Ocean Drive Magazine

On the Town with David Grutman

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

David Grutman at LIV

11 AM: Grutman's Apartment
David Grutman has literally just rolled out of bed when I walk into his Belle Isle condo. The place is decorated with collectible pop-culture figurines— cute Kidrobot monsters, Gumby, Matchbox cars— and otherwise has a broken-in-chic feel to it. It’s a far cry from the Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s LIV nightclub, which he owns and operates.

“How many espresso shots do you want, two or three?” he asks.

“Two, I guess.”

“Have three—you’re spending the day with David Grutman!”

Suddenly he’s on the phone with an assistant. “When I tell you to do something, you do it! What’s wrong with you? I need your help with this dog.” Within minutes we have directions to the Continental Airlines cargo pickup, where Grutman will meet Kona for the first time. She’s a 10-weekold Australian shepherd he’d ordered from a breeder in California after spending the weekend with Fontainebleau owner Jeff Soffer and his Australian shepherd in Aspen. A six-foot-tall blonde in a bikini saunters through the kitchen. “She makes me look cool, right?” he says, then explains that his friend Romain Pavee (VIP director at New York’s Avenue) and his girlfriend, Rox Conso (the said blonde), are visiting.

Soon we’re speeding in Grutman’s Porsche Panamera S, semi-lost in South Hialeah (he assigned me navigation duties). He’s on the phone with Soffer, figuring out how to make nice with Sunny Isles regarding a Swedish House Mafia event during Ultra Music Festival. Grutman, now 37, was 21 when he moved to Miami, and once bartended for Soffer in Aventura Mall. He opens the window and lights a cigarette. “Everyone stops their bad habits for the new year. I start mine.” He’s scheduled a hypnotist to help him quit.

Grutman has a big grin on his face as we pull into the cargo area. “It’s puppy-time soon. It’s gonna be awesome!” Awesome it is; Kona and Grutman frolic in the parking lot as if they’re old buds before she’s placed on my lap for the ride back to the Beach. Grutman’s on the phone again, inviting his ex-wife to meet the puppy. “My ex-wife is awesome,” he says. “Unfortunately I work at the hottest nightclub in the world, so it’s not so great for marriage.” Then it’s another business call, hashing out Pete Tong and deadmau5 appearances during Ultra. “No, I won’t ever do Pauly D, so don’t even bring that up to me.”

2 PM: Miami Marketing Group Office
Grutman’s Miami Marketing Group, of which he is a founding partner, occupies an unassuming second-floor office on Lincoln Road, a few doors east of Quattro. He has a meeting with a promoter who, when Amnesia opened, was the only one to jump ship at LIV and work for the new club. He’s trying to negotiate a return, but Grutman is wary. “I don’t want to send the wrong message by letting them come back.” Club relationships can get catty, but it’s water under the bridge at this point; as of this writing, MMG plans to buy 50 percent of Amnesia, taking over management through Winter Music Conference, then changing the name and reopening it, with a different DJ focus.

6 PM: LIV
There’s the odd sense of being behind the curtain of Oz when you’re in a nightclub with the lights on. The staff, normally gussied up, lounge on banquettes in sweat pants and baseball caps as Grutman conducts a brisk staff meeting. Kona is balled up in the lap of Joe Lahoud, Grutman’s right-hand man. “Security: lots of issues. You guys are being really rough with girls. Your guys are leaving posts. What’s the deal?” They work out a solution. Grutman then rolls out his vision for an upcoming night. “Do an open casting for freaks, for circus performers, for sideshow acts. I want a whole repertoire of freaks. Set up vignettes around the place. For the flyer, do some research on old circus posters and get me a proof tomorrow.”

10 PM: Gotham Steak and LIV
A table of 30 girls in small dresses, enthralled to be ornaments in the machine, occupy center stage for one of Grutman’s famed pre-LIV dinner parties. Though the meal has been massive, Grutman pushes dessert on tonight’s DJ, Denmark’s Morten Breum, as if he’s dining in his own house. Grutman himself declines the sweets. “I’m on a diet, man. Look at me,” he says.

