Observations ... "just like Ted."

Shie Moreno poster

I once derived pleasure from being a regular at bars and clubs. Naturally, there was always a preferred vantage spot. My earliest meomories are from accompanying my father in forays to heavily air-conditioned dark places, all of which had little, nylon-meshed, red candles that illuminated ashtrays and nothing else. Bars like that were all over town. I learned the protocol for paying a bookie at 'The Office', ... it is a skill I have never needed.

I started clubbing on my own at fourteen and remember wearing a three-piece YSL suit with a thick, red velvet Pierre Cardin tie and platform shoes as I danced for the first time to Van McCoy's 'Do the Hustle' at the 'Widow McCoy' in Coconut Grove. It was the first discotheque in Miami. In my early teens I would also sneak into 'The Mutiny' by entering through the kitchen.

Later, I lived on the Beach when it was near impossible to spend 50 bucks on a night out. A cocktail was at most $2.00 and all the bartenders were friends. 'The Clevelander' on Ocean Drive, Monday nights at the 'Island Club' and any night at 'Scratch' were the venues of the time. 

Apropos of nothing, the best bartender I have ever known was Ted when he worked at 'The Strand' on Washington Avenue. He may have been the guy that invented the Cosmopolitan. For many years that followed, whenever I encountered exceptionally good service I would think "....just like Ted".

These observations were prompted by attending the opening of 'MI-6', a club that aspires to something grand. Nightlife has changed but a time has come for something old to be new again. Although I overheard comparisons to 'Studio 54', it was another New York club from another time that came to mind. It reminded me (by repute) of 'The Stork Club', a place for media personalities, moguls and star athletes to have a favorite table and discretely see and be seen. It is a setting that requires elegance in its patrons. The music, lights and high spirits did generate an energy similar to that of the dance floor at Studio.

'MI-6' (which they spell with Roman numerals, MI-VI) is the perfect venue to bring back the slow dance as a regular part of the mix. It is forgotten that slow songs were always included in the disco era. 'Studio 54' played them as did 'The Embassy' in London, a place of racy glamour. A generation has grown up without knowing the warm, tingly bliss of dancing cheek to cheek to a slow, loving tune. It is time again.

Finally, recently I accompanied Taissia, the VIP Director at 'MI-6' to the high tech hangout 'Mynt' where a memorial was held for Gilbert Stafford, the legendary doorman. It was important to notice and moving to see that, among other things, much love and loyalty can be found in the community of people that make up the night.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/ramon-l-granda/observations/306072707064
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