Take Dom Joly’s Miami advice
The sunshine, the food and ‘the best people-watching in the world’ – Dom Joly reveals why he can’t resist Florida
IREMEMBER the first time I went to Miami Beach. It was to film an American version of Trigger Happy TV and I was not really looking forward to it. I was not a massive Florida fan. To me it represented the flashiness of Miami Vice coupled with the tackiness of the Orlando resort culture. How wrong I was.
The moment I got out of my cab in South Beach, I was hooked. The heady mix of wonderful weather, glorious Art Deco buildings and a blend of American optimism and Cuban joie de vivre made the place crackle with excitement.
I stayed at The Tides, one of the only vaguely high-rise buildings on Ocean Drive and just down from the glitzy hacienda where Gianni Versace lived and died. Here I had a front-row seat to the action. South Beach was on a resurgence, having almost nosedived into a no-go zone in the 1980s.
One of the opening scenes in the movie Scarface shows a drug deal go terribly wrong by way of a chainsaw, and the dilapidated street this happens on is Ocean Drive.
Then the fashion and music industries started to use it as a location because it was cheap and looked so amazing. Everyone else followed.
Now, South Beach was the only place in the world where a yellow Lamborghini made sense. I’d sit on the terrace of The Tides and watch the glamour pass by. One morning I was joined, at neighbouring tables, first by Mike Tyson and an entourage of eight, followed by the rapper Ja Rule and his pet lion.
SOBE, as South Beach is known, had truly arrived.
I returned many times through the Noughties but I hadn’t been back for a while and wanted to introduce my family to it. I hoped they’d love it as much as I did.
I’m not a fan of the big swanky beachside hotels, as the pools tend to be too much of a fashion show/ nightclub. If the beach really is a must, then The Raleigh is the one to choose.
I opted for an old favourite called The Albion. I’d stayed there while filming another show and it is ideally placed at the top of Lincoln Road Mall, the pedestrianised street that cuts through South Beach and is packed with stores, restaurants and bars.
The Albion has a fabulous bar, Repour – one of the best in Miami – and a pool that, although a little tired, is a welcome refuge from the bustle of the surrounding city.
We normally breakfasted at News cafe, an Ocean Drive institution where you get some of the best people-watching in the world. Then we’d head off for the day’s activity.
One day we visited the Wynwood Walls, a must-see in Miami. Another formerly dilapidated area, it has been transformed by street artists from around the world invited to use the neighbourhood as their canvas. It is now fast becoming gentrified and is packed with hipster stores and cafes along with the extraordinary art. We loved it, but it’s best seen in the early evening.
Cycling is the best way around South Beach, unless you fancy renting an ‘exotic car’ like a powder- blue BMW convertible or a lime-green Porsche and join the loop of poseurs who cruise up and down Ocean Drive with their music pumping out.
We rented bikes for a couple of days and zoomed around soaking up the street life and never, ever seemed to have to go uphill, it was permanently downhill – I’m not sure how t hey have managed this. It is possibly the devil’s work but very clever.
Having reached the southern tip of Miami Beach and wandered out to the end of the pier to get a fabulous boat’s- eye view, we would often lunch at Monty’s, a relaxed place on the Miami side of the island that’s great for sunsets and cocktails but also possesses a wonderful Raw Bar and a useful swimming pool in which to cool off.
If that pool didn’t do the trick, we’d hop in a cab and head to Coral Gables. This ridiculously wealthy community has a little jewel in its crown – The Venetian Pool. It’s an oasis, a public swimming pool made from a former coral quarry in the 1920s. It has Caribbean-blue water and is, hands down, the most beautiful swimming pool I’ve ever been to.
In the old days you used to be able to dive off the top of the 10ft coral waterfall, but the litigious American system has now seen fit to ban all fun in public places. It’s still worth a visit, combined with a little shopping therapy in nearby Coconut Grove.
Then it was back to SOBE, gawping at the fabulous seaside properties on Star Island and choosing which enormo-gin-palace/mansion combo you’d choose should your
SPLASHING ABOUT IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL POOL I’VE EVER SEEN
own boat come in. Once back at our hotel, we’d hang out at the pool and recharge our winter-depleted batteries. I could feel my body coming back to life as I stared up at the azure-blue sky and listened to the soothing rustling of the gentle breeze in the palm trees.
Come the evening, we kept away from Ocean Drive as it becomes something of a spring-break zone. We’d normally wander down Lincoln Road Mall to one of our favourite places – Rosinella, an authentic Italian trattoria where we could sit outside and watch the world go by.
For a treat, we’d head south to Jo’s Stone Crabs, a SOBE institution. It’s a massive restaurant, permanently packed. You can’t reserve so you put your name on a list and then sit down for a drink to wait your turn.
It’s worth it, though. The service is the best in the world and the food is extraordinary. Huge stone crab claws dipped in mustard sauce, wonderful aged steaks that melt in your mouth, sides like creamed spinach with garlic and fantastic hash browns. It’s not cheap and you leave the place a stone heavier, but it’s wonderful.
SOBE is the place to be – take it from me. As my daughter Parker put it, it puts you in a ‘ Sunshine State Of Mind’.