Moca’s Boho Bash Kick-Off

MOCA will host a kick-off party this Thursday, January 21, at the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club’s   Maxine’s Bar & Bistro, including complimentary Grey Goose vodka cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and music from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. to kick-off the upcoming Bohemian Bash, taking place on February 20 (more on this as the date approaches). Guests at the kick-off party will enjoy live performances as well as palm and tarot card readings and have the chance to purchase specially priced tickets to the Bohemian Bash in packages of 10 for $1,250.  Tickets to the Bohemian Bash are $150 in advance, $175 after February 5. To RSVP and purchase tickets, call 305.893.6211 ext. 36. Read the rest of this entry »

Miami Social: Really?

By:  Mary Jo Almeida-Shore

maryjoshore@aol.com

 Bravo, the network that brings you train wrecks such as those annoying Housewives from here and there…(yawn) premiered its latest, Miami Social, a.k.a. the Real World, the Middle Aged Years, this week.  While the show’s got the blueprint for success, pretty people in a gorgeous setting and lots of sexual innuendoes and plenty of skin, the personalities and relationships seem quite contrived and chewed on to those of us who actually live here.  We did get a kick out of seeing the vistas of our hometown from every favorable angle, as well as the places we frequent and cameos from friends and acquaintances.  Interestingly, the divorced couples get along better than those in relationships (if only they could have figured it out while they were married).  One of the only realistic (albeit cliché) portrayals is that of the straight (or bi in Maria’s case) woman-gay man relationship- one of the few that actually works, in real life as well as in reality T.V.  While journalists and critics are filling pages by trashing the show, we thought it was actually kind of entertaining.  After all, we are a nation addicted to Facebook and Twitter, who makes a habit out of watching John and Kate plus 8, (John and Kate we Hate…), strangers get married to strangers on T.V. and eat bug/monkey brains to survive.  Miami Social is NOT intended to be a documentary about Miami social life.  It is what it is: a voyeuristic show about fairly regular, somewhat interesting, nice looking people and how they relate (or don’t) relate to each other.  Bravo threw a premier party for Miami Social last Thursday at Louis at the Gansevoort South.  Despite much hype- you would have thought Clooney and Pitt were in the cast, the event was not very well attended, with about 100 guests, tops.  As expected, all of the cast members were there to bask in their 15 minutes of fame (30, for reality show veterans, Katrina Campins and Hardy Hill).  DJ John Cash did bring the house down with old school favs, Michael Jackson (RIP), Madonna, etc. that kept the crowd on its feet the whole night.

  Celebs Fete Sweet Mary

On Wednesday, multi-Grammy award winning singer/ songwriter Gloria Estefan hosted a book signing cocktail for her friend, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author Liz Balmaseda.   Celebrities including Andy Garcia, Cindy Taylor, Steven Bauer and Tim Hardaway joined Gloria and Emilio Estefan at the circle bar at the Eden Roc Hotel to celebrate Balmaseda’s first novel, Sweet Mary (her Pulitzers were for her writings on the plight of Cuban and Haitian refugees and for her role in covering the story of Elián González). In honor of the book, Atlantico Rum created Sweet Mary Mango Sour specialty cocktails which kept notable guests,  Belkys Nerey, David Siguaw, Greg Cook, Marysol Patton, Frank Amadeo, Willard Shepard and Brian Antoni, among dozens of others milling about the crowded circle bar long after the official cocktail was over.  After the party, the Estefans, Andy Garcia and wife, Marivi, Carole and Oscar Seikaly, Marysol Patton and Frank Amadeo, the President of Estefan Enterprises, darted over to Solea at the newly-opened W South Beach for dinner.

Viceroy Fridays at Club 50 officially launched last Friday night, a weekly party hosted by some of Miami’s most influential socialites.  The scene was sort of like a speakeasy, fifty stories above the city, thanks to the sultry, sexy sounds of Kamikaze and the Big Bounce and a host of beautiful faces, young and seasoned, which graced the gorgeous space.  The concept behind the party, is to have a “group of  ‘bright young things’ hosting their friends for evening of like-minded, socially relevant, industry heavy hitters drinking and dancing amongst the stars, no less,” says the glamorous Jilian Sanz, fashion editor of Florida International Magazine, who was one of the party’s hosts. “In a nut shell, Club 50 is right where we belong!”  Beautiful and humble, what a combination! After the live performances, the adorable, Troy Kurtz, who’s as easy on the eyes as he is on the ears, took over the tables and got everyone dancing.   According to Jochy Ortiz, one of the party’s promoters, “Club 50 is Miami’s epicenter for power players and hipsters. This premiere lush lounge is unlike others in the area. Influenced by similar lounges in New York and South Beach, Club 50 invites guests to listen to top DJs and live performances while overlooking the city’s famed skyline.” Be advised:  You must be a pretty young thing or be accompanied by one to enter. South Beach Veteran Johnny Rhodes keeps a tight door, like the one he kept at the Shore Club in yesteryear. For information and table reservations contact 305.503.4400 ext. 7138.

The party continued at Louis at the Gansevoort on Saturday night, as Jochy Ortiz hosted “Round 2,” to celebrate one local columnist’s birthday, which shall remain nameless (but you can probably guess whom by looking at the photos or by-line above).  As expected, the party was out of this world, featuring hilarious party antics, Napoleon dancing atop the bar, tambourines, great music and all the decadence for which Louis is well-known.