Dinner parties are so much fun, especially when said party is an assemblage of possibly the motliest crew ever, as it was last night at The Raleigh for a celebratory dinner hosted by Steven Gaines, author of Fool's Paradise, the new expose slash history lesson on the excesses of Miami Beach. In addition to a slew of journos, this blogger included, the table also sat Fool's Paradise subject Michael Capponi and date, Tara Solomon, Alan and Diane Lieberman, former Miami Beach mayor and author of his own SoBe expose, Sins of South Beach, Alex Daoud, and Gaines's close friend, artist Carolyn Beegan, best known for being Billy Joel's on-again, off-again girlfriend for six years in the post Brinkley, pre Katie Lee era of the singer's romantic career. As the lively dinner party merged from several conversations to one, talk centered on Miami fixture of late, the Piano Man himself. Idle chatter about Joel hanging out at Sushi Samba and cruising on his Harley gave way to an awkward moment when Daoud interjected, asking an understandably silent Beegan, "Do you know Billy Joel?" She did, indeed. In fact, he once named his yacht, Red Head, after her. Thankfully the awkward silence quickly gave way to the latest in de rigueur South Beach dinner party chatter: Mickey Rourke, whom, as far as we know, Beegan did not ever date.
There's a joke in here somewhere.
Borscht Belter Jackie Mason was once again seen having a cup of coffee outside of Ghirardelli, where he seems to hang out on a daily basis, only this time he wasn't surrounded by admiring ladies of all ages, but a Chabad rabbinical student. As the student approached, Mason was overheard saying to his friend, "How do they always find me?" One clue, Jackie. Ghirardelli. Every. Day.
