Adrienne Williams, Chris Bosh, and Gabrielle Anwar

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore 

So here it is- part two of the great, the better and the even better of Art Basel, the one week love-fest that celebrates the social side of art.  And what better side is there, after all? 

Interview and Ferrari Party 

Interview magazine’s Peter M. Brant and Sotheby’s Tobias Meyer, took over the cutting edge parking garage at 1111 Lincoln Road, bathing it in red light, in honor of Ferrari’s Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, for one of the hottest parties of Basel week on Tuesday, November 29.  Ferrari filled 6 floors of the garage, with rare vintage and concept cars, including the new Ferrari 458 Spider which was unveiled at the party, as was the 3D film by Marco Brambilia, RPM.

Hundreds of A-listers, from around the globe donned Ferrari-red Pashminas which they received upon arrival to the party for protection against the chilly weather.  Le Basque catering provided signature bites while guests admired the cars and danced to music spun by Solange Knowles. Late in the evening, R&B star Janelle Monae, wearing her signature tuxedo and bouffant hair-do, gave a surprise performance onstage with her band. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Maryanne Salvat 

Help Michael Capponi Gather Clothing and Toys for Haiti

 This holiday season, the Haiti Empowerment Mission will host the annual Christmas in Haiti toy/clothing drive on Thursday, December 15, at the W South Beach: WET between 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Donations will be accepted at the door and also at 228 5th Street. All of the proceeds will benefit the school children of Camp Jacmel, Haiti. The children anxiously wait for this special day that comes once a year. With your help, the Haiti Empowerment Mission will be able to provide the following: 

*Clothing/Shoes: Clothing, underwear, sandals and socks

*Toys: should not be expensive | quantity is valued more than quality

Dolls, doll accessories, Barbie (African American), jump ropes, soccer balls, basketballs, Match Box cars, whistles, Play-Doh, play career kit and holiday gifts: candy canes and stockings;

*Books: all books must be in written in Creole

Dictionary: French/ English, coloring books and crayons 

Once the donations have been collected, they will be evenly distributed on grounds in Haiti on Wednesday, December 21.

ISA boutique and MOSA Medspa’s Shopping Event  

ISA boutique along with MOSA Medspa’s Jennifer Almeida is hosting a holiday shopping party on Tuesday, December 20, from 6:00 to 9:00p.m., along with a toy drive. Enjoy complimentary cocktails, tons of new arrivals, a jewelry trunk show by Rita & Zia, art by Mijares Art, music by DJ Willie and dry-styling by Midtown’s Blo – Blow Dry Bar. Raffle prizes will also be given out throughout the night courtesy of MOSA Medspa. Guests can also indulge in Ms. Cheezious food truck which will be on-site as well. Attendees, who bring an unwrapped toy, will receive a $25 gift certificate to the boutique through December 22. For more information on the event call 786.558.8027.

The Pig is Roasting on Wednesdays at De Rodriguez Cuba on Ocean

Starting this Wednesday and every Wednesday on, Chef Douglas Rodriguez will host a live roast – of a pig that is. Each hump day the celebrated chef will roast a big, fat, pig starting at 5:00 p.m. for free until it’s gone. Yes, the juicy roasted pig is complimentary to guests while Chef Douglas’ tapas will be $5.00 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.and hand-muddled mojitos will go for just $5.00 all night long. Miami Beach’s favorite beat master, DJ Jean-Marc from Hakkasan will be spinning from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. to help you dance your way into the second half of the week. For more information on the pig roast, call 305.672.6624.

Loro Piana shopping event at Village of Merrick Park
Penn Medicine is at it again! Fresh off the heels of a mega-successful fundraising event with Russell Simmons and Loro Piana, the non-profit is pairing up with Loro Piana again for a holiday party on Wednesday, December 21 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Loro Piana Village of Merrick Park store (342 San Lorenzo Avenue, #1045, Coral Gables). Joining in the fun are Stefanie Block Reed and Evan Reed, Diane N. Weiss, Stacey Shoer, Allison Weiss Brady and Chip Brady, Constantino & Briana Gutierrez, Amy Rosenberg, and Faquiry Diaz Cala and Amelia Balonek where the retailer will donate a percentage of sales to Penn Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Space is limited. Contact WeissPR@aol.com for more information. 

Ricochet Presents: Gilbert Gottfried and Ed Kowalczyk

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, one of the most recognizable voiceover talents known from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and Iago from Disney’s Aladdin, will be performing live stand-up comedy at Ricochet Bar & Lounge on Monday, December 26. For just $25 at Midtown Miami’s newest culture-centric bar and lounge, guests can laugh the night away to the comedian’s jokes and stories while sipping on Ricochet’s signature drinks. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. with Gottfried going live at 10:00 p.m. Ricochet is auditioning local comedians for Gottfried’s opening act – “Like” Ricochet’s Facebook page and submit a video under 2 minutes long to enter for your chance to win! To purchase tickets visit: http://ricochet.tunestub.com/show.cfm?id=71024&cart.

