[LCM Articles] Beirut among "New Arrivals" (BusinessWeek)

[Mona M Fawaz]

why is beirut listed in europe again?


Quoting Loai Naamani <loai at MIT.EDU>:

> New Arrivals
> St Tropez? Passé. Ibiza? So over. The hottest spots for bars and 
> clubs in Europe right now are not where you'd expect...
> http://www.businessweek.com/@@jD6DRocQJ8oYwxwA/magazine/content/05_48/b3961413.htm
>
> Beirut
> Vibrant Beirut was at one time the Paris of the Middle East, a magnet 
> for nightclubbing hedonists from East and West. A long civil war 
> tarnished its cosmopolitan character yet, in the 15 years since the 
> ceasefire, Beirut has rebuilt its reputation for fun in the sun. The 
> bustling playground of the Levant is swinging harder than ever, alive 
> with alfresco cafes, designer shops, exclusive beach clubs and 
> all-night clubs.
>
> The best place to start a long, heady night is around the pool of the 
> swanky open-air Sky Bar at the top of the Palm Beach Hotel (Ain 
> el-Mreisseh; +961 (0) 1 369 113), which offers cocktails, DJs playing 
> loungey sounds, and magnificent views across the Med.
>
> Stunning Lebanese girls, flashy local celebrities and monied 
> businessmen then move on to Zinc (37 Seifeddine el-Khatib Street; 
> +961(0) 1 612 612), a classy, dimly lit restaurant and bar in a 
> French colonial villa that was taken and retaken so many times during 
> the war that it was eventually nicknamed the "Bitch of Beirut".
>
> After midnight, revellers head to Monot Street, a hilly road lined 
> with bars and clubs that lies beside the infamous Green Line, which 
> once divided Christian East Beirut fromthe Muslim West. Here, the 
> party continues at a knowingly war-themed bar called 1975 (Monot 
> Street; +961 (0) 3 323 700), named after the year that the fighting 
> kicked off. Inside, mortar shells stand on the bar, fake sandbags are 
> piled up in the windows, and the waiters wear fatigues and combat 
> helmets, while your drinks are served in old ammunition boxes.
>
> Near to Monot Street is the plush and baroque Crystal (243 Monot 
> Street; +961 (0) 1 332 523), Beirut's largest and flashiest club. 
> Dressing up is positively encouraged here. Whenever a punter buys one 
> of the ?2,500, nine-litre bottles of Moët & Chandon, the music stops, 
> a spotlight is beamed onto them and an anthem is played as two 
> waiters carry over their order.
>
> Hottest Spots for bars in EuropeThe late-night partying continues 
> until 7am at the legendary BO18 (Lot 317, La Quarantaine; +961 (0) 3 
> 800 018), a rather eerie underground bunker that looks like a cross 
> between a bomb shelter and a mausoleum. The club has a domed roof 
> that retracts to allow the ravers to dance to house and techno under 
> the warm, starry sky.
>
> Lisbon
> The fun and friendly Portuguese capital has undergone a quiet 
> renaissance in the past few years, transforming itself from a 
> charming backwater into one of Europe's most vibrant cities. Lisbon 
> has elegant avenues, soulful fado music, clanking yellow trams and 
> nearby beaches, and now boasts a great-value, all-night party vibe 
> that puts Barcelona and Madrid to shame.
>
> Cool and casual locals, flashy African dudes, beautiful Brazilian 
> girls and super-smart Euro-weekenders kick off long evenings in the 
> busy bars of the historic Barrio Alto area, then head out to the 
> redeveloped Docas district for offbeat clubs located in converted 
> dockside warehouses.
>
> Hippest stop-off is the Alcântara Café (15 Rua Maria Luisa 
> Holstein;+351 (0)21 363 7176; <http://www.alcantaracafe.com> 
> www.alcantaracafe.com), a bar and restaurant in a capacious former 
> printing works. Decorated with ruby velvet drapes, sweeping ceiling 
> fans, oversized mirrors and a glam Art Deco flourish, the 
> industrially chic Alcâ ntara has a vast, high-ceilinged dining room, 
> a bar serving the best caipirin has in the city and a dance floor 
> playing house and electronica (check out the club's eponymous CD for 
> a preview).
>
> The hip crowd then dance all night at Lux (Avenida Infante D 
