a little bit like a bamboo shoot that sits there for 100 years, then all of a sudden it shoots up 50 feet in weeks,” Schrager said. “It’s coming to life.”

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Shots fired as Hialeah police attempt to stop a stolen vehicle, perimeter set up in search of suspects

A perimeter has been set up in Hialeah as police search for car thieves after shots were fired in an attempt to stop the vehicle.

According to Hialeah police Sergeant Eddie Rodriguez, shots were fired as police approached a stolen blue mini-van in an attempt to make a stop. The occupants then fled and crashed into an occupied vehicle around the corner at East 6th Avenue. and East 27th Street. before abandoning the van.

A perimeter has been set up from East Seventh Avenue. to East Fourth Avenue and from East 21st Street. to East 27th Street. as police search for the thieves.

Police have recovered a firearm from inside the stolen mini-van.

It is still unclear who fired the shots.

This story will be updated as more details become available.

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2013 Oscars Preview

Security is airtight at the Dolby Theater in the days leading up to Oscar Sunday, but ET has your ticket inside the heavily guarded streets of Hollywood as the Academy preps for the big day!

Our Brooke Anderson even snagged a moment aside with host Seth MacFarlane where the funnyman revealed that nine-time emcee Billy Crystal was kind enough to give the newbie a few pointers. Despite the pep talk, MacFarlane fears Crystal's words won't be enough.

Pics: The 15 Best Oscar Dresses of All Time

"He gave me a lot of really, really useful pointers that will still not save me," the host said with a chuckle.

Not only will ET be front and center for all the red carpet action come Sunday, we are the only entertainment television crew allowed inside the prestigious Vanity Fair after party!

Related: 'Les Mis' Director Addresses Oscar Musical Number

Stay tuned to ETonline for complete Oscar night coverage when the 85th Annual Academy Awards hosted by Seth MacFarlane airs live on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

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Pickup truck horror in Brooklyn: pedestrian crushed on cookie run

 

William C Lopez/New York Post

Scene of the deadly accident in Brooklyn tonight.

A Brooklyn woman was crushed to death by an out-of-control pickup tonight just seconds after she left a Brooklyn Heights cafe with a bag of cookies, cops and witnesses said.

Martha Atwater, 48, had just paid for five horseshoe-shaped cookies and exited Bagel Cafe when the driver of a black Honda Ridgeline jumped the curb and pinned her against the Clinton Street building at about 5:40 p.m., cops said.

“She just came in to buy cookies. She looked happy, she was smiling,” said cafe manager Alauddin Shipun.

“She walked out. I heard a big bang and she was gone. Someone was trying to lift her head up and asking her, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?”

The 53-year-old driver may have lost consciousness because of his diabetes, a police source said.

He remained at the scene and has not been charged.

Atwater was pronounced dead at Long Island College Hospital.Her husband identified her there, a police source said.

Atwater graduated from Princeton University, had been an executive at education company Scholastic, and was on the board of the Brooklyn Heights Association.

“She was very active in the community,” said a neighbor near Atwater’s Remsen Street home.

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National Hotel nears end of long renovation

A panel of frosted glass puts everything in perspective for Delphine Dray as she oversees a years-long, multi-million dollar renovation project at the National Hotel on Miami Beach.

“Chez Claude and Simone,” says the piece of glass stationed between the lobby and restaurant, a reference to Dray’s parents, who bought the hotel in 2007.

“Every time I am exhausted and I pass that glass, I remember why,” said Delphine Dray, who joined her father — a billionaire hotel developer and well-known art collector in France — to restore the hotel after the purchase.

After working with him for years, she is finishing the project alone. Claude Dray, 76, was killed in his Paris home in October of 2011, a shooting that remains under investigation.

In a recent interview and tour of the hotel’s renovations, which are nearly finished, Dray did not discuss her father’s death, which drew extensive media coverage in Europe. But she spoke about the evolution of the father-daughter working relationship, the family’s Art Deco obsession and the inspiration for the hotel’s new old-fashioned touches.

The National is hosting a cocktail party Friday night to give attendees a peek at the progress.

Dray grew up in a home surrounded by Art Deco detail; her parents constantly brought home finds from the flea market. By 2006, they had amassed a fortune in art and furniture, which they sold for $75 million at a Paris auction in 2006.

