The mayor of South Beach: Guy Fieri turns food festival into Flavortown for a night

Guy Fieri knows how to make an entrance.

A cigar clenched between his teeth, slugging from a bottle of his Santo tequila and dripping in man jewelry, the celebrity chef arrived to cheers at his second “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival on the beach by the Ritz-Carlton Miami Beach Hotel.

Posing in front of a makeshift red carpet off the main stage, Fieri was in a terrific mood, gregarious as always. As he is wont to do at his signature events, the 55-year-old poured shots for photographers, posed for multiple selfies and threw out T-shirts to the crowd.

“Welcome to Triple D!” Fieri shouted, an acronym for the SOBEWFF extravaganza, taken from the name of his mega popular Food Network show.

Multiple restaurants featured throughout the years on “DDD” set up camp on the sand, including Georgia’s Marietta Diner (seafood paella with chicken tenders!); Grinder’s from Kansas City (tandoori pizza, yasss); and Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken from Memphis, which was tops with guests thanks to some seriously delish wings and country biscuits, aka “Sweet Spicy Love.”

Fieri presided over the evening, later presenting Uncle Lou’s owner, his “brother from another mother,” Lou Martin, a ceremonial check for $5,000 as People’s Choice Award winner.

Martin first appeared on an episode of the beloved program back in 2008, and he said Friday that the down-to-earth cook with the shock of white, spiky hair is the main reason for his success.

“He’s the man!” said Martin, doling out plate after plate of his sublime but simple Southern comfort food.

Fieri is the man. Our man, actually, and proud of it.

Though the small screen fave is a California boy at heart, the Sunshine State has really grown on him this past year.

“This is it for me!” said the so-called Mayor of Flavortown who bought a $4 million lakefront mansion in Palm Beach County last year. “I love it!”

Seems his kids are fans as well. Older son Hunter Fieri, 26, helped out dad on Friday, then ran the DDD After Dark afterparty.

Younger son Ryder, 17, is also in the running to be yet another famous resident: The teen recently took a tour of University of Miami, dad proudly tells Miami.com exclusively.

“There’s so much about Florida, and it’s not just the awesome weather,” Fieri says. “It’s the good people, it’s the small mom and pop places, and their love of country. It’s the water, I’m a huge water guy. I’m here to stay, you can count on that.”