Leisure

State of the Art

The Hot List: 2013 Art Basel Parties

Art Basel. It’s practically a holiday around here. One that’s celebrated with gratuitous amounts of gratis boozing, swag bags and scantily dressed foreigners. Oh, and there’s art. Allegedly. Anyway, to fully prepare you, we’ve rounded up five Basel parties you should know about. And remember, knowing is half the battle.

MICH CRAFT

Michy’s Pops Up on the Beach

The entertainment: Four courses of things like red-shrimp stew and ribeye with foie prepared by Michelle Bernstein.
The scene: Exotic flowers, lush trees and foodie types drawing parallels between their gnocchetti and the futurismo art movement. The optional wine pairing is probably a good idea.
Come in: Pants. That stretch.

WHAT THE DEL

Del Toro’s Wynwood Block Party

The entertainment: Live music, barbecue from a former Eating House chef and free beer and vodka.
The scene: An artsy (re: hipsters) block party unveiling six new murals in Wynwood. Also, some really great shoes.
Come in: Slippers, naturally.

BIER FACTOR

Beer and Candied Bacon Until 3am

The entertainment: Music, street art, generous pours of local beer and an in-house taco shop serving candied bacon, bacon jerky and, yeah, tacos.
The scene: 7,000 square feet of outdoor beer garden finery: lush Florida plants, 1,000 feet of string lights and hops aficionados.
Come in: Lederhosen. Kidding... unless you’re actually going to do it.

OAK BRANCH

An NYC Nightclub. In SoBe.

The entertainment: It’s a nightclub... within a nightclub. So, like Inception. With more sequins.
The scene: All of the usual 1 OAK suspects: bubbly, stilettos and an extremely tight door policy.
Come in: A crushed-velour jacket. Conversation-starting cufflinks. Swagger.

HYDE AND SEEK

Pool Partying with Rubber Duckies

The entertainment: Champagne spraying, confetti explosions, sexy servers “dressed” in art-inspired getups and hundreds of colorful painted rubber duckies floating in the pool.
The scene: A raucous pool party with all of the Basel trappings: art, booze and Europeans.
Come in: Warhol-inspired swim briefs.