Spring time on South Beach gives a whole new meaning to March Madness, with the throngs of sunburned spring breakers drinking themselves, and their textbook money, into oblivion, vying for the already scarce parking spaces and pining to get into clubs that wouldn’t even want them if they were of age. “Dorothy, you’re not in Gainesville anymore.” But fret not, despite the surge of college kids on our sands, there were still plenty of high-end, star-studded events and celebrity sightings over this past week, not to mention the upcoming Miami Fashion Week and Funkshion, among the largest and most unique fashion events in the country, to keep us locals feeling somewhat at home.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bibbity, Bobbity, Bubble Q

Sophisticated diners bubbled over at the most gout-worthy event during the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Bubble Q. Top Chef Tom Colicchio served as ring master over the circus on the sand that brought South Beach glam to the friendly neighborhood barbecue.Bubble Q’s sexy location, chefs as smokin’ hot as the food and gorgeous people doused in champagne, made for a bash to rival Brazil’s Carnaval.This was the epitome of the true South Beach Diet: limitless, perfectly seared meats and seafood paired with free-flowing PerrierJouët.Now there’s a diet we can commit to!Serving up the food and fun this year were some of our favorite chef-lebs, Marcus Samuelsson, Ilan Hall, Al Roker, Jonathan Eismann, Elizabeth Karmel, and Todd Miller, several of whom guzzled champagne along with the rest of us, just adding to the chaos.During the last hour of Bubble Q, the tent turned into a gigantic ball pool, (like the ones you see at Chuck E. Cheese) wherein the revelers (who had been magically transformed into a bunch of second graders under the spell of Perrier Jouët) joined the chefs and FIU sous chefs, in recklessly hurling the plastic balls that were intended to resemble champagne bubbles, to the chagrin of the DJ, who feared for his equipment.Bubble Q was definitely a chef-lebration we wish we could remember.

The mosh-pit-eating-marathon, otherwise known as the Grand Tasting Village on Saturday and Sunday, offered up hearty helpings of food from all over the nation and chef-lebrity cooking demonstrations and book signings by Martha Stewart, Emeril Legasse, Katie Lee Joel, Rachael Ray, Tom Colicchio, Paula Deen, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Robin Miller, Masaharu Morimoto, Ingrid Hoffman, Guy Fieri, The Neelys and Michael Symone.On Saturday afternoon, guests uttered a collective groan when it was announced that everyone needed to exit the tents at the premature hour of 5 p.m.(What, only four hours of gorging and imbibing?)As we disappointedly sauntered into the hospitality area, our spirits were uplifted when we heard Heavy Metal blaring from the speakers.Rushing over to the packed cooking demonstration we discovered that the self-proclaimed Culinary Gangster Guy Fieri was in the house.This “Guy” makes Emeril seem shy and introverted.Not only did Fieri throw out steak knives (wrapped in aprons) to the crowd, he took a break from making his 8 foot sausage and beef hoagie to blend an enormous margarita right on stage and pass out shots of Patron to the crowd, who cheered and sang along to “Tequila.”

To say that the tribute dinner honoring Emeril Legasse later that night was a much more subdued affair is an understatement.Emceed by Martha Stewart, the dinner was created by Charlie Trotter, Norman Van Aken, Eric Ripert, Mario Batali and Bobby Flay.One of the highlights was the marching band, dressed in full regalia, who paraded Legasse through the ballroom before his official introduction. Sunday’s, Oscar Night America Sobe Style at the Paris Theater, capped off the weekend extravaganza with a glitzy affair hosted by Bobby Flay and wife, “Law and Order: SVU” star, Stephanie March. Special guests included Laurie Jennings, who emceed and Guy Fieri.

There were a couple of moments of the festival that we would just as soon forget.For Paula Deen, the biggest roar from the crowd during her cooking demonstration had nothing to do with her southern comfort food, (the thought of which makes our arteries quiver), but with a mishap during which Deen lost her pants as she walked off the stage- talk about a southern moon over Miami, the sight of which left us longing for another shot of Fieri’s margarita.Earlier in the week, Mario Batali dropped the F-bomb in the presence of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain, as he tried to get the crowd’s attention during the $1,000 a plate dinner, ¡Viva España! The Wines and Food of Spain, which was held on Thursday at the Biltmore.Yeah, yeah, blame it on the Spanish wine.Mama Mia, Mario!Guests in attendance included Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Governor Charlie Crist, and Grammy award-winning Spanish singer, Julio Iglesias.

Three D-words come to mind when looking back upon the eating extravaganza otherwise known as South Beach Wine and Food Festival- Divine, Decadent, Diet and Detox.

Coming Up

MOCA Pop Bollywood

The buzz surrounding a certain little Indian flick entitled, Slumdog Millionaire only adds to anticipation for POP BOLLYWOOD, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s sixth annual POP fundraiser which will take place this Saturday night.Fittingly, this year’s theme embodies the movie magic of India.Bollywood actress Pallavi Sharda, will perform during the party, which will feature The Ruby Room, a private Cartier lounge area, complete with club entrance, concierge, champagne, signature hors d’oeuvres and a chance to bid on exclusive silent auction items.  

