• Wretched excess not enough for you? Conspicuous consumption too subtle? Want to lord it over the peasants with their pathetic little well drinks? Maybe the $400 "Elit" martini at Palm Beach Gardens' Dirty Martini is the status symbol you've been craving. Made with Stoli "Elit" vodka and an anonymous (!) dry vermouth, it's served in a Swarovski crystal martini glass with a tenth of a carat diamond pick custom-designed by Provident Jewelers. You can, of course, have your butler carry both home for you. Just watch out for peasants bearing guillotines.
• There's a new top toque at Tony Bova's Vivo Partenza.
Taking over the kitchen of the swanky Boca Italian eatery is chef
Yousrey Hosein, who exec-cheffed Bova's late Mario's Tuscan Grill from
1997 to 2005. Born in Egypt and raised in Italy, Hosein has been in
Manhattan using his bicultural culinary skills to ramp up the excitement
in vegetarian dishes, some of which will hopefully find their way onto
Vivo's menu.
• They're not quite as ubiquitous as Starbucks,
but they're trying. That would be the gut-busting, all-things-to-all-diners behemoth known as the Cheesecake Factory, which is set to
open its seventh Florida location in late August in the Shops at
Pembroke Gardens in... duh... Pembroke Pines. So if you just can't
live without easy access to a giant mountain of buffalo wings or Factory
burrito as big around as your head, hang in there.