> Henrique; +351 (0)21 882 0890;  <http://www.luxfragil.com> 
> www.luxfragil.com), a club in a labyrinthine riverside warehouse 
> complex part-owned by John Malkovich. Lux's main dance floor hosts 
> superstar DJs such as St Germain and Dorfmeister. A large 
> retro-styled upstairs bar has balconies, chill-out zones, Sixties 
> sofas and video projections. There's also a rooftop terrace. Next 
> day, clubbers siesta in the sun on the beaches at Estoril and 
> Cascais, a short train ride away.
>
> Berlin
> Not since the decadent Thirties has Berlin's nightlife burned so 
> brightly. The city's vibrant club scene blossomed out of the derelict 
> buildings of the former East Berlin back in the early Nineties and 
> has been thriving since. The Euro-home of a certain renegade edge and 
> freeform kookiness, boomtown Berlin's bar and club scene has never 
> been hotter, especially among the artist, designer and fashion crowds.
>
> Clubbers meet early evening at White Trash (201 Torstrasse), an old 
> Chinese restaurant crossed with a Tex-Mex cowboy diner, where 
> bohemian types mingle with transvestites and biker gangs (the owner 
> is a motorcycle-riding, tattooed American). They move on to Greenwich 
> (5 Gipsstrasse, Mitte; +49 (0)30 2809 5566), a laidback cocktail bar 
> decorated with cowhide panels and illuminated fish tanks framed with 
> lime-coloured leather, or Universum Lounge (153 Kurfürstendamm; +49 
> (0)30 8906 4995), a glam former Bauhaus cinema with sleek, space-age 
> furnishings and gold lunar-landscape wallpaper.
>
> All-night ravers then head for the emergency services-themed 
> Ambulance Bar (27 Oranienburger Strasse, Mitte), a lounge-style DJ 
> bar, or Dangerous Drums ( <http://www.dangerous-drums.de> 
> www.dangerous-drums.de), a roaming techno and breakbeats night found 
> at the Pfefferbank club (176 Schönhauser Allee).
>
> Very late (after 8am), dedicated revellers drop into the infamous 
> KitKatClub (2-14 Bessemerstrasse), a leather-and-chains SM nightclub 
> that hosts a hip after-hours party, and then finally on to Cafe 
> Einstein (5 Kurfurstenstrasse; +49 (0)30 261 5096), a historic 
> Viennese-style coffee house that serves all-day breakfasts.
>
> Moscow
> Fifteen years of the Russian free market revolution has created a 
> sybaritic and super-rich class of New Muscovites with an unbridled 
> passion for partying and the high life. Moscow's nightlife scene 
> buzzes with nouveaux riches young millionaires, gorgeous Russian 
> society girls and louche Euro jet-setters. This hot entrepreneurial 
> city overflows with Bentleys, Prada, caviar, Champagne and ice-cold 
> Stoli.
>
> The in-crowd mingle at the "eclectically baroque and decadently 
> maximalist" bar and restaurant Milk &Honey (38 Ulitsa Myasnitskaya; 
> +7 (0) 095 928 9947). The colourful and kitsch interior is a playful 
> riot of Victorian antiques, red velvet curtains, crystal chandeliers 
> and gilt-edged mirrors. Vodka shots and Champagne -- either vintage 
> Moët or Cristal Rosé, by the magnum of course -- are de rigueur in 
> the downstairs bar, where on any given night the fashion-conscious 
> rub shoulders with Russia's artists and thinkers and the place buzzes 
> with conversation.
>
> Drinkers stay to eat in the restaurant, serving delicious French food 
> from chef Charles Lefebre, before party people move on to the 
> ostentatious and staggeringly expensive new VIP venue Osen (3 
> Teatralny Proyezd; +7 (0)095 921 9888), or to Cabaret (8a Strastnoi 
> Bulvar; +7 (0)095 789 8315), a club designed by the team behind Caves 
> du Roy in St Tropez. But be warned -- both clubs practise Moscow's 
> infamous "face control" door policy.
>
> Serious ravers finish with breakfast at Mix (11 Novinsky Bulvar; +7 
> (0)095 255 4333), a favourite after-hours club that stays open until 
> the very last punter decides to leave -- often as late as 3pm the 
> following afternoon.
>
>
>
> By Philip Watson 
> (http://www.businessweek.com/@@jD6DRocQJ8oYwxwA/magazine/content/05_48/b3961413.htm)
>
>