Eat your Wheaties and take your Geritol this week because the Winter Music Conference is coming to town for the 25^th year in a row, starting on Tuesday.  For those of you remember Wheaties and Geritol commercials, and, well, pretty much anyone actually legally old enough to get into these events:  YOU ARE TOO OLD TO GO! Consider yourselves warned.  But for those of us who continue to attempt to defy gravity and time, this year’s line-up promises one heck of a ride.  The event roster is massive so check back next week for updates.

The Opium Group has a winning lineup featuring Axwell, Benny Benassi, Bob Sinclar, Boys Noize, Calvin Harris, Dim Mak Records, Dirty Dutch, Dubfire, Fedde Le Grand, F*** Me I’m Famous, Joris Voorn, Kaskade, MSTRKRFT, Nic Fancuilli, Pryda, Roger Sanchez, Sasha & John Digweed, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, Strictly Defected and more of the best events you will find during the WMC at their venues Mansion, SET, Louis Bar-Lounge, and Cameo Theatre starting Tuesday, March 23. For more information and to buy tickets, visit: www.theopiumgroup.com/wmc2010.

Starting Monday, Club 50 at the Viceroy will host a series of pool parties, events and great talent including:  David Vendetta & Micah the Violinist, Ruben Moran (Saxo), Ron Carroll, John Shelvin, Grasshopper, Lou Flores, Tom Novy, Funkerman, Massimo Martinelli, Julian Ingrosso, resident DJ’s Nano & JP Candela from Pacha Madrid & Ibiza For more information and to buy tickets contact:  305 503 4400 ext 7138 or club50@viceroymiami.com.

The Florida Room at Delano brings an extremely strong and talented lineup as well, starting Tuesday, March 23, including the legendary Paul Oakenfold and Victor Calderone. The Florida Room will kick of the week on Tuesday with a night of true hip-hop curated by Dj Muggs featuring DJ Cash Money and Mateo Difontaine. On Wednesday guests will be entertained by the sounds of  M.O.S and live performances by Tabi Bonney and Niki Jean of the Crybabieees. On Thursday, producer and DJ Victor Calderone and Nicolas Matar will bring a night of house music to be remember. On Friday, the legendary Paul Oakenfold and special guests will be spinning in a true house Fashion.  Giant step Magazine presents Questlove, Yamen Allworld and Giles Peterson on Saturday night.  The Florida Room will end the week in style with its “Unofficial Closing” starring Ruckus, DJ Berry and other special guests that you won’t want to miss. Table reservations are strongly recommended. For reservations please call 305 674 6152.  Doors open at 10 p.m.

Skybar at the Shore Club and Aquabooty have teamed up for WMC this year. On Wednesday night, Aquabooty presents Compostblack Label and G-Stone DJ’s. On Thursday, Detroit Premiere Artist and The Loud Minority take over featuring artists such as Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Theo Parrish, Kevin Dixon Jr. (Aka Moody Man), Kevin Saunderson, Kenny Larkin *Live, Stacy Pullen, Kyle Hall, Monty Luke. On Friday night, we party all night long for a good cause with Aquabooty Presents Beats Build Hope, a benefit for Next Aid, Soil and Green Waves. On Saturday, Aquabooty presents the Beats In Space edition featuring Dubtribe Soudsystem  Live!, Dj Harvey, Crazy P, Aeroplane,Metro Area Dj Set, Jazznova, Rich Medina, Tim Sweeney, Alex From Tokyo, Citizen Kane, Djini Brown, And Dj Kemit.   For the grand finale on Sunday, Hard Rock’s Rehab invades Miami for an all day all night Party at Shore Club’s Pool. There’s a $25 entry fee for all events.   For Table Reservations please call (786) 276-6772

America’s number one selling DJ Louis Devito will showcase his famed ‘New York City’ energy with a performance at Kitchen 305, located inside the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort, on Friday March 26th.  Before Devito takes to the turntables, Exodus, Miss Shawna and Ilgin, Turkey’s favorite DJ, will spin their most popular tracks starting at 9:00 p.m.  Admission is $20 or free with a Winter Music Conference badge.

