Uva 69 opened up a brave new hope for residents of the beleaguered Biscayne Boulevard. The charming indoor/outdoor bistro aimed to bring alfresco dining to a bustling thoroughfare best known for hosting an overt and brisk black-market trade. But owners Sinhue and Michael Vega aimed even higher, planning to rescue…

In the Nineties heyday, no respectable South Beach club was without its queens — statuesque bombshells taking on bouncer duties at the door, bumping and grinding on the dance floor, posing for photographs, or generally showing up and being showered with drink tickets just for being so effing fabulous. The…

Your tree is beautifully decorated; the stockings have been hung with care. And it’s finally here — Christmas Day — the moment you’ve been cleaning and wrapping and shop-shop-shopping in preparation for. After the presents have been opened and you’ve thrown away the wrapping paper, what’s your reward? Oh joy…

We can’t be the only ones ready to bid adieu to this miserable wretch of a year. It was so doom-and-gloom. At the close of 2008, the economy is in the toilet; folks are losing jobs left, right, and center; and we’re all weary from surviving an election cycle that…

In her lifetime, Marilyn Monroe created some iconic images — the infamous 1949 Playboy nude, the revealing and playful film still from The Seven Year Itch, the Warhol pop art, and Richard Avedon’s troubled 1957 portrait. None are sadder and more poignant than the shots snapped by legendary fashion and…

Bars and clubs come and go in Miami Beach, and then there’s Mac’s Club Deuce. Opened in 1926 as a restaurant and nightclub, it remains an oasis of permanence, affordability, and realism in an overpriced tourist trap that often feels like a mirage. On a Friday or Saturday night, if…

The drag scene in Miami has been tried and tested by the vicissitudes of time. Through the years, some stars on have shone brightly, while others have simply faded away. Three primary ones remain, their names familiar even to outsiders. There’s blond glamazon Elaine Lancaster, comical cheerleader Shelley Novak, and…

Clubbing is typically a selfish exercise in overindulgence. I wanna party! I wanna do shots at the bar! I’m gonna shake my ass all night long! I think I might go home with a stranger! It’s all about me, me, me. This weekend, as you hit the hotspots and guzzle…

You know shit is wicked rough when luxe retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom are offering deep discounts, and piles of Coach purses and Prada wallets are popping up at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Ross. Recession time, and the living ain’t easy for many a retailer. If the big…

Your office Christmas party is likely a slightly buttoned-down affair. After all, your boss is gonna be bellying up to the bar beside you, so you don’t want to say or do anything too embarrassing. Besides, in these rough economic times, do you really need a reason to go job…

Tourists visiting Miami, allow us to clear up a popular misconception. You might imagine yourself sitting under some kind of colorful striped umbrella, sipping a cocktail at some kind of beachfront restaurant while you gaze at a tranquilly lapping ocean. That ain’t gonna happen if you visit Miami Beach. In…

During the rest of the year, they’re considered only as real estate for children-consuming witches. But at Christmas, gingerbread houses are a charming reminder of the past. You know, back when folks strung popcorn garlands around their trees, instead of buying boxes of Martha Stewart’s glittery balls at Kmart. Building…

Shit is rough right now. People aren’t just tightening their belts, they’re puncturing new holes in the leather and sucking in for dear life. Few are feeling the pinch more than the restaurant industry. Makes sense — when times are hard, the last thing most people want to do is…

When New Times asked Miami philanthropist Myrna Palley what inspired her to purchase art, she gave a deliciously lofty and whimsical reply. “How do I know which piece to buy? I just know. I have to have it. It’s just something I want. Like, how do you know what you…

The malls are so disgustingly crowded during the holidays, sometimes you need extra help to cut through the insanity. Don’t you just wish you could take a big Rottweiler with you to clear the aisles at Body Works? Or keep your kitty cat in your purse, to unleash its claws…

We know there’s a percentage of visiting Art Baselites who legitimately are here for art, who care deeply about catching the hottest events so they can lay their hungry eyes on the exhibits right as they open. We’re feeling generous, so we’ll guesstimate that elite group of bona-fide art lovers…

At most venues in Miami Beach, you might meet a hot chick who will loudly and passionately claim she doesn’t play games. People love saying that on a first date; it makes them seem genuine and stuff. All the while, they’re wrapping you up in some kind of manipulative Jedi…

Sandwiched between the politically conscious Rastafari-influenced reggae music of the late Sixties and early Seventies, and the nursery-rhyme braggadocio of early-Eighties dancehall, was the genre known as rockers, or lovers’ rock. Heavy foundation riddims layered with earnest sentiments and pleas for reciprocal romance were the order of the day, and…