South Florida visionaries unveil Palm Beach plans

Put on your dancing shoes… Clematis Street is growing and groovin’! Cleve Mash and Rodney Mayo, the South Florida restaurant and nightlife visionaries who are principals of Clematis Street Development LLC, today announced their plans to open Clematis Street Live, a multi-venue restaurant and entertainment complex in the 200 block of Clematis St. in Downtown West Palm Beach.

Three celebrities have a stake in the new project: Motley Crue’s Vince Neil and Washington Redskin’s Todd Wade will open Dr. Feelgood’s Rock Bar & Grill; and Bravo! Network’s “Top Chef” star and Palm Beach County, Fla.-native, Stephen Asprinio, will open Forté di Asprinio. In addition to the building’s current tenant, Sushi Rok, two other new projects will open within Clematis Street Live: Lost Weekends and Rebar. All projects are scheduled for completion in the summer of 2007.

Motley Crue’s famous front-man, Vince Neil, Washington Redskin’s offensive tackle Todd Wade and former University of Florida quarterback, Bob Hewko, have signed a partnership with Mash and Mayo to open Dr. Feelgood’s Rock Bar & Grill, an attention-grabbing rock n’ roll-themed restaurant and bar named after the band’s best-selling album. Located at 219 Clematis Street (in the space currently occupied by MonkeyClub), Dr. Feelgood’s will be outfitted with memorabilia from Neil’s life and career, including Harley Davidson motorcycles and autographed guitars.

While the venue will serve full lunch and dinner menus featuring traditional, upscale bar food – think Hard Rock Café – this is anything but a traditional concept. The DJ booth will be built using design elements and parts of an old Cadillac, and the “pharmacy bar” is being designed to make patrons… “feel good.”

A sleek, stainless steel counter will serve as the bar with the best sense of humor in town. All bartenders will be dressed in nurses uniforms, and liquor bottles will be displayed between oversized pharmaceuticals. The 8,500 sq. ft. space will feature a large dance floor, lots of rock n’ roll music and a full selection of beer, liquor and wine.

“With such an innovative mix of tenants under one roof, Clematis Street Live is poised to position Downtown West Palm Beach as the county’s favorite hub for food, nightlife and entertainment options,” said Mash, who has wanted to develop an ambitious entertainment complex on Clematis since visiting the Miami-based CocoWalk almost 10 years ago.

“This new concept just adds to the funky, hip venues that surround the building, and we’re taking ‘creative’ to a completely new level. The Clematis District is going to come into its own when our complex opens this summer.”

“The West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA) worked hand-in-hand for many months with Mayo and Mash to assist in creating a successful concept that also advances the right kind of tenanting strategy for the street,” said Melissa Wohlust, the DDA’s executive director.

“Our goal is to locate retailers that serve the public both during the day and evening on the ground floor, and encourage businesses focused on evening entertainment to floors above street-level. Rodney and Cleve recognized that the strategy would be best for the retail continuity Downtown, and worked their project around those goals. We recently awarded them a grant and an incentive loan so that the raw space on the second level of the building could be transformed into three leasable spaces.”

Another celeb making his restaurant debut is 25-year-old Stephen Asprinio, a star of the first season of the Bravo! Network’s hit reality show, “Top Chef.” Opening at 225 Clematis Street on the corner of Clematis and Olive Ave., Forté di Asprinio is an alliance between the restaurateur and Bob Cuillo, owner of the Cuillo Center for the Arts in Downtown West Palm Beach and Tuscany-based wineries, Livernano and Casalvento.

Asprinio and Cuillo are completely transforming the 5,500-sq.-ft. space into a “…cutting-edge culinary concept focused on contemporary Italian cuisine, with a ‘modern-chic’ design, an innovative wine program and a cocktail list inspired by the art of mixology.”

The concept will combine Asprinio’s reputation as an innovative, young restaurateur and Cuillo’s presence in the wine world.

“Clematis Street was one of the top locations to open my first restaurant,” said Asprinio. “With the opening of Clematis Street Live, Downtown West Palm will attract even more of a wonderfully diverse base of stylish, urban patrons who will fully appreciate such a progressive new take on the traditional dining experience.”

Forté di Asprinio will be open 11:30 a.m. daily, with lunch and dinner served in the main restaurant, lounge and outdoor dining area. A posh nightlife experience will be offered as well.

Clematis Street Live will also welcome back to the Downtown scene Lost Weekend, a popular pool hall and bar established in 1992 by Mayo. The new iteration by partners Mash, Mayo and Scott Frielich, will be larger, at 3,500 sq. ft., but will maintain its original neighborhood allure. Lost Weekend will open in a new location in a second-floor space above Dr. Feelgood’s.

Slated to become a favorite for Manhattan transplants and the hip South Florida scene, Rebar will evoke the feel of a trendy NYC-style nightclub. Complete with a loft-inspired design featuring open space, oversized couches and dramatic chandeliers, owners Mash and Mayo are completely transforming the 5,000-sq.-ft. location, which was a MAC Fabric warehouse in the 1980s. Music will be the focus, with nationally- renowned DJs spinning the latest house and dance music. Rebar will open at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and will serve a full array of liquor, wine and beer.

For more information about the Clematis District, visit Westpalmbeachdda.com.