VELVET UNDERGROUND
Rappers and poets and artists -- oh my!
By LESLEY ABRAVANEL
lank@aol.com
It's no secret that some of us, ahem, love little, off-the-beaten-path places, especially in this town, where paths may be off and may be beaten but rarely does the twain meet. One of those places is Circa 28 in Wynwood. On Friday, a bigger than usual fusion of art, poetry and music will occur, beginning with a live performance by monthly resident band Elastic Bond at 11 p.m. and continuing with poetry by Debrorah Magdalena, graffiti by Rok One, Fisik and Audet, a photo shoot by Alissa Christine (who's got a very cool project chronicling the city going on), and DJ Inga Ambrosia. It's an Attention Deficit Disorder's delight!
Or, if you prefer, a rapper's delight is taking place at Bicentennial Park on from noon to midnight Saturday. The SanDisk Mobile Rock the Bells Festival features live performances by A Tribe Called Quest, Nas and Mos Def, Method Man, Redman, Raekwon, Ghostface, Dead Prez, The Cool Kids, The Pharcyde and De La Soul. General admission tickets are $55 and can be bought at the gate or at www.rockthebells.ticketanimal.com.
Speaking of the cool kids, we hear that they're all hanging out at the pool on the Gansevoort South rooftop and not just on Thursday nights for Michael Capponi's weekly bacchanal. Even better, we hear that Cutler hair salon, part of the Gansevoort playground, is offering complimentary hair treatments poolside twice a day while people are laying out. According to PR director Lilaj Segal Battista, ''They go around the pool offering to apply their sun protection product to your hair and to give you a stylish poolside 'do.'' Oh, really?! So how do regular folk get up there without being a hotel guest, pray tell? Be creative. It's not impossible.
Also not impossible, at least on South Beach, is finding a steakhouse. That will be especially true when Meat Market opens at 915 Lincoln Rd. at the end of the summer. Coming from the Touch folks, the restaurant in the old Pacific Time space will feature, well, meat. There will also be a swanky Crudo Bar, an indoor-outdoor lounge and raw bar, that, according to Chef Sean Brasel, will be ``a raw bar experience unlike anything in town.''
Continuing on a meaty path, opening at Aventura Mall this week is Ocean Prime, a ''modern American supper club'' serving fish, steaks and, our fave, cocktails. Opening this winter at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Dr.: BLT Steak, the hotspot by star chef Laurent Tourondel, whose BLT Burger at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas was, we must say, pretty irresistible. And then there's Red, the steakhouse opening at First Street and Washington Avenue, and then STK at the Gansevoort, also most likely this winter. As exciting as it all is, can someone please open something different for a change?
Something different for sure is set to open in Coconut Grove on the rooftop of the once again revamped Mayfair hotel. Cabana One promises to bring a new brand of hip to the Grove in the form of a tripped-out rooftop pool, bar, restaurant and lounge. According to NYC publicist Ron Berkowitz, ''A lot of people are moving off the Beach and there's one thing missing -- a place like this. Cabana is going to fill the void. . . . It's for people who don't want to battle the traffic and tourism on the beach.'' Berkowitz also tells us that his partners include sports biggies Jonathan Vilma and Elton Brand and that on Sundays, Cabana One will introduce a party in the same vein as the uber popular Rehab in Las Vegas called Sunday School, with cocktail waitresses dressed like Britney Spears circa Oops I Did It Again. In addition to 360-degree views of the city, Cabana One will also feature resident DJs from NYC and Miami, live acts and eight ''pimped-out cabanas.'' Oh, and bottle prices will be cheaper -- not cheap, but cheaper. ''A $400 bottle of Grey Goose will be $300 and a $500 of Patron will be $350,'' Berkowitz says. ''You won't be paying Beach prices here.'' While Cabana One is set to open in October, the Mayfair is also introducing -- guess what! -- a steakhouse. NYC import Angelo and Maxie's. Fancy that.
To, uh, tide us over until then, The Tides is debuting a new Limoncello Popsicle Martini (where swank Capri meets campy South beach) and happy hour from 5-9 p.m. Friday. The happy hour will take place weekly with a reduced price Popsicle Martini menu -- $8 as opposed to the usual $15 -- a complimentary tapas sampler with the first round of drinks and discounted tapas thereafter. Occasionally there will be extras like mini massages. Beer and wine are just $5. As much as we like off-beat, we may love off-price even more.
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