Starting off the New Year, Ed Kowalczyk, the lead-singer and songwriter of the band LIVE, will be performing an intimate, acoustic set at Ricochet Bar & Lounge on Sunday, January 1^st. With the live show beginning at 11:00 p.m., guests can attend the show for $25 and enjoy hits such as “I Alone,” “Lightning Crashes,” “Selling The Drama” and more. Gather all your friends and family this New Year’s Day as doors open at 8:00 p.m. to jam out to the widely-popular Ed Kowalczyk. To purchase tickets visit: http://ricochet.tunestub.com/show.cfm?id=71023&cart. 

New Year’s Eve at the W Hotel South Beach 

WET at W South Beach is proud to present its “Jacked 2012” New Year’s Eve celebration. The poolside party will feature sounds by Grammy Award-winning music producer AFROJACK, along with Bobby Burns and more talent to be announced soon. Guests will welcome 2012 in decadent fashion as the hotel’s outdoor oasis is transformed into a fully functioning nightclub, featuring lounge seating atop a glass-covered pool deck, oversized LED screens and laser lighting.

Beginning at 9 p.m., DJs Bobby Burns and additional talent from AFROJACK’s WALL RECORDS LABEL will start the final countdown to the new year with their progressive-house and electro beats. After the clock strikes 12, the highly touted AFROJACK – listed at the No. 7 spot of DJ Mag’s “Top 100 DJs of 2011” – will take the stage. The ever popular ‘Take Over Control’ DJ opened the year by remixing Ian Carey and Snoop Dogg’s single ‘Last Night’ to great acclaim, before being featured on Pitbull’s No. 1 hit-single ‘Give Me Everything,’ and will be sure to keep the masses dancing at WET through 2 a.m.

Individual tickets to WET ($300) and VIP table reservations ($3,500-$25,000) will be available for purchase beginning November 21, 2011, and include premium open bar (9 p.m. to midnight) as well as a champagne toast.

For individual ticket purchase and VIP table reservations, visit www.nyewsouthbeach.com. 

WALL at W South Beach is proud to announce its New Year’s Eve 2012 celebration, which will feature beats by Alesso, the protégé to Swedish House Mafia’s Sebastian Ingrosso, who exploded onto the international DJ scene one year ago.

New York City native Orazio Rispo will kick off the fete and wind down the final moments of 2011 with an electric mix of house beats. He will be followed by Alesso, the 20-year-old rising star that has become known for his original productions, remixes and fresh style of DJing. He has already played at some of the world’s biggest dance events this year – including Creamfields, Tomorrowlands, Electric Daisy and alongside Swedish House Mafia in Pacha, Ibiza – so it is only fitting that he end the year off at the decadent celebrity hotspot. Revelers will groove into the early hours with tracks such as ‘Calling,’ his most recent collaboration with Ingrosso, which reached the No. 2 spot on the electronic music community’s revered Beatport.com immediately upon release.

Individual tickets ($700) and VIP table reservations ($3,500-$25,000) will be available for purchase beginning November 21, 2011, and include premium open bar (9 p.m. to midnight) as well as a champagne toast.

For individual ticket purchase and VIP table reservations, visit www.nyewsouthbeach.com.

Last Saturday night, Rory Dougherty, owner of Vice Lounge hosted a private dinner at Soiree, the restaurant within the nightclub, for his son, Grant Dougherty, HBO talk show host Katie Morgan joined the Doughertys in the celebration.

Oakley and famed NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya teamed up on Saturday to inaugurate the opening of the new Oakley store in Pembroke Pines. The 2007 Rookie of the Year was in attendance to celebrate the new store and meet fans and sign posters.

Rapper Fat Joe was spotted at STK Miami this past Sunday with a pretty female companion, sharing new chef Aaron Taylor’s Surf & Turf for two with Truffles and sipping pinot noir. The duo was overheard discussing the critical state of Haiti.  No word on his plans for a relief concert. Separately in town over the weekend and seen at STK was fellow rapper Lil Jon.  

Lenny Kravitz was on-hand on Monday night at Paramount Bay to share the first series of details about the soon-to-open condominium, which Kravitz plans to make his home in 2012.

Tony Goldman, Janet Goldman, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Jessica Goldman and Bret Ratner

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones made the rounds all over Art Basel.  We first ran into them at the MOCA LA dinner hosted by Jeffrey Deitch at the Raleigh on Wednesday night, where they shared an intimate table with Pat Riley.  We actually got to speak to Douglas at the Pulse art fair VIP brunch on Thursday, where he graciously agreed to have a photo taken with us and called us “cute” (we’ll take it!) as Catherine, dressed head-to-toe in tan, hair pulled back, perused the art.  Douglas and Zeta-Jones joined Brett Ratner later that afternoon for a personal tour of Wynwood Walls, the outdoor street art park featuring over 40 of the world’s best urban artists. 

On Thursday evening the couple attended Aby Rosen’s dinner at The Dutch and we ran into them again at WALL for the party hosted by Alex Dellal, Stavros Niarchos and Vito Schnabel.

