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Happy feet: Ah, nothing beats the taste of a foot in your mouth. (I guess its better than eating crow.) Last week Basshead maintained that the Slak Lounge had lost two of its clubs, Aquabooty and the Kitchen Club. While that is true — although, technically, the Kitchen Club will continue to throw monthly parties at the lounge — the context in which it was written was not.
No, Slak Lounge is not falling off; its doing quite fine, thank you. But what about those bathroom toilets that leaked water all over the floor during Aquabootys closing party two weeks ago? Oh my God … it was a nightmare, sighs co-owner Naomi Nye, adding that she hired a plumber to change the pipes this week. I guess the owner before us didnt have that much traffic, and we didnt have that much traffic either until the past two months.
Nye and her business partner, Nikki Leeberg, secured a bank loan to purchase the bar from its previous owner last August. Since then, theyve been renovating Slak Lounge with their own funds. We had to get everything back up to code, she admits. Weve changed everything as far as plumbing, electrical, and the air conditioner. That was a big investment that we didnt expect to have to make because its such an old place. Concurrently, the duo has also had a lot of success, garnering favorable notices from this paper (Best New Bar in the Best of Miami issue), Street Miami, and many other local publications. Its been quite a run, she says.
Slak Lounges two owners are currently focused on making various improvements to the building, like adding a new patio to the upstairs lounge. Right now, the Real Cool Time DJs, who host a night of funk and soul every Saturday, are the only weekly residents. The other parties, like Sleaze (held every second and fourth Friday), are rotated on a biweekly basis. Upcoming events may include a fetish party and a Halloween bash. Were trying to keep it underground, Nye promises.
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Coming in from the cold: Last week Osiel Rojas and his girlfriend Melissa Ettere threw a gallery opening that also served as an introduction of sorts to their new space, Osiel, at 1570 Washington Ave. in South Beach. On display that night were abstract works by Raiko of the world-famous Inkhead crew and Miss Sanchez, with the latter showcasing drip paintings evidently inspired by Jackson Pollock.
Rojas and Ettere cheekily describe Osiel as a lifestyle store that should be open by the time you read this. Its located on the same property that once housed another vintage clothing outlet, My Uncle Deco, for several years. The duo promises to offer used threads, esoteric new fashions by cutting-edge designers, and over 1000 pieces of new and used vinyl spanning bass, electro, IDM, and other misbegotten electronic genres. Promisingly, they have already won the hearts of little and overgrown children walking on Washington Avenue by putting a giant-size Transformer toy in the storefront window.
Rojas returned with Ettere (a former stylist with Harpers Bazaar) to his hometown after living in New York for several years. His previous venture, Safety in Numbers, included a limited-edition magazine (Safety Manual), a distribution company for electronic and dance records (Safe Distribution), and a music festival (Sin Festival). But Safety in Numbers foundered after 9/11. It wasnt the only Manhattan enterprise to go under, though: Most of the specialty [businesses] were the first things to go, he explains.
At any rate, the newly minted Osiel will be in good company here, joining other fledgling boutiques like YoYo and M-80. Basshead would like to wish them all good luck.
