Emeril Lagasse at The Q

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

The annual Bacchanal/gorge-fest otherwise known as the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) blew into town last weekend for a four day eating/drinking marathon, leaving our scale shaking its head and asking, “What have you done?” come Monday morning. SOBEWFF kicked off with Moët Hennessy’s barbecue bash named The Q on Thursday night hosted by larger-than-life personalities:  Emeril Lagasse and Guy Fieri.  Other festival highlights included Party Impossible, the Chefs’ After-party at the Dream Hotel, Diamond Dishes at the yet-to-be opened Marlins Park, Best Thing I Ever Ate Late Night Bites & Sweets and the festival’s closing party, Trucks on the Beach.  So now we fast and purge, after acting like Ms. Pac-Man with a tape worm for four straight days; and apologize to the liver, if we can find it- we are guessing it may have left the building. 

The Q

Hosted by Guy Fieri and Emeril Lagasse, The Q started the weekend revelry on Thursday night, a fitting replacement to the beloved, marquee event Bubble Q which was retired last year.  Just as much fun as Bubble Q, this party was our first SOBEWFF experience of 2012 and served as a reunion of local and national foodies and chefs, who imbibed in champagne and cocktails and filled up on enough barbecued meats to stumble out of the enormous tent with Gout. Read the rest of this entry »

Models with Russian Standard Vodka on the Carpe Diem

By: Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

Anyone stuck in gridlock traffic while attempting to navigate Collins Avenue in any direction over the weekend, or being forced to pay the staggering $50 parking charges soon realized that the International Yacht Show was in town- of course the multitude of multi-million dollar floating vessels stationed along the Indian Creek waterway should have been a dead giveaway.  As with any show, festival, event, holiday, climate change, building announcement…on Miami Beach, the Yacht Show brought with it its fair share of fabulous parties and party people.  Below were our favorites.

Scarlett Sails Night

We joined over 150 VIP guests who staggered barefoot onto the 60 million dollar, 191 foot Carpe Diem yacht on Wednesday, February 15, for the glamorous, Russian-themed Scarlett Sails party to get a sneak-peek of the magnificent yacht prior to its display at the Miami Beach International Boat Show. 

Guests were given a boarding pass and asked to check their shoes upon arrival, before walking the steep incline to board the Carpe Diem.  Once aboard, beautiful Russian dancers, dressed in traditional, albeit skimpy, Russian costumes, right down to their furry ushankas, served signature Russian Standard shots and cocktails to help the otherwise uncomfortably barefoot guests forget that their designer footwear was somewhere other than on their feet to perfectly compliment their stylish outfits.  We were also distracted by the haute cuisine, which included caviar canapés, George Stone Crabs and oysters courtesy of Edge steakhouse- and informal modeling by Saks Bal Harbour, all of which served to spotlight the grandeur of the mega yacht luxury lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore 

If Jeannie from the old I Dream of Jeannie series had an ornate little bar in that fabulous bottle of hers, we imagine it would resemble The Broken Shaker, the new pop-up bar at the quaint Indian Creek Hotel.  We are also fairly certain that she would never want to leave that bar, in fact, she would probably drag in Major Nelson, her evil brunette cousin and those nosy neighbors and they’d want to stay there too.  

The Broken Shaker is a collaborative effort between the Sydell Group’s Roy Alpert, formerly a consultant for the One Group and Ian Schrager’s Edition Brand, and Elad Svi and Gabriel Orta of the Bar Lab, who brought you masterfully created cocktails at the W South Beach Hotel’s Living Room. The trio physically created the Broken Shaker with their bare hands, designing and building the bar at back of the hotel.  Read the rest of this entry »

Charles Cohen, Erick Winnick, Joe Fava, Henry Richardson, A Keith Powell, Donanne Ramos, Franco Planegonda, Jennifer Post, Kiran Shiva Akal, DJ Hay, Clodagh, Chad Oppenheim, Iran Issa Kahn, & Alison Antrobus

By:   Mary Jo Almeida-Shore 

Innovations in design are just causes for celebration- at the forefront of these are the designers themselves.  Over the course of the past few weeks, we have crisscrossed Miami to fete great designers- from the traditional sense of the word, such as those spotlighted at the Stars of Design Awards at DCOTA; to masters at the art of designing a great deal- such as at the Gilt Insider’s event; to Breguet’s breakthroughs in watch making.  We were fortunate to raise a glass among those who make this town prettier, more stylish, more comfortable and overall a much more enjoyable place to live.  

DCOTA’s Stars of Design Awards 

On Wednesday, February 1, the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) and Charles S. Cohen, Owner, CEO and President of Cohen Brothers Realty, hosted the Sixth Annual Stars of Design Awards, to highlight the work of some of the design industry’s leading professionals. For the first time, five young designers were recognized as “Stars on the Rise” for having already made a significant mark in the design world.  Read the rest of this entry »

by: Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

Seeing the Light:  Bianca the Delano

On Thursday night, the highly anticipated Italian restaurant, Bianca opened at the Delano Hotel to the delight of over a thousand guests who made their way across the eternal lobby into the restaurant and braved the limestone along the pool for the indoor/outdoor celebration.

While celebrities and VIPs dined inside the restaurant and on the terrace, partygoers enjoyed bites, libations and musical performances by Chris Botti and Little Louie Vega, (strange bedfellows indeed) out by the pool.  Vega’s dance tunes were abruptly halted by Botti’s intoxicating trumpet, which was accompanied by a gorgeous violinist who played in the pool, yes, IN the pool.  The music was captivating, especially when Botti played the theme from Cinema Paradiso, one of our favorite movies of all time.  The performance brought on a melancholy mood which was quickly interrupted by the site of a group of drunken models traipsing through the pool- there are just certain elements of this iconic hotel that will never change.  After which, Little Louie Vega took over again and was joined by Michelle Rodriguez for his second live set. Read the rest of this entry »

by: Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

St. Regis Bal Harbour Opens

The posh St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort & Residences officially opened on Thursday, January 19, with markedly less fanfare. In lieu of a splashy party, guests enjoyed a daytime ribbon cutting ceremony and champagne-sabering, a tradition of the St. Regis brand. The ritual dates back to the time of Napoleon – tres cool.

St. Regis Global brand leader, Paul James, CEO of Starwood Vacation Ownership, Sergio Rivera and General Manager, Marco Selva were joined by notables including Bal Harbour Village Mayor, Jean Rosenfield, Christina Getty-Maercks, Susanne Birbragher, Executive Director of Tourism for Bal Harbour, Carolyn Travis, Lea Black and designers George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, who gathered for the unveiling of the 28th property in the St. Regis portfolio where butlers lined the grand entrance of the resort and residential property that soars above a 1,000 foot stretch of pristine shoreline as Mayor Rosenfield presented Selva with the Key to the Village. Read the rest of this entry »