Security rather theatrically parades the 30-girl dinner party down the grand staircase of LIV and into the up-front real estate as DJ Breum brings in a gut-shaking base line. Grutman calls it “dirty Dutch house.” The crowd is in love. A big-name DJ visiting backstage gives Grutman a hug and points to a girl in the crowd. Grutman sends a text and a few minutes later the girl and her friend are delivered to the DJ. Then he’s on a 26-way BBM conversation with his staff: “Get this dancer here, drop the confetti from the ceiling, get this ugly girl off the dance platform….” I ask how he stays focused, motioning to the room, the DJ, the small dresses. “I’m a pro,” he laughs, half serious. There’s something about Grutman that makes it seem like the world is his high school. “I was in the cool clique. I was more of a class clown, a prankster,” he says. Ask his employees what he’s like to work with and you get a pregnant pause. “He has no filter,” is one answer. “It’s making me a stronger person,” says another. Yet some of the girls back here are like LIV cheerleaders, working at Arkadia and spending free time with Grutman at LIV on off nights.

With the dark beats, the confetti wafting like slow-motion snow, the bodies flashing in the darkness, it feels for a moment like LIV is an entire universe, and up here behind the DJ, we’re at the center of it. The crowd below looks up in envy—the economy of desire. We’re the inside of the inside, just the way Grutman wants it.

Felix and Shayne Cohen Add Sparkle to Oxygene

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500


	The Oxygene boutique at Bal Harbour Shops

	Oxygene carries exclusive pieces, such as this Leelo dress ($5,505) from Azzaro

	Katie Holmes and daughter Suri recently stopped in to browse Oxygene’s exclusive children’s selections

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but it turns out they can be pretty good buddies with a high-end women and children’s boutique, as well. It was the rare stones that propelled Oxygene owners Felix and Shayne Cohen to supersize their much-loved Bal Harbour Shops boutique. “We’ve grown a lot in jewelry,” explains Shayne. “We’re selling real diamonds, and the space that we had was not adequate for it, because of the lighting. It was just a fashion store.”

Calling it “just a fashion store” may be selling the old Oxygene a bit short. The spot has been a Miami landmark for nearly three decades, since Felix moved from Paris “and wanted to bring some Parisian fashion to Miami—which, when we’re talking about 29 years ago, there wasn’t much [of],” says Shayne.

By creating a high-end, multi-label boutique, Felix started a trend (one that Intermix and Scoop NYC, among others, picked up on in subsequent years). He also opened Mini Oxygene, an exclusive shop for babies and children. But something was missing: the bling.

“I love jewelry, and when I came into Oxygene, we weren’t really selling any; we were mostly selling ready-to-wear,” says Shayne, who married Felix seven years ago. They met and fell in love within the gilded confines of Bal Harbour Shops, where Shayne, a graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, was then the ready-to-wear manager at the Louis Vuitton store. After they married, she became influential in running Oxygene—a job that never takes a vacation: Just four years ago, the pair went on a pleasure trip to Capri, “where they have the best jewelry stores in the world,” she says. “So I started working on Felix, trying to convince him that we needed to carry jewelry, since we’re lucky enough to be in a place where people come on vacation, which is a romantic time to buy."

Apparently, vacations are also a propitious time to make business plans, because, says Shayne, “I worked my magic and got Felix to drive me from Capri to Florence to meet with designers. I came back with a huge order of jewelry. And now it’s become easily 40 percent of our business.”

Needing more room to show off their baubles, the Cohens took over the Luca Luca and Ralph Lauren spaces, and combined Oxygene and Mini Oxygene into what could be considered Mega-Oxygene, a massive temple to fashion, where customers walk in through the children’s section (the better to pick up some $450 Dior baby booties on their way to the register) before hitting the jewelry display cases, which have pride of place in the center of the store.

While jewelry has become a major piece of Oxygene’s business, it’s the clothing— a collection of high-end pieces curated via the Cohens’ sharp eyes—that keeps customers coming back. “The most difficult and the most successful part of the store is editing,” says Shayne. While Oxygene exclusively carries a number of lines that aren’t sold anywhere else in Miami (Paco Rabanne, Thierry Mugler, and almost all of the children’s clothes from Dior, Fendi, and Cavalli for Kids), many of the brands are, “so we choose the pieces that keep our own personality,” explains Shayne. “We go for the sexier, happier parts of the collection, and we’re very daring. If a dress comes in red and black, you’ll see the black in most other stores and we’ll buy the red, because we do handle a very fashion-forward clientele.”

