Her million-dollar smile and self-described “deep” voice welcome you home after a long, hellish commute in South Florida traffic. Since 1999, Trina Robinson has been giving locals their daily dose of news — first as a meteorologist (she was the first African-American to hold a TV weather position in South…
“I’ve heard music,” Oscar G says, “my whole life.” Born in Miami to Cuban parents, he took piano lessons, learned to play drums, and joined the church choir. But it was those slabs of black plastic that eventually obsessed him. And so, the future house-music legend got into the habit…
Adam Gersten knew he had a hit right away. Gramps, his boxy bar located steps off the main vein in Wynwood, began pouring drinks the first week of December last year, right in the thick of Art Basel. The buzz was high, and so was the body count. The bar…
Katrina Campins says she was a nerd in school, which is probably why she was able to flip her first property at age 17. She was guided by both her spirituality and a need to understand human behavior during her time at the University of Miami, which is probably why…
At a time when most kids are scratching their heads, trying to figure out the next step after high school, Denzel Curry is dropping beats and recording albums. He recently landed on MTV. The 18-year-old Carol City rapper says he was “shocked” to discover he would be featured on the…
Alex Gartenfeld’s art career began, like so many others, on Canal Street in New York City. Unlike most curators, however, Gartenfeld launched his career out of his own stereotypically cozy New York apartment. “It was a cramped, tiny place on Canal, which at the time was a really central art…
Joel and Leticia Pollock start every day with an espresso. But for them, it’s not just the usual pick-me-up. The couple, who founded Panther Coffee in 2011, constantly analyze the aromas in their single-origin brews. For instance, they seek out the sugar-cane finish in their East Coast blend. “Tasting and…
A typical day with recording studio magnate Abebe Lewis might include coordinating a limo ride from the Delano for Miley Cyrus, facilitating strip club accommodations for Puerto Rican rap star Ñengo Flow, sending an intern to pick up cigars for Waka Flocka, booking afternoon studio time for Will Smith, and…
Ria Michelle is blogging from the Maldives: “We’ve been spending our time on a 24-hour champagne diet, spa days, and pool and beach-side hangs.” Wearing blue butterfly shades, a black swimsuit, and loose printed pants courtesy of the clothing brand Pitusa, she’s pictured on the dock of her over-water villa…
You’ll usually find Nicky Bowe in the warm womb of Little Haiti’s Churchill’s Pub. The Irishman’s thin arms and torso are covered with a colorful tatted narrative that rivals the dynamic tales that emerge from his smiling face. Nicky isn’t just a bartender or a guy who builds motorcycles. In…
Tatiana Suarez’s works remind us a bit of the doe-eyed kids painted by San Francisco artist Walter Keane. But while Keane painted eyes with a sort of vacant yet menacing look, the pupils of Suarez’s subjects twinkle with femininity and emotion — something she doesn’t apologize for. “I’m just inspired…
When a 20-year-old is dressed in a chicken costume, he’s usually either attending a costume party or working a shitty job. But not Carlos Bello. He does it for the hugs. Two or three times a month, Bello dons a polyester chicken suit he bought at a seasonal Kmart-turned-costume-store for…
Jose Mendin had never stocked a kitchen with new equipment. In 2010, when he launched the restaurant Pubbelly with partners Andreas Schreiner and Sergio Navarro, the chef equipped the place with used machinery. Now, after debuting six thriving restaurants in three years, the trio has fresh stoves for the very…
Sarah Newberry almost quit sailing because of a wedgie. She was 8 years old and enrolled in a Miami Yacht Club class with her best friend when the potentially life-altering event occurred. One day, the friend’s boat capsized on Biscayne Bay. The class instructor picked her up by the bathing…
Nine years ago on Christmas, Johnathan Wakefield’s wife presented him with a Mr. Beer kit — the same one-gallon, $50 contraption that has sent thousands of American men into their garages to play brewmaster. Even with his first batch, Wakefield, an accountant who’d tinkered in culinary classes, experimented with tropical…
Top Chef, the cooking competition on Bravo, has made stars out of many of its contestants. Past seasons have given us Carla Hall, Jeff McInnis, and Fabio Viviani, making the reality show a talent incubator for chefs with a recipe for charisma and talent to rise to the top in…
P. Scott Cunningham’s dream sounds as simple as haiku. Yet making it real has proven more complex than iambic pentameter. Here’s his ambition, straight from his website: that “every person in Miami-Dade County find a poem during the month of April.” To reach those 2.5 million souls secretly yearning for…
Living on Star Island was a blast, Donald Pliner recalls. Gloria Estefan would let everyone shower at her place after hurricanes because she was the only one with a generator. When Pliner’s wife would be out walking the dog, Shaquille O’Neal, then in training to be a cop, “would put…
Daniella Levine has a joke for you. It’s a zinger, but it also nicely packages the philosophy that powers her life’s work. “How many social workers does it take to change a light bulb?” How many? “It doesn’t matter how many,” she says. “The light bulb has to really want…
In 1991, voters in Texas elected Glen Maxey, their first openly gay politician, to the state legislature. In the 20-plus years since, Florida has remained the largest state in the union to never have done so. But that changed August 15, 2012, when David Richardson, an accountant by trade, emerged…
George Zimmerman has found a new attorney in media-hungry, Miami-based super lawyer Jayne Weintraub. Interestingly, Weintraub, who is a regular talking head on TV news, had previously called Zimmerman a “racist,” a “wannabe cop,” and called Stand Your Ground a “stupid law.”…
South Beach’s biggest adult novelty store, the Pleasure Emporium, caught fire early this morning. Though no one was harmed, the building did sustain smoke and water damage, and the store is temporarily close. With Art Basel just around the corner, the art world’s party set might need to find an…
