1616-36 The MIA Herald-No Hullabaloo at classy new steakhouse 1 of 7, 5 Terms
mh04 NO HULLABALOO AT CLASSY NEW STEAKHOUSE 02/13/2004
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 2004, The Miami Herald
DATE: Friday, February 13, 2004 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Tropical Life PAGE: 24G LENGTH: 84 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: J. Lo at the Tuscan Steak House (a) , Bruce Orosz, Noelle
Stevenson and Jeff Peel at the Raleigh (a) , Shareef Malnik and Pauly Shore at
the Forge (a) , Thalia at Bongos Cuban Cafe (a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: BY LESLEY ARBAVANEL, Special to the Herald
NO HULLABALOO AT CLASSY NEW STEAKHOUSE
It's Friday the 13th, and barring any Freddy, Jason or unsolicited pierced
nipple sightings, there's nothing to fear other than, perhaps, the notion of
Pauly Shore celebrating his birthday at the Forge as he did earlier this
month.
Now that that's in the past, we can fearlessly move on to business as
unusual, or, in the case of Prime 112, the sizzling new steakhouse and newborn
addition to Myles Chefetz's (Nemo, Big Pink, Shoji Sushi) ever-expanding
restaurant empire, housed in the Key West-on-the-outside,
Manhattan-on-the-inside 112 Ocean Dr., business as unusually usual. By usual,
we don't mean boring, but rather a refreshingly lively scene of people just
cocktailing, eating and conversing like they do in cities such as New York and
Chicago. No doormen, no DJ, just a classy yet modern big-city steakhouse.
Although the place opened quietly on a random Wednesday night it was
packed with the Who's Who of the city, including Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey
Loria, man-about-town Michael Dreiling and even, according to Chefetz, the
owners of Smith and Wollensky, who were at a table not so inconspicuously
taking notes on the place. If a standby such as S&W is already in there
worrying about competition, you know the place rocks.
Rocking nearby at Pearl last Saturday night was the Kip Swimwear fashion
show, where women competed to become finalists for a part on the upcoming
prime-time network show American Woman. Casti$g director Matt Vener and Kip
Swimwear CEO Brian Kip judged the contest, which was followed by an afterparty
at Nikki Beach Club sponsored by, lasciviously enough, WET by Beefeater. And
speaking of Nikki Beach Club, although it has some stiff Sunday competition by
the names of Ritz and Raleigh, up in Hollywood there is no competition - which
explains last week's unveiling of Nikki Marina, 3555 S. Ocean Dr., across
from the Westin Diplomat. It features waterfront boozing, schmoozing and
cruising amid "South Beach-style DJs, models, entertainers and performers, "
according to the invite. There's also sushi, seafood, Sunday brunch and dock
space for over 50 yachts. Why go to Hollywood if you are in the mood for South
Beach-style DJs, et al.? Come on, Nikki Marina, dare to be different.
In his own daring move, consummate South Beach charmer-promoter and Miami
Beach commish candidate Tony Guerra has boldly taken over the space formerly
known as Shadow Lounge, among other things we can't seem to remember, at 1532
Washington Ave. , a space which many insiders claim is cursed due to its status
as a former synagogue. Soon to be known as Amika, the minimalist lounge will
emulate a New York loft with a restaurant in the back, an upstairs
glass-enclosed area and two new rooms in which to hide. Slated to open in late
April, Amika is not afraid of the alleged curse, and neither is its creator.
"Instead of running away from the building, " Guerra says, 'embrace it,
market it, and promote it as another historic landmark the city has to offer.
I believe in good energies and I believe in bad energies. I do not believe the