All Around the Underground…

HERE’S THE 239 BUZZ ALL AROUND THE UNDERGROUND

You heard it first in the Underground….the gloves are off in the uber cool places and key staff is being wooed away to new places. Don’t be shocked when you see Blu Sushi’s high profile bartenders Beata Zoladz and Brad Polacek at Pure Urban Oasis when they open in April. Both Bartenders were on the opening team at Blu in Gulf Coast Town Center and began working for Blu at the McGregor location.

Save the date April 28, 2010 for big fun on 5^th Avenue for the Annual Yabba Island Pirate Ball that benefits the Children’s Museum of Naples. The BeverageUnderground salutes the staff and management of culinary Concepts and Yabba Island for this night of fun that benefits a generation to come.

Did you hear that two brothers in their 70’s are talking about building a $32 Million Brewery in Immokalee? The beer will be a high-quality lager called Montenegro Beer. No, there’s no punch line other than that 78 year-old Curtis Sittenfeld said that Immokalee was “a great location. It’s centrally located, with easy access to our markets.”

Just at Press deadline, it was announced that Mike Hogan will join The Pewter Mug in Naples as their Head Chef . Hogan was the Chef at Shula’s Steakhouse and joins Kitchen Manager & Grill Master Mike Pilarski who has grilled steaks at the Mug since 1973.

The Timbers Restaurant will raise money and celebrate ‘oyster love’ on Sunday April 17 for the “1^st Annual Edible Mollusk Festival & Oyster Eating Contest”. The event will see who can eat the most shucked oysters in 90 seconds, and proceeds will benefit the Baileys-Matthews Shell Exhibit.

This isn’t breaking news, but for those that didn’t know…Congratulations are in order for Mike D’Auria and his wife Priscilla Pique D’Auria who are expecting a baby this summer! They were married in Ft. Myers last year and moved to Pensacola where Mike is the General Sales Manager for Coastal Wine & Spirits. Priscilla was a representative for Coastal Wine & Spirits before relocating. We know that both Mike and Priscilla have so many friends in Southwest Florida who wish them well.

On a recent Ft. Myers Beach cruise to Junkanoo we ran into Neil Van Vliet who ran the Food & Beverage at the Lani Kai Resort for 21 years before leaving the business for a while. Neil has been at Junkanoo for 2 years now and on our stop we had great drinks, great food and that great view.

Peter Palermo is staying busy in his newly re-opened 5^th Avenue Deli that is actually off 5^th Avenue a bock or so on 8^th Street in Naples. The location was formerly Trixie’s Torpedoes.