Heavenly Bodies

Cosmopolitan magazine will host its second annual Bikini Bash on March 14th, hosted by sexy starlet Kristin Cavallari, on the sand at Nikki Beach Club.This unique event will feature hundreds of hot, bikini-clad beauties in skimpy, sexy swimwear spelling out the word C-O-S-M-O for an aerial photograph to be included in Cosmo’s August issue. To add to the heat, David Barton Gym’s hunky trainers will provide stretching exercises before the shoot.The after party will be held the same night at Mansion.

Spotted:

Most Hollywood stars stayed, well, in Hollywood, being that it was Oscar weekend, but we still had our requisite celebrity sightings. On separate occasions, both Martha Stewart and Brooke Shields popped into trendy fashion boutique, The Webster, and shopped up a storm!Stewart splurged on Miu Miu, Balmain and Lanvin, while Shields, who was with her two daughters, bought Lanvin and Prada dresses and shoes by YSL.The night after being shocked by Batali’s blunder at the Biltmore, Gloria and Emilio Estefan dined at Asia de Cuba and sipped a few cocktails at the Sunset Lounge at the Mondrian.Gnarles Barkley’s Cee Lo, performed Crazy at SET on Saturday, during the launch of Belvedere IX.During Mansion’s five-year anniversary bash, Swedish DJ, Steve Angello spun for the crowd of over 2, 500.Sunday at Mansion, Ryan Leslie performed Diamond Girl and Addiction at his album release party.Actor Scott Conant was spotted at LIV on Saturday. Broadway superstar, Bernadette Peters was recently seen dining at YOLO Restaurant/Lounge in Fort Lauderdale.

Alexis Mincolla and Pauly Shore at Bella Rose. Photo by

Well, it’s here, so bring out the fat pants and schedule that gastric bypass and liver transplant for next week. For the eighth year in a row, The Food Network (the Playboy channel for foodies) takes over South Beach with a lineup of events and stars to rival Super Bowl weekend 2008. And while this town is no stranger to celebrity sightings, the festival brings a whole different breed of stars to South Beach, chef-lebrities.

The events drawing the largest number of celebs for your buck are bound to be the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village on Saturday and Sunday, Ocean Drive magazine’s February issue release party and Amstel Light Burger Bash tonight (Thursday), the Pierre Jouet Bubble Q on Friday, the Tribute Dinner honoring Emeril Lagasse on Saturday and Sunday’s Oscar Night America SoBe Style.

Read the rest of this entry »

Renowned Chef Emeril Lagasse celebrated the fifth anniversary of Emeril’s Miami Beach last Wednesday with a bash benefitting the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation. Lagasse’s larger-than-life personality shone through as he addressed the crowd of 400, encouraging them to continue to support MCH. To get everyone’s attention, Lagasse threatened to cut off some of the delectable signature dishes that were being served. “This is how it’s gonna go,” Lagasse shouted, “first go the crab cakes, next is the lamb.” This quieted the rowdy bunch for a short while, just long enough for Lagasse to receive his Key to the City and a gorgeous portrait by Romero Britto, which the artist unveiled on-stage, bringing Legasse almost to tears. Following the presentations, New Orleans jazz vocalist and trumpeter, Jeremy Davenport, a featured musical guest on “Emeril Live” performed. Next up was famed eight-year-old pianist Ethan Bortnick. The pint-sized prodigy really showed his age during his rendition of Billy Joel’s Piano Man, during which he sang, “Singing love to his Sonic and Gym.” Adorable! Bortnick then performed a song he wrote for Legasse, entitled, “Bam – Kick it Up a Notch!” and presented the chef with the song’s lyrics. As expected, the food at Emeril’s anniversary party was plentiful and outrageous, including a raw bar, three carving stations, (one with Kobe churrasco), made-to-order Jambalaya, and tons of passed hors d’ oeuvres- all prepared according to Lagasse’s strict specifications and infusing his unique flavors and essences. VIPs in attendance, who helped raise more than $100,000 during the event included, Michael Aller, Jerry, Sandi and Jacqueline D. Powers, Michael Capponi, Lee Schrager, Gene and Hannah Bortnick, Romero Britto, Thomas and Patricia Cornish, Juan Carlos and Vivian Mas, Shawn Hauver, Emeril and Alden Lagasse, Eric Linquest, Lucy Morillo, Mario and Bibiana Murgado, Luis and Norma Quintero, Leticia Pino, Rick and Monica Schatz, Jerry South, Lyle Stern, Jonathan Tisch, Edgar and Nicole Lozano and Eric and Jocelyn Woolworth.

Photo by Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

South Beach saw a miscellany of events last week, including a designer-hosted boutique opening, hip-hop performances, book signings, comedy acts, restaurant launches and even a Chinese New Year. This week promises to be no different, with a fundraiser for our furry friends, the Super Bowl and its requisite parties, and a Marlins preview, not to mention the upcoming Lingerie Miami, featuring supermodels in their bare necessities. It just goes to show you, there is something for everyone in our fair city.

Read the rest of this entry »

As the dreamers woke the nation and made history on Tuesday, South Beach marked a milestone of its own and inaugurated a few new venues and ideas that echo our desire for change and reflect the collective hope ever-present in the week’s festivities in Washington and beyond.

Last Friday, A Fish Called Avalon celebrated its 20th anniversary with a South Beach reunion that was a cross between a sexy, swanky Latin nightclub and a 10th grade house party — and by “reunion” we mean everybody you’ve ever met. Ever. Read the rest of this entry »