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Robin Thicke and Beyoncé at the Mansion
concert after-party. Photo by Seth Browarnik/Wire Image |
Sometimes
when I picture the Milon brothers, I can’t help but
imagine them sporting top hats and monocles. Ever since these
Frenchies made their way to the shores of South Beach, they’ve
made it their mission to scoop up every prime piece of nightlife
real estate they could get their snooty little hands on. The
Opium Group, which consists of Opium/Privé, Mansion, Set
and some new digs in Vegas, continues to spread its nightlife
ideology and thus subtly, but purposefully, monopolize the
nightlife world. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that the Opium
Group failed in acquiring yet another beach hotspot, Crobar,
which was instead purchased by Louis Puig (of Space
fame) and renamed Cameo. Though the group was outbid, its
insatiable desire to control every velvet rope from here to
France has diminished not at all. According to a couple of the
Group’s A-list promoters, the Milon brothers have done it again,
successfully snagging the only place where you can literally
sleep with someone and then take them home. That’s right, the
one and only B.E.D. nightclub on Ninth and Washington has
apparently seen its last days.
Admittedly, the
queen-size club had a nice run a few years ago, but has since
fallen to the wayside, resurfacing from mediocrity every now and
then only long enough to cater to an urban crowd or to push a
special event performance, like when it housed James Holden
for WMC. The Opium Group would neither confirm nor deny these
reports, but if it’s true, we can expect them to apply their
tried and tested formula for revitalizing a struggling venue. We
need only look at Set to see what that could look like. When the
Group took over Gerry Kelly’s struggling State
nightclub, they closed it down and began extensive remodeling
that leaned toward the exceedingly opulent. With their
ever-evolving list of celebrity guests they love to shuffle from
club to club, all they’ll have to do after that is throw up a
velvet rope and add five doormen to keep the peasants out.
Mal-Funkshion
It’s amazing how
quickly fortunes change in this city. Just ask the owners of
Funkshion Lounge and Restaurant on Lincoln Road. On Sunday
they hosted a wicked little shindig that saw the return of Miami
Beach iconic DJ Connie Casserole. The place was packed
and the crowd seemed wholly satisfied with the beats, not to
mention the scene. Fast forward 24 hours and the place is a
ghost town. On the door, a menacing little piece of paper from
the sheriff’s office reads “Notice of Eviction.” When The 411
called Tuesday to inquire, we were assured that this was nothing
but a simple “misunderstanding” and that the tiny lounge would
resume operations the following day. Still, some regulars were
told the place would not open again till Thursday. As of
Wednesday morning, sources saw the eviction notice still posted
on Funkshion’s front door, and this information operator
wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it too has seen its last
days.
Suiteness
Janet Jackson
and her So So Def boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri,
casually made an entrance at
Suite last Thursday
night, a little after midnight. Janet, along
with her entourage of cronies, commandeered the VIP section and
was seen jammin’ to the grooves with her arms in the air. Though
everyone else in her posse was sippin’ on champagne, JJ merely
hydrated with some plain old H2O, no doubt in an
effort to keep her burgeoning badunkadunk in check.
That Eight-Figure Jigga
Jay-Z,
along with
Beyoncé
and her coattail-riding sister Solange Knowles, made an appearance alongside
Robin Thicke at Mansion on
Sunday night. While Beyoncé and Jay-Z mostly enjoyed each
other’s embrace and left around 3 a.m., Solange and Thicke
stayed and boogied with Scott Storch till way past 4 a.m.
That, however, wasn’t the only place Jay-Z was spotted.
Apparently, coming straight from a late night in the studio, Jay
and Pharrell Williams also made the rounds at Karu and
Y’s Tottem Garden, and Jay was seen chatting it up with
Ingrid Casares on Saturday night.
Spotted
*Last Tuesday, the
original Jerry Maguire, Drew Rosenhaus, and NFL clients
Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow Jr., Plaxico Burress, Donte
Stallworth, Chris Myers and Brett Romberg at the
Blue Door at the Delano. No doubt partying before heading
off to training camp, the crew was joined by Wilmer
Valderrama and friends for some drinks afterwards. Also
dining at the restaurant was Oakland Raider Warren Sapp
and his family.
*Kanye West, reportedly, arriving with a virtual Noah’s Ark
of peeps on Saturday night at Opium/Privé.
*The Simpsons’ Hank Azaria having dinner at
DeVito’s on Thursday night.
*Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff
apparently mooching off nightlife impresario Nicola Siervo:
The
Dancing with the Stars
couple enjoyed dinner at Siervo’s
Quattro restaurant on Saturday night and then
were spotted dancing into the early morning at Siervo’s
ultra-chic nightspot, Mokaï.
Upcoming
*Rock ’n’ roll is coming back in a cool new way, and you can check
it out when one of the hottest DJs in Miami, Ryan Evans,
takes to the decks at O Asian Grill’s new weekly party,
Retro. There will be a special sneak peek of the newly
remodeled upstairs area, which the restaurant hopes to turn into
an all-night hotspot by clearing out the tables and letting the
party people get crazy till 5 in the morning.
*“I came to get down/I came to get down/So get out your seat and
jump around” when Grammy award-winning Everlast
and Cypress Hill turntable mastermind, DJ Muggs,
throws down a “hybrid, 45-minute vocal, guitar and turntable
show” Friday at Mansion.
