South Florida weekend things to do: Underground bar and over-the-top beer at Delray Beach Market
Our friends at WPTV know their way around a cocktail, so when they reported last week that the new Delray Beach Market includes “a basement with a lounge,” well, hold my beer.
You won’t find it among the dozens of vendors listed on the website, and there’s no sign at the top of the stairs at the northwest corner of the property. At the bottom of the stairs there are three doors, one for the women’s restroom, another for gents and a third, unmarked, and on Wednesday night slightly ajar. Storage room.
Just when you’re feeling like Pee-Wee Herman at the Alamo, a man appears in a Delray Beach Market shirt. Asked about the basement lounge, he nods affirmatively, but …
“That’s in the future. It’s coming,” he says, motioning toward the unmarked door. “Right now it’s for storage.”
Local beer
There are many reasons to check out Delray Beach Market this weekend that do currently exist. Chief among them is Delray Craft, which has one of the most thoughtfully local lineups of beers on tap that I have seen. For example, they have Nativo Key Suave IPA from Miami’s Cerveceria La Tropical, which has only been open a matter of weeks. Other favorite breweries represented include Delray Beach’s Saltwater Brewery; Due South, NOBO and Copperpoint in Boynton Beach; Mathews Brewing (Lake Worth); Barrel of Monks (Boca Raton); 26 Degrees and Broski Ciderworks (Pompano Beach); Gulf Stream (Fort Lauderdale), 3 Sons (Dania Beach) and others. Just think of all the driving around you’re saving. Visit DelrayCraftBeer.com.
Summer cocktail
Mine is a marriage of inconvenience — my wife doesn’t like beer, if there are other options. Central Bar at Delray Beach Market is her kind of place, with a crowd that looks young and fashionable — unless you are with an FSU freshman who only sees “old” people. Janie Little, 28, was out of earshot for that comment, poised at the bar with a friend as a bartender set two Midsummer Cosmos in front of them. The drink is made with Absolut Juice Pear & Elderflower, Combier orange triple sec, fresh grapefruit and lemon juices. Sitting on top, a dried flower, marigold maybe. The drink ($13) looked chic, creamy and sweet. It was all of those things, Little says, “but, really, it’s just fresh.” Visit DelrayBeachMarket.com.
Food talk
Personable Food Network star Alton Brown is bringing his tour, “Alton Brown Live – Beyond The Eats” (AltonBrownLive.com), to the Coral Springs Center for the Arts on Feb. 11. Tickets go on sale noon Friday at TheCenterCS.com.
Beer-music-football
Sometimes, things just fall together perfectly: Tarpon River Brewing in Fort Lauderdale (excellent) will host Stefanie Smerkers and Dyllan Thieme of the Copper Tones (excellent) on Friday evening, when the brewery also will be tapping their New England IPA cheekily named Deflated (excellent), perhaps distracting my focus from the weekend’s NFL draft (embarrassing). Visit Facebook.com/TarponRiverBrewing.
Outdoor sounds
The weekend includes several outdoor shows by nationally touring acts. The literate and bluesy North Mississippi Allstars perform at the Pavilion on Old School Square in downtown Delray Beach 8 p.m. Friday, with tickets starting at $30 when you buy a pod of four seats at OldschoolSquare.org. … The Bayfront Jazz Festival takes over at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami Friday-Saturday, with headliners including Roy Ayers, Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Tickets starting at $55.25 at BayfrontJazz.com. … At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the canopied North Beach Bandshell will host the 23rd annual Afro Roots Festival, featuring local lap-steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier and many others. Pod seating starts at $70 for a two-person pod. Visit NorthBeachBandshell.com.
Great Scott
When the history books look back for the moment when South Florida nightlife awakened from its COVID-induced stupor, at least a couple of sentences may be devoted to this weekend at LIV, the subterranean club at the Fontainebleau resort on Miami Beach. This weekend’s lineup includes DJ icon David Guetta on Friday, followed on Saturday by the globe-trotting Black Coffee (South African DJ Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo) and culture-dominating rapper, songwriter and producer Travis Scott on Sunday. Scott’s birthday celebration (he turns 29 on Friday) is a sellout; Black Coffee tickets are available, starting at $150; and the only way to get into Guetta’s show is by buying a floor table for $10,000. If you have to ask, the $20,000 dance-floor tables are sold out. We’re back, baby! Visit LIVNightclub.com.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com.