 New York City mega club Pacha NYC returns to Miami  kicking things off on Wednesday night with DJ heavyweight Danny Tenaglia and special guest Paco Osuna at Parkwest. Thursday, March 25^th brings the renowned Nervous Records‘ top DJ’s including Austin Leeds, Starkillers, Behrouz, Chus & Ceballos, and Oscar G to the club and on Friday, March 26^th Pacha NYC and Mixmag will present the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am with Boyz Noize and D. Ramirez. Then on Saturday, house prodigies The Martinez Brothers will get things going while Jonathan Peters spins a special late night session.  For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.pachanyc.com/miami2010.

The landmark formerly known as the “Versace Mansion” has been transformed into Villa By Barton G, thanks to a million dollar restoration by famed restaurateur and event planner, Barton G. Weiss, whose attention to detail would make Vermeer jealous.  Weiss held an elegant cocktail party on Friday evening to showcase the Villa’s facelift. Guests at this exclusive event enjoyed music by harpists, a pianist and string quintet and signature bites by Barton G. Among the notables in attendance: Commissioner Michael Gongora, Stephanie Sayfie Aagard and Morton Aagard, Suzie Sayfie, , Ricky Arriola, WSVN anchor Diana Diaz, Vann and Parker Thomson, Barton Weiss’ parents Norman and Eleanor Weiss, Shore Club General Manager Tim Nardi and arts patrons Lenore Toby Simmons and Rhoda Leavitt. The evening’s open house celebrated the opening of The Dining Room at The Villa By Barton G., (already one of the hottest tickets in town), as well as the opening of the boutique all-suites hotel on the property. The Dining Room features refined continental cuisine elegantly styled by Barton G. served entirely on Versace place settings and fine china and is open seven nights a week from 7 p.m. until late. 

Getting a facelift of its own is the Thursday night party at Sky Bar at Shore Club which launched its new mixed “Oasis” Thursday party last week. The party brought out a terrific mixed crowd, which, in this town, could be interpreted to mean just about anything. Every week international DJ/Producer and local favorite Oren Nizri along with DJ Pocket Change will keep partygoers dancing by the hotel’s pool or grooving to their beats on Sky Bar’s numerous lounge beds while munching on Oasis’ gourmet brick oven pizza menu provided by the hotel’s renowned AGO restaurant and sipping $8 martini specials till midnight (talk about “old school” prices!). Oasis begins at 9 p.m. and goes through 2 a.m. There’s no guest list or cover charge so go as you are and enjoy!

Keeping styles fresh and new for several decades is shoe designer Donald J. Pliner, who celebrated the 20^th anniversary of his eponymous shoe line on Saturday, March 13, at his shop in Aventura mall with an all-day event to benefit Jewish Adoption & Foster Care Options, Inc alongside his wife and creative director, Lisa.  Pliner has been designing shoes since the 60s, paying close attention to the comfort of the shoe as well as style.  A comfortable designer shoe is not an oxymoron when it comes to Donald J. Pliner.  Lisa for Donald J Pliner, made its debut during the anniversary celebration, which was attended by the Pliners’ adorable daughter, Starr, and mascot, Baby Doll.

 Nick  D’Annunzio and Tara Solomon are tying the knot!

Help them to win their dream wedding by clicking on the  following link: www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries/38937

Or go to the contest on the CrateandBarrel.com website and search phrase by Tara Solomon

 To appeal to your softer side, here’s Tara’s account about how their love story: 

“We met at a club on South Beach, a chance encounter with mutual friends. He liked my legs, but complimented my Gucci stilettos. He knew the instant we met that we were destined to be together. Worried that he was too young, too smooth and perhaps too into my shoes, I took a bit longer. But his boyish swagger, megawatt smile and old soul eventually won me over. Twelve years later, the club has long since closed, but we are going strong. More in love than ever, we figured it was about time to make things official. “

Model dressed in GAP

 This year The PlayGround Theatre literally rocked the Ritz-Carlton South Beach on Sunday with its annual Tea at the Ritz to raise funds for its education and outreach programs.  Barton G. known for his creative genius of “all things delicious,” produced a rockin’ roll event with Guitar Hero and Band Hero stations where fans channeled their inner rock star.  The Ritz-Carlton South Beach served up scrumptious kid friendly bites, including  sliders, bite sized pizza, and an ice cream bar with every mix in imaginable.  Also in the “scrumptious” category was WSVN/Deco Drive’s Louis Aguirre, who served as Master of Ceremonies to the annual Fashion Show featuring styles from the Gap, IOS of Coconut Grove, and Kidding Around, amping up the already excited crowd. The highlight of the Tea was when LIVE! School of Music students took the stage and played old school ballads such as the ever popular “Sweet Child of Mine” and Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll.”  The pint-sized rock stars were a hit, working the kids and their parents into frenzy. 