Those edgy clients add to the sexy, happy, daring vibe of the store. “From celebrities to crazy people, there’s always something happening,” says Felix. That may mean Katie Holmes bringing Suri to browse the children’s clothes, Lil Wayne shopping for his sons, or Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, or any one of the Kardashians trying on eveningwear. A bit of international royalty doesn’t hurt, either. “The Arabic princesses are very low-key. They don’t look too fashionable, but they’ll spend $200,000 in a visit,” says Shayne. “They fall in love with three pairs of shoes, each for $2,000, then a handbag for $4,000, an evening dress for $12,000, a piece of jewelry for $25,000. It starts adding up.”

And then there are the customers who are Oxygene royalty: Miami princesses the store hooked while they were young. “A lot of beautiful girls in their late 20s or 30s come in and say, ‘Oh my God, I remember when I used to come with my mom and shop in Mini Oxygene,’” says Shayne. “So we’ve been creating temptation since the beginning.”

It’s a brilliant strategy for surviving changing economic times: Each new generation brings a fresh group of customers, which—along with the jewelry—may be another reason for Oxygene’s expansion: As its clients grow up, so grows the store. Bal Harbour Shops, 9700 Collins Ave., 305-864-0202

Bianca Brings Inventive Italian to The Delano

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The dining room at the Delano’s new Bianca restaurant


	Chef Brian Massie

	Burrata and prosciutto, with grilled bread, olive oil, and sea salt

South Beach is a place for reinvention, escape, and starting over. Just ask anyone who has witnessed the many incarnations of the Delano’s Blue Door. When Ian Schrager first revealed the eye-boggling Delano in its all-white Deco glory in the summer of 1995 (after a $22 million renovation), it was the South Beach spot. Calvin Klein called it “the best hotel in the world,” and Madonna was rumored to be a partner in the iconic hotel’s signature restaurant, the Blue Door, with New York pal Brian McNally. The menu featured petite portions of aggressively priced dishes, such as roast duck in sour cherry sauce on jalapeño corn bread. Back then, tuna tartare with quail egg was a novelty. Guests, who all at least behaved as if they were somebody, seemed to guzzle more Champagne than water.

In 1997, China Grill Management took over the Delano’s food and beverage operations, bringing in chef Claude Troisgros of the famous Roanne, France, cooking family to revamp a restaurant for which people-watching was a key design feature. A central corridor split the dining room, allowing a constant parade of local color, donning everything from Brazilian bikinis to fur coats to bespoke suits. The following year, Esquire named Blue Door its “Best New Restaurant of the Year,” praising the jumbo ravioli filled with taro-root mousseline and white truffle oil as “wonderfully conceived.”

As wonderful as it was, in Miami, reinvention is the rule. The Delano parted ways with China Grill Management in 2011, bringing in The Light Group, which owns and operates some 15 Las Vegas clubs and restaurants. The company was actually cofounded by Andrew Sasson, once a fixture on the South Beach nightlife scene, where he worked the door at famed hot spots including Velvet before building a nightclub empire of his own. Bianca, which now replaces Blue Door, will be the marquee dining experience of the hotel, and is touted as “inventive Italian.” The reinvention concept here is pervasive, with South Beach’s own prodigal son, Chris Paciello, on board as marketing consultant. The “inventiveness” of the Italian will come from the mind of chef Brian Massie, who directs the culinary output among the property’s five food outlets, from room service to the pool. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Massie trained with the virtuoso (and telegenic) Lidia Bastianich, and in Erbusco, Italy, under Gualtiero Marchesi.

Massie brings solid skills as well as a real bend-over-backwards mentality when it comes to hospitality. “We are cooking to bring people back. If people want the crab avocat [a signature from the old menu], I will give it to them. If they want peanut butter and jelly, it is not for me to say no. I might cut off the crusts and stack it club-sandwich style, but ‘no’ is not really in my vocabulary.” And what people want in this, the most image-conscious of towns, he figures, is light, clean cooking. “This is not going to be Vegas-y steak-and-potatoes food.” Though not a heavy pasta-driven menu, there will be elegant creations like delicate pillows of lobster ravioli in Champagne-sparked cream sauce, and simple yet spectacular appetizers such as burrata and prosciutto with grilled bread.

