Atlantica - 01.01.2004, Side 20

18 A T L A N T I C A
there were plenty of empty chairs at the
usually busy sidewalk cafés on Ocean
Drive.
"It's the calm before the storm,"
explained Carina Mellado, a waitress at
one of the cafés. "People are shopping
for Christmas this week, everything will
fill up next week and stay crowded
through April. It's a great time to be
here. The weather is just perfect, not too
hot or humid as it often is during the
summer."
One place, which never fails to be
packed with people, is the lively News
Café (800 Ocean Drive). It’s the perfect
spot to watch the world go by and offers
excellent meals, 24 hours a day. One of
its regulars was the late Gianni Versace
who had actually just returned from
breakfast at News Café before being
shot to death at the top of the stairs of
his home, a little farther along the street
(1116 Ocean Drive). The house is easily
recognized because of this staircase,
which leads up to a statuesque gate and
the gardens of Versace’s luxury villa.
Outside, there are always several
tourists visiting the site of one of
Miami’s most famous murders.
There’s something going on all hours of
the day and night on Ocean Drive. It’s
the heart of touristy South Beach with
all its restaurants and hotels on the one
hand, and the beach and palm trees on
the other. The locals who prefer a qui-
eter life retreat to another part of SoBe,
on the pedestrian Lincoln Road, which
stretches for several blocks and features
several specialty shops, restaurants,
cafés, cultural and entertainment areas,
banks and offices.
A LOCAL PLACE
"Lincoln Road is a very local place. You
will see the same faces in the crowd at
breakfast and in the evening most
days," says English designer Steven
Giles, who runs his own store, The
Base, on Lincoln Road 939. The Base is
a must-visit for all esthetes. Steven and
his co-workers handpick every object on
sale, from a diverse range of home, gift,
footwear and accessory items to a bril-
liant small CD lounge where customers
can choose from a constantly evolving
selection of the best chill-out sounds
available. You’ll also find Steven’s own
range of designs for men and women.
A good place to enjoy the Lincoln Road
atmosphere is the Van Dyke Café (846
Lincoln Road), a sister establishment to
Ocean Drive's News Café. And just a few
meters off the corner is Van Dyke News
(1637 Jefferson Avenue), a small store
with an excellent selection of magazines
(European and American) if you desire
reading material with that perfect morn-
ing latte.
Steven, the owner of The Base, original-
ly hails from London and is therefore a
typical Miami Beach resident - he moved
here from someplace else. I bumped into
yet another Miami Beach immigrant at
the ArtCenter/South Florida on Lincoln
Road, which plays an integral role in the
daily life of this pedestrian street. There
you’ll find several exhibition spaces and
workshops of local artists who are happy
to receive visitors. Argentinian painter
Pablo Contresciani moved here from
Buenos Aires four years ago and doesn’t
regret it one bit.
“It's easier to be a struggling artist here
than in most other cities in the States. It
offers you a good life, beautiful weather,
and the cosmopolitan mix of people
Argentinian painter Pablo Contresciani at his studio in the
ArtCenter/South Florida, on Lincoln Road;
a little Art Deco from Ocean Drive, the street that never sleeps.
Opposite page: MacArthur Causeway. Miami Beach is a city unto itself,
situated on a narrow barrier island connected to the mainland and Miami
by several bridges.
Florida
The locals who prefer a quieter life than on Ocean Drive retreat to the
pedestrian Lincoln Road.
014 Atl 104 Florida -18.ps 17.12.2003 18:11 Page 18