Eli's Chop Shop

For those of you who remember the days of the Dolive Building, when it actually had cool bars and shops and wasn't just an eyesore on Orange Avenue, should remember Eli Tobias.

Eli was owner of Eli's Cribb and Thee Grotto in downtown Orlando before he was forced to close so the building could stand vacant for years in downtown Orlando. But now, Eli has opened a compound of sorts in Winter Park on Fairbanks Avenue. He calls the area "Eli's Chop Shop" and it consists of Black Chapel Tattoo Studio, a mixed martial arts academy called American Combat Club and his wife's business, the Sandi Tobias Photography Studio.

It's the tattoo shop I'm really interested in, according to Eli it's "a nightclub/tattoo shop hybrid." He says the best decor from Thee Grotto is in there including the giant fish tank.

Welcome back Eli, I'll be stopping by the Black Chapel real soon.

I'm number 4!!!

Five jobs that will satisfy your wild streak -- but not necessarily your pocket books. Looky there, I'm number four.

Paris Hilton fired from clubs, but name will remain

Who would have thunk it? Club Paris owner Fred Khalilian has reportedly fired Paris Hilton from the two nightclubs that bear her name, one here in good ol' Orlando and the other in Jacksonville.

Why you ask? Because she has better sense than to go to them, or at least show up when she's supposed to. How this is shocking I have no clue, when she was six hours late to the grand opening of the club in Orlando, that should had been a red flag, don't ya think? So what do they plan on doing with the name? Oh they're keeping it, according to this link on Yahoo, Khalilian says it now refers to the city in France, not the heiress. I would like to see someone shell out $10,000 next New Year's Eve to share a balcony with Khalilian in a club named after a city it would cost a fraction of that to vacation in. But you'll hear more on that in my column next week after I get a chance to talk to Khalilian myself.

But, for all of you naysayers two years ago that said the club wouldn't last six months, I would like to say, I was right when I said it would last at least a year. But now, I'm officially starting the clock on this death watch.

Toast bad news with a martini

Looks like the demise of DMAC didn't help the downtown location of Natura and they closed their doors yesterday. I was really rooting for that place, which is very popular at its UCF location, but didn't quite pick up that momentum downtown. It will be missed and sadder yet, the closing will be displacing another open mike night around town. Dani O, hostess of the Say Anything Slam, that moved not too long ago from Austin's in Winter Park because of closing rumors, is looking for a new home... AGAIN... Any good words for Miss O. on where she should go, just let me know.

That rhyme was cheesy and totally done on purpose, a slam poet I am not. But now that I have you guys all down in the dumps, here's some good news. Mark on your calendars this Thursday as the date you need to be on Church Street in downtown Orlando for Martinifest 2006. Normally a part of the Wall Street landscape, I guess a rumfest and a martinifest in one week might be a bit too much. This is one of, if not, the best sampling festivals this town has to offer, plenty to choose from and the lines aren't as bad as most liquorfests. Tickets to Martinifest 2006 are $25 prior to the event and $30 at the door and will take place from 6 - 9 p.m.

Reason #852 for why I drink

And if you don't, you really should start:

http://www.wsmv.com/health/9681978/detail.html