Massie has singled out signatures like a classic, salt-crusted, grilled branzino. “Our style is different,” explains the fast-talking New York native. “It is lighter, refreshing, more Sardinian. I like to use fresh aromatics in fish from the Mediterranean. Lots of fresh lemons and thyme.” Communal dining is also a retro holdover here. In the place of the old Blue Sea sits Umi Sushi & Sake Bar, where strangers can sip sake and nibble hand rolls at the marble bar. Although the dining room’s stunning whiteon- white aesthetic has largely survived (albeit with nips and tucks here and there), Bianca’s facelift takes the restaurant from light to luscious. The new space, designed by Sam Robin Inc., is larger and more airy with the removal of the wall that once separated the formal dining room from the lobby. Deep, clubby seats rest on highly polished wood floors the color of gold, while various green tones add a fun contrast. The white curtains that once shrouded the identities of diners the likes of Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Jennifer Lopez, and Beyoncé have been replaced with shimmering gold linen. Exotic Southeast Asian pillars and antique Italian furnishings lend age and warmth to what was once cool as ice.

Other reissues include the meetfor- a-drink standard Rose Bar, a pocket-sized niche that was always packed with posh and posers alike. It has received a total renovation with rich upholstery and deeper palette of colors. And of course, after-hours continue at what was once Lenny Kravitz’s beloved Florida Room. The basement space is dubbed FDR—a fitting reminder that the hotel was, after all, named for the threeterm (four if you count the one he began before his death) Depression-era president.

And so the South Beach tradition of reinvention continues, even at its most storied of venues. The democracy of our taste buds will determine whether Bianca gets more than one term. 1685 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-674-6400

Fragrance Pick: Jo Malone London Blooms

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:27:00 -0500

Jo Malone London Blooms collection

Fancy being whisked away to an ambrosial British garden? Spritz on Jo Malone London’s London Blooms collection and you’re there. Available this March, the trilogy of scents ($110, each) is budding in Peony & Moss, White Lilac & Rhubarb, and Iris & Lady Moore fragrances. Adorned in jewel-toned botanical drawings, these scents are the epitome of spring and beg to be layered. 19501 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura, 305-931-8950

Art Wynwood Ups Miami’s Culture Quotient

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:43:00 -0500

Wesselman I, 2011 by Nicolas Saint Gregoire

As the inaugural Art Wynwood opens, we catch up with the fair’s director and partner, Nick Korniloff, to learn more about the fair and its impact on Miami’s growing reputation as a major international art hub.

What inspired you to create Art Wynwood?
NICK KORNILOFF: I experienced December’s Art Week firsthand as part of Art Miami and know the global art market’s complete focus and commitment is on Miami. There is a certain hangover of interest from December, and a new, fresh enthusiasm around a focused art event during the busiest holiday weekend in South Florida.

You’re the show director and partner of Art Miami, as well. Would you say that Art Wynwood is an extension of Art Miami?
NK: Not at all. The art fair business suffers from fair fatigue and an overall monochromatic approach in appearance and feel. Art Wynwood is unique. It has its own personality and is reflective of the growing pains of Miami's cultural scene and the contemporary art market in general over the last 10 years. When you walk into the fair you can immediately feel that the energy is different. When you look at the integration of the top urban artists, who some would say are graffiti artists, that Tony Goldman has personally commissioned to be a part of the fair, it clearly creates new possibilities and a new platform for those artist to be highlighted in a mainstream contemporary art fair, which is actually not so mainstream because of their overwhelming artistic contribution.

What are the variances in price points?
NK: From a thousand to a few million dollars. I can assure you that this fair represents a complete cross-section of what the contemporary art market has to offer.

Art Miami Pavilion, 3101 N.E. First Ave., 786-623-3610; Friday–Sunday, 11 AM–7 PM; Monday, 11 AM–6 PM

Sweet Sips at Serendipity 3

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:50:00 -0500

Size 0 cocktail

Post-Valentine’s Day chocolates and sweets sales are hard to resist. Equally irresistible is South Beach’s new ice cream and dessert shop, New York’s famed Serendipity 3. While the frozen hot chocolate has earned raves (and movie cameos), don’t miss the shop’s whimsical cocktails, which can be as indulgent as a dessert or virtually guilt-free. Calorie-counting diners might try the Size 0 cocktail made with vodka, muddled strawberry and cucumber, and light lemonade. And for something sweeter, there’s the Caketini, which is topped with actual cake.