Just in time for Spring Break and WMC, which hits our shores on March 23, are two new offerings in the club department:  Coco de Ville and Mokai 2010.  Coco de Ville, the LA transplant set up shop in the Gansevoort Hotel during Super Bowl weekend and has been getting lots of attention from cool kids and club rats ever since.  Coco De Ville’s Roy Alpert describes the vibe “like your hanging out at someone’s beach house. The programming is open format with more NY, LA style feel. The space is small so we keep the door pretty tight but if you show up with good energy and a good attitude them I am sure you won’t be hassled.”

Man-about-town, TARA, Ink. Principal, Nick D’Annunzio raves, “I love Coco De Ville. It’s the hottest spot in Miami, with the toughest door. You have to have a table or be genetically blessed to get in. I am not sure who is better looking, the crowd or the staff. And I am gaga over one of their signature drinks the Coco Cotton Candy. I die!”

 Up the street from Coco, Mokai re-opened last weekend with a new look and new ownership.  At the helm of Mokai 2010 is the Opium Group, which owns other South Beach hotspots, WALL, SET, Louis, Mansion, and Cameo, in addition to Opium Hard Rock and Prive up north.  The “new” Mokai’s facelift includes “eye popping cherry-red sofas, black lacquered walls, lipstick-pink panels, an ‘Alice In Wonderland’ array of custom-designed chandeliers, and a Baccarat-inspired chandelier pit – a modern take on a traditional fireplace –  Mokai’s design embraces modern New York sensibility and Miami joie de vivre,” according  to Vanessa Menkes, Opium Group’s vice president of communications. Mokai’s innovative music programming will include a mix of house music, open format, and electro formats.  Weekly parties will be announced soon.

The ninth annual Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival has come and gone, leaving the South Beach sand wine soaked, the air tinged with delicious aromas and our scales tilting in the wrong direction.  This year’s festival boasted an unprecedented number of events, with more than 50, 000 attendees, and over $2 million raised for the Florida International University (FIU) School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center.

The Amstel Light Burger Bash kicked -off the four day festival on Thursday night. Bobby Flay, Daniel Boulud, Guy Fieri, Rachael Ray, and Michael Symon all under one tent is any foodies dream, and this year’s carnivorous romp made that delectable dream come true as chefs from all around our nation battled it out to see who could come up with this year’s People’s Choice Award for “Best Burger.” The party, held in a giant tent behind the Ritz Carlton, was a blast, the cool weather adding to the already high-spirits of SBWFF lovers, who didn’t seem to mind the smoke and barbecue “fragrance” which permeated their lungs, hair and clothing.  Last Year’s defending champ, Spike Mendelsohn, wore a heavyweight championship belt, boxing trunks, robe and gloves and had the Rocky theme song blaring from his section, while serving his classic burger with American cheese and bacon on a soft bun accompanied with a cotton candy milk shake (yummy!).  Masaharu Morimoto’s burgers were rumored to be among the best, as evidenced by the line of people waiting that spanned the length of the tent.  The Iron Chef won for best “toppings” and was awarded a Tiffany Heinz Ketchup Bottle.  The 2010 People’s Choice Award winner was Michael Symon of B Spot and his Swiss, pastrami, and coleslaw burger (Pepcid, anyone?).  Former champ, Mendelsohn graciously handed over his heavyweight belt to Symon to solidify the win.  Our very own, Michael Schwartz of Michael’s Genuine Food (who in our humble opinion makes the best burger in Miami) took top honors earning the Allen Brothers Golden Grill Award – the judge’s choice for best burger for his bacon cheeseburger on brioche with a side of crispy hominy with chili and lime. Other celeb-chefs spotted included Sandra Lee, Michael Chiarello, Sunny Anderson, Rocco DiSpirito, Jeff McInnis, Govind Armstrong, Tim Love, Carla Hall, Art Smith, Anne Burell, and Michael Schwartz among many others. The delightful dessert selections from Jeni’s Splendid Gourmet Ice Creams (almond brittle and Cocoa Zin and salty caramel-ooh la la!) and Levain Bakery’s 6 oz cookies (yes, almost half a pound) capped off a perfect evening. 

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