Opening this weekend, the Wharf Fort Lauderdale is a bright, open and airy window onto the New River, a defining attraction of the city’s increasingly towered downtown.
Such is the magic of the property’s makeover that it is easy to forget that the Wharf Fort Lauderdale is built on the dust of the old Riverfront, a hulking pile of stucco that walled off the waterway both physically and figuratively, in a gathering gloom of failure.
So unloved and off-putting was Riverfront that it could not even hold onto two of South Florida’s most beloved symbols of civic pride: Dan Marino’s Town Tavern and Hooter’s, which closed in 2006. Yes, a Hooter’s closed in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Bracketed by new residential highrises, the Wharf Fort Lauderdale feels like a logical piece of the puzzle that is the modern urban entertainment consumer: It’s a place to hang, nosh and cocktail, where you can dress up or down, as befits a beachside burg.
An all-star cast of pop-up dining-drinking residencies will include Dean James Max’s Even Keel; Lunchroom, from Elliot Wolf’s be nice Restaurants; Hou Mei, by Temple Street Eatery’s chef-owners Alex Kuk and Diego Ng; pizza by Chef Jose Mendin’s The Piefather; and all-around awesomeness from Mojo Donuts.
A sister of the energetic Wharf Miami, the Wharf Fort Lauderdale will be open on weekends, with opening night on Friday running from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m., followed by events on Saturday from noon to 3 a.m. and Sunday, noon to midnight. The Wharf is a 21-and-older venue, with children and leashed dogs welcome before 6 p.m.
For opening-weekend events, reservations are strongly encouraged. Visit WharfFTL.com.
3 veteran salutes
This is the weekend for which Due South Brewing Co. in Boynton Beach brewed Land, Sea & Air, an amber ale that the veteran-owned brewery created to raise money for the Lake Park-based Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, which provides emergency financial support to disabled Florida veterans. Land, Sea & Air is available for your weekend barbecue on draft and in six-packs in the brewery taproom, and on sale at many local bars, restaurants and beer stores. A portion of the proceeds from every sale will benefit the Wounded Veterans Relief Fund. Visit DueSouthBrewing.com.
Soldier Rush is a military boot camp-style 5K obstacle race 6 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Parkland Equestrian Center, a fundraiser for the work of Fitness on a Mission, which supports veterans, first responders and their families. The event is open to all skill levels. Registration starts at $99. Visit SoldierRush.com.
LauderdAle Brewery in Fort Lauderdale will host its first Battle of the Bands 5-10 p.m. Saturday to benefit the Florida chapter of the ALS Association, which works to end amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), a scourge that plagues military veterans in unusually high numbers. At the door you can purchase raffle tickets, a voting ticket for your favorite band and get in on a discount package of five beers/nonalcoholic drinks. The event is all-ages and pet-friendly. Visit Facebook.com/LauderAle.
Load up at FLIFF
The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival gets down and dirty at Savor Cinema on Friday night with a screening of the documentary “Whiskey on Beer,” a profile of the seminal South Florida punk band Load and its mercurial lead singer Bobby Load (Johnston), who died in 2012 from complications from alcoholism. The 10 p.m. screening will be preceded at 9 p.m. by a courtyard party that includes a live edition of the convivial music podcast “That Record Got Me High,” with guest appearances by former Load drummer Fausto Figueredo and Bobby Load’s brother Jeff Johnston. Gold Dust Lounge will perform surf-lounge interpretations of Load classics. Tickets to the film cost $12 and include the pre-party. Visit FLIFF.com, and ThatRecordGotMeHigh.com.
3 date nights
A night out doesn’t have to get all fancy. Kaminari Ramen (great ramen, great typography) will do a pop-up at Broski Ciderworks in Pompano Beach beginning at 6 p.m. Friday for the release of the cidermaker’s plum cider called Plum Krazy. Along with 14 ciders on tap and more than 30 craft beers, Broski has a selection of nonalcoholic drinks, board games and retro Sega, Nintendo and midway arcade games. Visit Facebook.com/BroskiCider.
Meanwhile, Beach House Pompano has an idea: A picnic for two on the beach for a screening of “Jaws.” The restaurant’s Movie Under the Stars series is set for 7-10 p.m. Friday, when couples can choose from two scratch-made dishes, with a bottle of house wine or a six-pack of beer. Cost is $100 per pair. Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 954-607-6530. Visit BeachHousePompano.com.
On Saturday and Sunday, Veza Sur Brewing in Wynwood will launch La Cervecena Series, an intimate dining experience at tables set among the tanks inside the brewery. A collaboration with SuViche Hospitality Group, the evening features a five-course meal prepared tableside by Chef Jaime Pesaque, SuViche’s executive chef, whose Lima restaurant Mayte was recently named one of the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America. The dinner will be paired with Veza Sur beers and include a welcome beer cocktail. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and is limited to 16 guests per seating. Price: $100 per person. To reserve your seat, visit Facebook.com/VEZASUR.