Theodora & Callum Play with Dayglow

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:41:00 -0500

Scarfs by Theodora and Callum

Rather than hop a plane to faraway places like Bora Bora, Morocco, Turkey, and India, opt instead to channel the sultry locales through fashion with exotic scarfs, jewelry, shoes, and handbags by Theodora & Callum. Helmed by fashion trailblazer Stefani Greenfield, of Scoop NYC stores and Bravo’s Launch My Linefame, and entertainment producer Desirée Gruber (wife of Sex and the City’s Kyle MacLachlan), the bon vivant-inspired line is named after Greenfield’s daughter and Gruber’s son, Theodora and Callum. While whimsical printed scarves are at the heart of the collection, Stuart Weitzman manufactures the shoes and handbags. “We think of Theodora & Callum as a creative factory. It’s not about chasing trends,” says Greenfield. The dayglow designs in Theodora & Callum’s spring collection are sure to be seen around South Beach. Capretto Shoes, 5822 Sunset Dr., South Miami; 305-661-7767

Foodie Forecast: Next Wave Dining Trends

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Trend: Multicultural pizza, such as Greek


	Gail Simmons during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival 2010

	Trend: Artisanal cheeses, such as fresh burrata

The beginning of 2012 may signal the Great Year of Grains on the local fine-dining scene. Lots of trends are vying for traction, but one thing on which many of the area’s top chefs agree is the emergence of “new” old grains and seeds. They range from health food staples, such as quinoa, to more exotic-sounding fare. “People want more health benefits out of what they eat, and pastas, especially, will get a makeover,” says Dewey LoSasso of The Forge Restaurant and Wine Bar.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Alberto Marcato, executive corporate chef at Graspa Group, which includes Mai Tardi, Tiramesu, Spris, Segafredo, and Soyka, among others. He’s introduced pastas made from quinoa, kamut, and farro in recent years, and expects their popularity to grow.

Unsurprisingly, a love for the artisanal and locally produced will continue in Miami. “Artisanal cheeses are where it’s at now,” says Barton G. Weiss of Barton G. “There are terrific artisanal cheesemakers in New York State, Vermont, and even in Florida.” Marcato has found a favorite of these, he says, buying burrata and other small-batch cheeses from a producer in downtown Miami.

Sustainability, especially of seafood, also remains a top concern. This might mean the use of more locally caught fish, for Marcato, or for others, the use of lesser known species. Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka, executive chef of the Shelborne South Beach’s new Bar Tanaka, nods to farm-raised paiche from South America, which he uses in a spicy tempura roll. “It was a lost species for decades,” he says. “I think it will be a replacement for Chilean sea bass.”

But how do these local trends match up to those across the country? For some national perspective, we turned to someone who speaks and eats with more chefs than most: Gail Simmons. She’s best known for her turns as judge and host on Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef: Just Desserts, respectively, and will be hosting a seminar for the annual Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival this month. Simmons confirmed a few trends, and noted others to watch out for as 2012 unfurls.

LEE BRIAN SCHRAGER: Your position as special projects director at Food & Wine and role as a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef have no doubt given you the opportunity to try nearly every type of culinary trend out there. What’s “in” these days?
GAIL SIMMONS: Food trucks—they’re progressing to the next stage. Some of them are getting so big and so successful that they’re setting up in permanent locations. One of my favorites is the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck—the owners just opened an actual store in [New York’s] East Village! I think that says a lot about where we are in the world, and it’s a good thing that people are responding to it.

What trends have you noticed in the way of seafood? Are people moving towards any certain type of fish, or away? What about particular preparations?
Similar to trends in all other food, there is more interest in local, responsibly caught seafood. Species like snakehead are beginning to appear on more East Coast menus, as there has been an increase in the fish’s population in the Chesapeake Bay. Increased support for Gulf Coast seafood and traditional New Orleans preparations following the oil spill of 2010 are also still very relevant, thanks to chefs such as Emeril Lagasse, Tory McPhail, and John Besh. This is the case too for wild American shrimp, which is more abundant and has a cleaner, fresher taste.