That sale funded the purchase of the National Hotel at 1677 Collins Ave., which the Drays discovered during a visit to Miami Beach.

After having lunch at the Delano next door, Dray said, “My dad came inside the hotel and fell in love.” The owner was not interested in selling, but Claude Dray persisted, closing the deal in early 2007. Her family also owns the Hôtel de Paris in Saint-Tropez, which reopened Thursday after a complete overhaul overseen by Dray’s mother and older sister.

Delphine Dray said she thought it would be exciting to work on the 1939 hotel with her father, so she moved with her family to South Florida. She quickly discovered challenges, including stringent historic preservation rules and frequent disagreements with her father.

“We did not have at all the same vision,” she said.

For example, she said: “I was preparing mojitos for the Winter Music Conference.” Her father, on the other hand, famously once unplugged a speaker during a party at the hotel because the loud music was disturbing his work.

“We were fighting because that is the way it is supposed to be,” she said. “Now, I understand that he was totally right.”

She described a vision, now her own, of a classic, cozy property that brings guests back to the 1940s.

Joined by her 10-year-old twin girls, Pearl and Swan, and 13-year-old son Chad, Dray pointed out a new telephone meant to look antique mounted on the wall near the elevators on a guest floor. She showed off the entertainment units she designed to resemble furniture that her parents collected. And she highlighted Art Deco flourishes around doorknobs and handles.

“It’s very important for us to have the details,” she said.

With those priorities in mind, she is overseeing the final phase of the renovation, an investment that general manager Jacques Roy said will top $10 million. In addition to the small details, the renovation includes heavier, less obvious work: new drywall in guest rooms, for example, and new windows to replace leaky ones.

Painting of the building’s exterior should be finished in the next two to three weeks, Roy said. Dray compared its earlier unfinished state to resembling “a horror movie — the family Addams.”

And the final couple of guest room floors, as well as the restoration of the original Martini Room, should be done by the end of April.

“At the end, I will be very proud,” Dray said.

The National’s renovation wraps up as nearby properties such as the SLS Hotel South Beach and Gale South Beach & Regent Hotel have been given new life. Jeff Lehman, general manager of The Betsy Hotel and chair of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, said the National has always been true to its roots. He managed the hotel for 10 years, including for a few months after Dray bought the property.

“I think historic preservation and the restoration of the hotels as they were built 70, 80 years ago is such a huge piece of our DNA,” he said. “It’s a lot of what sets us apart from any other destination on the planet.”

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Gas leak in Lauderdale-by-the Sea causes evacuation near A1A

More than 25 residents along a section of A1A have been evacuated due to a propane natural gas tank leak in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

A town spokesman said the leak is from an old, abandoned underground tank that began leaking Thursday, sending a smell of gas into the Palm Bay Club development at 5555 N. Ocean Blvd.

“The abandoned tank was supposed to have been emptied, but it wasn’t, now it’s rusted and it’s leaking,” said spokesman Steve d’Oliveira.

It’s unknown how long it will take for the repair to be completed and residents near the tank allowed to return home.

Traffic along that stretch of A1A is being rerouted to Federal Highway.

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2013 Oscar Preps

The Academy Awards are just three days away, and we're behind the scenes with celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck and other taste makers to see just how the pros are preparing for Hollywood's biggest night, from the delicious food to the Green Room "oasis," décor and more. Roll out the Oscar red carpet!

Pics: 2013 Oscar Presenters

CLICK HERE to see this year's Official Governors Ball Menu.

In addition to Sunday's Oscar preps, lots of people are talking about their Oscar faves on social media. According to Facebook, mentions of "Oscars" are more than three times higher than last year. Could that be because Seth MacFarlane is hosting this year, appealing to a younger demographic? Or perhaps the Best Picture nominees category is more interesting this year, as Facebook says that talk related to those movies is 20 times higher than last year.

In terms of fan base, Les Misérables is tops with 1.2 million "likes," while Django Unchained has 723 thousand likes and Life of Pi places third with 531 thousand likes. When it comes to general chatter, however, Django is getting the most mentions on Facebook even though Les Mis is the most-liked, and Argo and Lincoln are also much talked-about Oscar movies.

Video: Tops & Flops: The Best & Worst of the Oscars

Stay tuned to ET for complete coverage of the 85th Annual Academy Awards, held this Sunday, February 24 in Hollywood, live on ABC.

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