Press, Press, and Pull

Every time this year I become a member of The Press. It’s not for me to conduct some award-winning investigative reporting on the consumption of frozen mango margaritas. It is to get into the Food and Wine Festival without paying.

The Festival is off and flying with the first grand parties last night at Casa Casuarina and the Victor Hotel, our neighbors to the south on Ocean Drive. The hottest ticket in town, although it’s been sold out for weeks at $275 per person, is tonight’s Bubbly Q at The Delano. The participating chefs compete at BBQ’s on the beach and Moet Chandon keeps everyone’s whistles wet. It’s hard to leave standing.

Last night Virgin tycoon, Richard Branson, came into The Palace with 13 friends and spent $1,000 on dinner. Now, our hamburgers and supper dishes are very, very good, but to spend that much means downing many bottles of wine and champagne, which is exactly what he did. He also left an extraordinary tip which tells a lot about a guy who started with nothing.

This morning I was talking with some tourists from Chicago when two big—very big—SWAT team cops walked in, all loaded down with guns, radios, and armor. The room froze, I looked for an escape route, and Ditmar turned around to face them. The biggest one approached the bar and leaned over; the only sound was the chatter of teeth. Ditmar approached him and the cop looked him in the face, gave him a big, wet kiss on the lips and said, “Hi, honey”. We all looked at each other and laughed. It IS South Beach.