Trend: Sustainable seafood, such as wild American shrimp


	Trend: Korean cuisine, such as kimchi

	Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith’s peanut butter in a cup with homemade malted marshmallows

What new global influences do you see chefs exploring?
I would say Korean food is the next cuisine chefs are really exploring—lots of kimchi, bulgogi, and barbecue are popping up on menus all over the country in unexpected ways. Michael Schwartz’s spicy grilled beef salad with kimchi at Michael’s Genuine was at the forefront years ago, and now so many others have followed suit. Another trend I’ve seen is the proliferation of multicultural breads: bao, nan, lavash, cornbreads, arepas, tortillas, and m’smen. Plus, bakers are using all types of unusual grains and seeds to enhance flavor and experiment. There have also never been more choices for artisanal pizza and flatbreads, not just from Italy but inspired by Greece, the Middle East, South America, and even Asia. Carbophobes are out; fresh, whole-grain goodness is making a serious comeback.

Do you think the trend of using all parts of a cow or pig is already on the outs, or are many Americans still discovering it?
I do not think it’s actually a trend at all. It’s here to stay, as cutting back on waste and finding new ways to cook with lesser known and less expensive cuts of meat helps make food more affordable, and is more sustainable and ethical.

Your newest show, Top Chef: Just Desserts, focuses on pastry chefs, and desserts are hot right now. What are your thoughts on that?
I think we’re at a time when the world is uncertain and nothing really is more comforting than dessert. They’re soulful and nostalgic. They have absolutely no nutritional value. I mean, think about it, no doctor is going to tell you to eat it. They’re all about pleasure, and in these times, I think that’s what people are looking for.

That said, who are some pastry chefs to look out for?
In New York, Kierin Baldwin from The Dutch is fantastic. She’s the new queen of pies! I’m excited to see what she does in Miami. And I love Hedy Goldsmith [of Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink]. She really gets people’s palates. You definitely see her skill and sophistication in every dish, and at the same time, she manages to get to the soul of one’s taste buds. Jordan Kahn [of Red Medicine in Los Angeles] is also definitely one to watch.

Lastly: dark, white, or milk?
Dark, 70 percent. No question.

Trunk Show: Pick Your Ippolita Pleasure

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:21:00 -0500

When it comes to creating timeless, handmade gold pieces, Italian jewelry designer Ippolita has got it in the bag. Touted for her sculpted designs in gold, silver, and rose-colored metals, Ippolita’s bold necklaces, chunky rings, and stacked bangles have become a fan favorite of celebrities like Brooke Shields, Sofia Vergara, Mila Kunis, and Zoë Saldana. Meet the designer behind the brand at Neiman Marcus, Bal Harbour on Saturday (February, 18; 11:30) during an exclusive spring/summer 2012 trunk show promising bites and bubbly. 9700 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour; RSVP to 305-993-4612 or RSVPBalHarbour@NeimanMarcus.com.

Gorgeous Green Nail Polishes

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:48:00 -0500

Fall’s teal-colored nail polishes will take on a decidedly pistachio hue this spring. We love Priti NYC's Dusty Miller ($13), Dior's Waterlily ($23), and RGB's Dew ($16). Try out the look at your favorite salon—a green manicure might be the cure for the February blues.

Accessory Find: Diamond Ear Cuffs

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:44:00 -0500

Kruger, wearing Repossi ear cuffs

At the premiere of her new film, Farewell, My Queen, in which she plays Marie Antoinette, actress Diane Kruger sported these chic ear cuffs. Upon further research, fashion website Refinery29 revealed that the cuffs are by Italian jewelry brand Repossi, and are made of white gold and diamonds. Similar styles are available in the Colette e-shop and start at a cool $12,468.

Stiltsville: Miami's Treasure Island

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Each Stiltsville structure is unique; the Leshaw House, built in the 1950s, features a distinctive mansard roof


	Two of Stiltsville’s remaining seven structures atop the grass flats of Biscayne Bay

	Fishing off the Quarterdeck Club circa 1940

	Commodore Edward Turner, creator of Stiltsville’s famed Quarterdeck Club, fishing in bed during its 1940s heyday

Miami is forever casting itself as a land of misfits that needs to be hijacked by the future, as if some fantastical neo-Noah’s Ark— baseball stadium, overreaching museum, or a casino or two—will save the city from a lesser fate. Despite all that bold new civic monument rhetoric, the accidents of architecture, the small unassuming pockets of taste, balance, and proportion, have the most enduring allure, and nothing is more profoundly Miami—or alluring—than Stiltsville, a collection of seven brightly painted Caribbean-style shacks on the flats off the tip of Key Biscayne.

