“I’m expecting to heighten my senses such as touch, taste and smell – everything that you don’t experience when you’re eating and looking at your food.”

That’s 29-year-old speech language pathologist Sarah Porter speaking in anticipation of her “dark dining” birthday dinner at Market 17, a farm-to-table concept and organic restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.

Market 17 has been offering the dark dining experience since it opened its doors in October. Aaron Grauberger, 31, who co-owns the restaurant with his sister Kirsta, 35, said the concept of “dark dining” is to encourage customers to use their remaining senses and enhance what might otherwise be an ordinary dinner. “It’s a lot of fun to try to figure out what you’re eating,” he says.

There’s one room in the restaurant set aside for dining in the dark. (Reservations, which can be made seven nights a week, are limited to one party at a time and a maximum of three seatings nightly.) There, parties of up to 14 people dine in a pitch-black room where they can enjoy anywhere from four to 17 courses in darkness.
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Pete Schnebly looks for ripe lychee fruit to use in his winery's new beer. (Photo by Allison Diaz)

By ADRIANA MONTOYA

Schnebly Redland’s Winery, nearing its sixth year since opening as Miami-Dade County’s first commercial wine production facility, is expanding to include an in-house brewery.

The owners Peter, 49, and Denisse Schnebly, 55, who say this new addition will open to the public this summer, plan to integrate the same tropical flavors used in their wines into beer recipes.

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DB's BatterUp Cookie Dough, made in Lantana by Denise Garling and Cathy Beck, is sold in 32-ounce tubs that make about 3 dozen cookies.

By Amelia Gonzalez

Personal chef Denise Garling used to fly across the nation to prepare the meals of famous clients, including President Gerald Ford and President George H.W. Bush. Today, after 30 years of culinary experience, the Jupiter resident partnered with her former co-worker and best friend, Cathy Beck, 51, to create a line of gourmet cookies.

“Denise had the idea of selling frozen cookie dough, and when she told me about it, we shook hands on it and took it from there,” Beck said.

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Brendan O'Hara performs with his band, The Big Bounce, at the Colony Theater during a CD release party for 'Champagne & Apple Juice'. (Chris Cutro / The Miami Herald)

BY SALVATORE FAZIO AND ADRIANA GALINDO

The most important lesson Brendan O’Hara, 29, has learned from entertaining exclusive nightclub audiences is the value of flexibility and independence in the music business.

“You have to trust the creative side of yourself, but adjust to the market,” said O’Hara, lead vocalist, pianist, guitarist and co-manager of Brendan O’Hara and the The Big Bounce Collective, which has successfully played at South Florida venues for the past two years.

Galena Mosovich, 27, the band’s co-manager and director of public relations and marketing, agrees. The secret to self-advancement in today’s music industry business, she said, is “Indipreneurship” — a creative and independent approach to following entrepreneurship principles.

“We don’t necessarily follow the traditional model of success in the music business, she said. “We are not signed to a major or an independent label. We do all of our business development, business and fan relations, marketing and social networking.”
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David Joaceus, 15, from Miami practices on his French horn during practice for the joint concert between the Greater Miami Youth Symphony Concert Orchestra and Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County. CHRIS CUTRO/For the Miami Herald

By SALVATORE FAZIO

When Sara Arevalo started playing the violin at 8, she learned to express her feelings through the emission of sound. Now at 13, she is exploring a new facet of her musical growth: being part of an orchestra through the Greater Miami Youth Symphony.

"It’s going to be exciting to play with the orchestra," said Arevalo during a recent Sunday afternoon rehearsal. "It’s kind of a new way to expand my horizons."

Arevalo will be one of more than 300 of South Florida’s most promising young musicians who will take the stage at Florida International University’s Wertheim Performing Arts Center on Sunday when the Greater Miami Youth Symphony and the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County join forces for their third annual Youth Orchestra Collaboration Concert.

The concert:

* Florida International University Wertheim Performing Arts Center, 11200 S.W. Eight St., Miami

* 4 p.m. Sunday, March 21

* $15 adults, $7 seniors and students; available only at the door

Greater Miami Executive Director Melissa Lesniak, 32, said the concert will showcase six segment orchestras from both groups playing side by side to take on a musically diverse program.

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By SALVATORE FAZIO and ADRIANA GALINDO

Bill Cooley hands a female fan his scarf as he plays his part in the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Tour, during its stint at Sunrise's BankAtlantic Center. (Chris Cutro / For the Miami Herald)

While growing up in Collinsville, Ill., in the 1970s, Bill Cherry listened to Elvis Presley, watched him on TV and sung Presley’s songs in the bedroom.

For him, portraying the king of rock ‘n’ roll for thousands of fans in the first Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Tour has been a childhood fantasy come true.

“When you’re a kid, you tie a towel around your neck, run around the living room and play like Superman,’’ said Cherry, 45, a welder by trade. “In a way it’s like that for me: I get to put on a suit and a cape, run around the stage and play my hero while everyone plays along. It’s a time capsule.’’

To commemorate 75 years of Elvis Presley, Onstage Entertainment and Elvis Presley Enterprises launched a 25-city tribute concert tour that landed at Coral Gables’ BankUnited Center.
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Kristian Vasquez pounds on the drums while Dave Smalley plays the guitar during a Rock Band Rock Off at the Ye Olde Falcon Pub in Davie. (Chris Cutro / The Miami Herald)

By SALVATORE FAZIO

With implacable confidence and boyish charm, Ruben Silva, 36, raised his drumsticks to rev up the crowd as smoke from a fog machine permeated the stage.

Silva and his band, The Plastic Instruments, were doing their best to mimic the classic bar tune, “Don’t Stop Believing”, by Journey at Brickell’s Transit Lounge.

It wasn’t an attempt at karaoke, but a new barroom fad — Rock Band nights.

This was Silva’s first chance to play the Rock Band game in front of an audience after months of practice.

“The energy and excitement of playing Rock Band in front of people is so intense,” Silva said. “It doesn’t compare with playing online.”
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