My “wonder-twin” Maryanne Salvat and I had the pleasure of conversing with the one and only Cynthia Rowley (who insists we should have our own show!) that was until her hubby Bill Powers (Bravo’s Work of Art Judge) insisted they take their seats for an exclusive dinner at Cecconi’s on Thursday night.  The event was action packed and filled with the art world’s most sociable crowd including Daphne Guinness donning a fabulous top hat, Michaela de Pury and Simon de Pury, Ivana Trump, Damien Hirst, Dori Cooperman, Marsha Markova, Inga Rubenstein, Angela Missoni, Michael Shvo, Rory Tahari, Angela Ismailos, Kim Heirston,Nadja Swarovski, Hilary Weston to name a few, who enjoyed a performance by the  Miami Dolphins cheerleaders.

A party on board My Yacht^™ Miami with Marquis Vodka on Friday December 2, had guests that included the President of Rolls-Royce North America David Archibald, baseball legend Sammy Sosa, and actor Christian Slater.  The guests on the yacht enjoyed custom cocktails late into the night.
Also on Friday, Rico Love co-hosted a birthday party with Usher, at Vic & Angelos which was attended by Mary J. Blige, Deborah Cox, Chris Bosh and Clinton Sparks.  Usher presented Love with one of his Grammy awards as a gift.

On Saturday, Chris Bosh hosted Graffiti Gone Global’s “The Art of Basketball” event with DJ Irie on the turntables.  Dwayne Wade, Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilgauskas joined teammate Bosh, a supporter of the arts, in accepting a portrait by Billi Kid and a $15,000 donation for his charity, Team Tomorrow, from Premier Beverage CEO Bob Drinon.  An elegant Gabrielle Union accompanied D-Wade to the artful happening, which included cocktails by Bar Lab and fare by Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill.

Art Basel attracted a slew of artists and collectors, but the celebs in town caught the attention at the fabulous parties thrown through the satellite art fairs. Notables included:, Pharrell Williams, Will Smith, P. Diddy, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Adrien Brody, China Chow, Naomi Campbell, Brett Ratner, Stefano Tonchi, Stephanie Seymour, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Andre Balazs, Paul Wilmot, Solange Knowles, Sean Penn, Gina Gershon, Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, Macy Gray, La La Vazquez, Robin Thicke, Luke Wilson, Jane Seymour, Lance Bass, Cee-Lo Green, Nas, Tilda Swinton, Derek Blasberg, and Moby.

Prior to the official start of Basel, the Soho Beach House hosted a members-only interview by Jeffrey Deitch of Pharrell Williams, during which Williams demonstrated his passion for visual art in addition to music.  We hear that Will Smith was also in attendance but didn’t see him.  We also spotted Williams having lunch at the Club Bar on Friday afternoon and he was seen at The Rooftop at Gansevoort Miami Beach this past weekend, in preparation for a Whitewall magazine interview that will feature him in an upcoming issue.

World renowned sculpture artist Moses Nyanhongo, from Zimbabwe hosted live sculpture Art Basel events at both STK and at the Breakwater Hotel last week.

Pharrell Williams and Seth Browarnik

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore 

Art of Night 

We’ve said it time and time again:  navigating the nightlife on South Beach and surviving to tell about it, particularly during a party marathon week such as Art Basel is an art form.  Documenting it for posterity- is for the masters.  Speaking of such, no one shines a light on the art of the social scene like celebrity lens man, Seth Browarnik, whose aptly named, Art of Night exhibit (his first ever) drew the who’s who of the local, national and international social sets to the newly remodeled Shelborne South Beach on Wednesday, November 30.  The evening started with an intimate VIP dinner hosted by media mogul Jason Binn and his wife Haley at Vesper American Brasserie, sponsored by Dom Perignon.   Read the rest of this entry »

Dolphins Cheerleaders, CEO Mike Dee, Christina Mandich , Joe Rose, Nat Moore, Michael Mandich, Kim Bokamper, Donna Shalala and Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt

Over 860 cyclists, including over 160 children and 21 cancer survivors, took part in the 2^nd Annual Dolphins Cycling Challenge (DCC) on November 5^th and 6^th. The goal of raising $1 million for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer is in sight with three weeks remaining before fundraising closes in December.

This major community initiative benefits the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. One-hundred-percent of the rider-generated fundraising goes directly to cancer research and patient support services. The two-day event featured six different bicycle rides from 30 to 170 miles that went through 37 cities in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Last year’s inaugural ride had 311 adult riders, 100 kids and raised $533,000. Donations will be accepted through December. Anyone can donate by visiting www.RideDCC.com.

“The Dolphins Cycling Challenge made an even larger impact in its second year, and is a tribute to the dedication of our riders, volunteers, donors and sponsors,” said Mike Dee, Dolphins CEO. “We’re proud that 100% of the rider generated funds will stay right here in South Florida and help Sylvester provide world-class cancer research and treatment in our community.”  Read the rest of this entry »