Our least expensive design wonder, built by Regular Joes from plywood, found materials, and the inalienable American right to have a beer and a good time on the weekend, has outperformed $500 million constructions in town as a promotional precept. Stiltsville was featured in the circa-1960 series Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges, 1981’s Absence of Malice with Paul Newman, Miami Vice, and nearly every other television show filmed here, as well as a WLRN documentary, Stiltsville: Generations on the Flats. It has been chronicled in Time magazine, among countless other publications, and in the literary realm incorporated into Carl Hiaasen’s Skin Tight and Naked Came the Manatee, as well as Les Standiford’s Done Deal.

Aside from the aesthetic merits, the houses, which sit on shallow grass flats between aquamarine finger channels draining lower Biscayne Bay, are great navigational markers, fishing spots, and shelter for boaters when a storm kicks up. And on a beautiful day, with a soft breeze floating over the water, an afternoon in Stiltsville brings the kind of well-being that only comes from the natural world.

The cult of Stiltsville, called “The Shacks” or “Shack Colony” in the ’20s and ’30s, began to ratchet up with such 1930s salty-dog characters as Captain Eddie “Crawfish” Walker, who sold beer, bait, and crawfish chowder out of his shack. By the late 1950s, the flats contained some 27 houses. Jimmy Ellenburg, the unofficial mayor of Stiltsville, used to host LeRoy Collins, then the governor of Florida. In 1959, Collins made a photo album of his visits, writing to Ellenburg, “I hope the great beyond seems a lot like your cabin in the sea.”

But from the beginning, Stiltsville has also served as a semiotic codeword for pleasure without rules or limits, the let-the-good-times-roll roadhouse on the outskirts of town. In the 1930s, the Calvert Club there had a loyal following and issued its own commemorative postcard, like some mainland joint. In 1940, Commodore Edward Turner created the private Quarterdeck Club, which was featured in Life magazine. It evolved into a reputed gambling establishment, before the structure was eventually destroyed by a fire in 1961. A year later, a 150-foot yacht was grounded on the flats and turned into the Bikini Club: Owner Harry Churchville had a nude sunbathing deck and gave free drinks to girls in bikinis—no one ever said Stiltsville was politically correct—but was shut down three years later by the State Beverage Department.

As with the rest of Florida, hurricanes also marked the course of Stiltsville. After Hurricane Betsy in 1965, the surviving homes were hoisted on concrete pilings and rebuilt according to local construction codes; only seven homes survived 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. The legal noose began to tighten in 1980, when the boundaries of Biscayne National Park were expanded to encompass Stiltsville. The Florida Department of Natural Resources declared that all Stiltsville leases would end in 1999. In an effort to save their properties, house owners formed the Save Old Stiltsville group and futilely lobbied for historic protection status. The legal wrangling ended in 2000, when Biscayne National Park finally agreed to keep the houses intact. They insisted the houses be accessible to the public on a permitted basis, and a group was formed that is now the Stiltsville Trust. The Trust and Biscayne National Park share stewardship of the houses, which are open to promotional parties, photo shoots, charitable organizations, conferences, and artists-in-residence programs. Individuals can also rent houses, up to 10 in a unit, for a daily fee of $50 a head.

In the end, everything worked out just fine. Stiltsville is our local equivalent of the weekend cabin on the lake or the ski lodge, the refuge that ties into a universal yearning for escape, a reprieve from the workaday world and freedom from judgment. And that particular experience should be open to anyone and everyone. For information on renting a house at Stiltsville, contact publicaccess@stiltsvilletrust.org

Style News: TOMS Launches a Line of Ballet Flats

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:37:00 -0500

TOMS ballet flats

The exceedingly comfortable TOMS slip-ons have been morphed into a collection of ballet flats ($74–$84) for spring. Available in 13 colors and styles, materials include suede animal print, black leather, canvas, burlap, linen, and a woven variety. For fans of the classic TOMS shoe, there is also a limited-edition Valentine’s Day print (gray canvas, pink hearts) available only online. And, as always, for every TOMS shoe purchased, the brand will donate a pair of shoes to a person in need. Nordstrom, 7239 S.W. 88th St., 786-709-4100