Weekend laughs
Spoiler alert: The name of the tour that former “Saturday Night Live” star Chris Kattan is bringing to the Crest Theater in downtown Delray Beach’s Old School Square on Friday night shares its title with his recent memoir and a song from the soundtrack to his big-screen comedy with Will Ferrell, “A Night at the Roxbury.” It is a song that, thanks to the diabolical Kattan, I now cannot unhear. I don’t want to inflict such torture upon you, so let’s just say that he’s doing two shows, 7:50 and 9:45 p.m., tickets start at $18, and we’ll leave it at that. Visit OldSchoolSquare.org.
Weekend beers
Barrel of Monks Brewing in Boca Raton kicks off the season at noon Saturday with a release party for its limited-edition winter ale Father Christmas, redolent of caramel, dates, figs cinnamon and clove. It comes in 750 ml bottles for $17.99. Visit Facebook.com/BarrelOfMonks.
Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park will host a happy hour supporting Everglades Angels Dog Rescue from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Donate $5 to EADR and get $1 off Funky Buddha drafts, which may come in handy when those lovable Miami Dolphins entertain on TVs beginning at 4 p.m. Visit FunkyBuddhaBrewery.com.
The Sun Sentinel’s popular Facebook group Let’s Eat, South Florida! will toast its first year of foodie community-building with an open-to-the-public party at 3 Sons Brewing in Dania Beach 6-8 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $45 and include an assortment of gourmet pizza and appetizer stations, three drink tickets, a celebratory dessert and, you may want to sit down for this, a meet-and-greet with Sun Sentinel food writer Mike Mayo. Visit Facebook.com/groups/LetsEatSouthFlorida.
Future laughs
“Daily Show” host Trevor Noah will bring his Loud & Clear Tour to Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on Jan. 18, with tickets ($115, $90, $75, $60 and $45) on sale 10 a.m. Friday at MyHRL.com, all Ticketmaster outlets including Ticketmaster.com and 800-745-3000. A presale will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday via the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Facebook and Twitter pages.
Weekend brunch
The Fort Lauderdale chapter of Housewives in the City (a national social organization with affiliates in Pompano Beach and Miami) will meet Sunday for Tarpon River Brewing’s Sunday Brunch & Brews, a dining-sipping-shopping event that begins at noon. Music from Erick Estevanell begins at 1 p.m. All women are welcome to this daytime GNO. As they say at HousewivesInTheCity.com: “Though you might leave with a cocktail buzz, the great buzz will be the energy that you gain from a night out with some positive women.” Works for me. Visit Facebook.com/FTLHousewives.
Paper news
Those subversive kids at Small Press Fair Fort Lauderdale are at it again, tempting you with the idea that all those words and pictures you create on your device might look prettier and feel more substantive when presented on paper. Paper! Heresy. An afternoon of local and regional artists, designers, printers, publishers, bookmakers, zine-sters and live printmaking, Spf’19 takes place noon-6 p.m. Saturday at Projects Gallery in FAT Village (521 NW First Ave., Fort Lauderdale). Visit SPF-FTL.com.
Weekend cocktail
At Wynwood‘s chic Le Chick, co-owner Coco Coig has opened a 2,000-square-foot outdoor drinking and gathering space called Le CoqTail, where the focus is on work by inventive mixologist Rebekah Stone (formerly of Table 26 in West Palm Beach), including a bold elixir called Cock Fight, a melding of mezcal, tequila, dry vermouth, jalapeño, agave nectar, lemon and house foam. Cost: $15. Visit LeChickRotisserie.com.
Ticket window
Tickets will go on sale 10 a.m. Friday to see the pairing of Journey and the Pretenders on their 2020 summer tour stop at Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on Aug. 22. For information, visit LiveNation.com.
Another Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Graham Nash, is on his way to Coral Springs Center for the Arts on March 21 for “an intimate evening of songs and stories” on March 21. Tickets start at $49.22 and go on sale 10 a.m. Friday. Visit Facebook.com/CoralSpringsCenterForTheArts.
If you are in the market for a holiday gift already, your tween may appreciate tickets to see Niall Horan‘s April 24 BB&T Center stop on his Nice To Meet Ya Tour (Lewis Capaldi and Fletcher open), which go on sale 10 a.m. Friday at Ticketmaster.com. The One Direction crooner also is part of the lineup at the Y100 Jingle Ball at the BB&T Center on Dec. 22. Visit iHeartRadio.com/JingleBall.
Irish ayes
At 3 p.m. Sunday, Tim Finnegan’s Irish Pub in Delray Beach is hosting a pub quiz to benefit Tír na mBláth, a local organization dedicated to the preservation of Irish traditional music, dance, language and culture. First test: Can you spell Tír na mBláth after a couple of Guinness? Visit TimFinnegansIrishPub.com, Tirnamblath.com.