1614-7 Various Miami Beach THU JUL 10 1986 ED: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORS MB PAGE: 2 LENGTH: 16. 63" MEDIUM
ILLUST: photo: James Cook and Sandra Cook at Cafe des Artistes
(RESTAURANT-C)
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER WELLISZ Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO:
OCEAN DRIVE BECOMING MECCA OF CAFE SOCIETY
RESTAURANTS,
BARS OPENING
ALONG STREET
At the Park Retirement Home on Miami Beach' s Ocean Drive, fragile-
looking elderly residents sit in lawn chairs, staring at the beach and waiting
out the day.
Next door at the Locust, James Cook discusses Cafe des Artistes, Ocean
Drive ' s newest mecca for the young and stylish.
Ceiling fans whirr overhead in the lobby of the Locust, a freshly
painted salmon colored apartment building near Ninth Street. The bar is
varnished wood, the furniture wicker.
The ambience, Cook said, is Casablanca. "We have a piano player. We ' ll
have to get him a white jacket and an black bow tie and see if we can call him
Sam. "
Cafe des Artistes, owned by Cook' s mother, Sandra Cook, is the fourth
seaside eatery to open on Ocean Drive in the past year. Slowly, as historic
Art Deco buildings are renovated, Ocean Drive ' s porches are filling up with
colorful cafe umbrellas and youthful crowds.
Six other hotels have been given zoning variances to open restaurants or
bars. Their owners talk about serving Chinese and Italian food, oysters on the
half shell, champagne by the glass -- all in places that until recently were
the preserve of the poor and the elderly.
"We early on identified the possibility of using these terraces as
cafes, " said Miami Beach Planning Director Jud Kurlancheek. "We saw it as an
entertainment district that would attract tourists and residents of the city
and county. "
Ocean Drive ' s nascent nightlife began last August, when a restored
Carlyle Bar and Grill was reopened with soft lights and live jazz . The Carlyle
was followed in April by the Waldorf Towers, where blues musicians play in the
basement bar on weekends.
As of last weekend, beachgoers could drop by at the Leslie, another
hotel owned by the Royale Group, for espresso and ice cream. The cafe ' s
manager, Leslie Filosa, said an opera singer and guitarist will stroll the
porch at night.
Waldorf owner Jerry Sanchez said he soon will open restaurants in two
hotels that he is restoring -- the Breakwater and the Edison. He said the he
will serve Japanese or Chinese food in one; Italian food in the other.
Tony Goldman, a New York restaurateur who last month bought two hotels,
The Park Central and the Imperial, said he will open a bar that serves
champagne by the glass late next year.
And Ocean Drive ' s newest hotel owners, 24-year-old Tony Kay and his 23-
year-old brother, Kent, are full of plans for the Clevelander, which they
bought from Sanchez last month. They want to open an informal "fun bar" with
beer and oysters on the half shell.
Sandra Cook bought and restored the Locust three years ago. Last
weekend, she opened the Cafe des Artistes in the lobby of the Venetian-style
apartment building.
For now, the restaurant will be open only on weekends. Sandra Cook said
she wants it to be a place where people can stop in for a full meal or just a
drink. James talks about adding a special menu of wines and Tapas -- Spanish
appetizers.
What with street' s ocean view and historic buildings, "I don't think you
can lose here, " Sandra Cook said. "In Europe, you see these places constantly
dotting the coastline. "
But there are obstacles. Sam Hertzberg, an owner of the Tides hotel,
said he would like to open and underground "speakeasy" with live music and an
outdoor cafe. The problem: he can't get a loan for the $500, 000 project. If
not for that, he said, "I would have opened yesterday. "
ADDED TERMS:
END OF DOCUMENT.