Mexican Cocktails, Brazilian Samba, and Chinese Foot Rubs
The international nature of the gables means there’s never a dull night
It was Samuel Johnson who famously said, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.” That might be an exaggeration when it comes to Coral Gables, but not by much.
We tested this premise on a recent Saturday night with a trifecta of entertainment. First stop: the third-floor outdoor bar at Maíz y Agave, the new Mexican restaurant on the corner of Miracle Mile and Le Jeune Road. We could hear the mariachi band playing as we rode the elevator up, and there they were, colorfully dressed and performing for a cluster of people at the bar, one of whom (an Eva Longoria lookalike) knew the words to every song.
We ordered what the waitress said was the popular cocktail of the moment – the spicey mango margarita. It was perfect, an initial bite of heat balanced by the sweet tang of the icy drink. Across Le Jeune you could see the sun setting behind City Hall.
With a slight buzz, we walked to The Globe on Alhambra Circle. Our aim: to catch the 8 pm set of Oasis – not the pop group recently re-united, but an Afro-Cuban jazz band with percussion (congas!), keyboard, and bass guitar. After ordering a vodka martini and their superb Steak Frites, we settled into the 60-minute set, soon enhanced by a comely singer in an elegant beige dress, who added Brazilian samba in melodic Portuguese to the rhythmic jazz of Cuban salsa and rumba.
By that time, The Globe was animated with an audience of all ages. One table had a half dozen Millennials, one with hair and makeup like Cleopatra. An older couple (he in white guayabera, she in white cocktail dress) could not help but dance to the music. Every table was full, so I thanked myself for making reservations.
We would have stayed for dessert (The Globe has delicious caramel profiteroles), but our 9:30 appointment awaited at the Golden Massage & Spa on Douglas Road, a block south of the Mile. This mysterious looking place – windows blacked out, with a red neon “Open” sign glowing in the dark – has been in the Gables for 14 years. Fortunately, it doesn’t close until 11 pm.
Golden Massage offers a panoply of treatments, from Swedish massage to aromatherapy, for either a half hour or an hour. We were there for the foot rubs, which they dub “reflexology,” the science of foot pressure-points affecting different organs of the body. We went for the full hour, which started with a warm bath for the feet.
After an hour in a large, dark room with a dozen cots and soothing meditation music, I was so deeply relaxed I never wanted to move again. But we roused ourselves to walk – or should I say float – back to our car near City Hall, with just a quick stop at Morelia’s on the Mile for a fruit bar dipped in dark chocolate as a night cap.