Upscale Dining Tips

The iconic Pearl Restaurant & Champagne Lounge will reopen after 6 years on December 10th, 2011! The former celebrity haunt will reopen its luxurious doors thanks to popular demand, which has to be a comfort to owners Jack and Lucia Penrod. This is an upscale dining tip not to be missed...unless you really hate orange. 

Pearl Restaurant & Champagne Lounge Miami

The Marlin Hotel in South Beach will have the talents of chef John DeLucie on-hand to tempt the taste buds of patrons following an extensive renovation. Best known for his New York City eatery, The Lion, DeLucie’s offerings are celebrity magnets, which will certainly pair well with a South Beach locale!

John DeLucie

You’re planning a night out and you want to impress your date. You know she’s expecting you to take her to a restaurant, but you don’t want this to be an average date--you want to take her some place extraordinary. This place has to include award-winning cuisine, beautiful décor and the best service in the city. Is there such a place?

Chef Adrianne Calvo is a highly regarded culinary artist in the Miami Beach food & wine scene, and is continuing her popular ‘Dark Dining’ series in Miami this month. You can experience sensory deprivation and overload simultaneously at her Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar.

Dark dining in Miami

It is summer in Miami, and it is hot! People in the north stay inside during the brutal cold months of winter, and those in Miami prefer to stay inside during the scorching months of summer…but it can be boring! If the heat is simply too much at the beach right now, here are a few things to do in South Beach to cool down, get out and unwind during the coming months, thanks to Gansevoort luxury hotel!

Lamborghini rental Miami

There are a plethora of dining options in Miami’s South Beach, offering international options and various levels of sophistication.  Some restaurants are low key and you may simply stroll up to from the beach, and some beg for a bit more luxurious finesse, such as an exotic sports car rental Miami ...and actual clothing over your bikini...unless you happen to be Courtney Love.

These 5 South Beach restaurants can be dressed-up or casual, but know that Miami casual maintains a different definition than other parts of the country!  Miami casual is what some consider business casual, yet sexier items are acceptable for all occasions.

5.  The Café @ Books & Books
4.  AltaMare
3.  Sardinia Ristorante
2.  Macaluso’s Italian Cuisine
1.  The Royal @ the Raleigh Hotel

Black bean hummus sandwich at Books & Books Sobe

1. Bistro de Paris in Epcot theme park takes an inventive approach to traditional French cuisine and offers a focused wine list for the big kids.  It is located just above #2, Les Chefs de France, allowing the two establishments to share the talents of a trio of French chefs!

Bistro de Paris Disney

The following culinary creations wield price tags worthy of a luxury car rental or ownership of an exotic vehicle!  While many of these items do sound delicious, keep in mind that the brief interval spent with them is not likely to linger like the thrill of an exotic car rental!   

Here are the top 10 most expensive foods, in ascending order:

1.  Matsutake Mushrooms--$1000 per pound due to rarity

Matsutake Mushrooms

That is correct!  When it comes to a true Disney vacation, there is no better way to stay than in a Disney resort hotel.  A member of the Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals team recently experienced a luxurious Disney vacation with their children, and returned with much to report! 

The top 3 Disney hotels are (in no particular order):

1. Disney Contemporary Resort


2. Grand Floridian Resort and Spa


3. Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge

Traveling to the Magic Kingdom?  Here are some travel tips if you are going to Disney!

1.  Indulge in an exotic SUV rental to travel from park to park  Nothing trumps a sweet and roomy Range Rover rental Florida or Escalade rental Florida to relax between parks.  Disney is very big and it can wear you out, know that it can take up to 20 minutes to travel between parks.  A spacious luxury SUV rental can really help you recoup between excursions! 

Also, Hire a limo service for the nighttime.  If you would like to park hop or go to Epcot for dinner each evening, a limo or chauffeured car service is the way to go.  You will already tired from a full day of walking around the park, so why not use a car service to save your energy for the parks?

When patrons enter the dimly lit restaurant in Jinan, China they are greeted by a female robot batting her eyelashes and offering an electronic “welcome”.  Lined with futuristic lights, the fun continues when guests realize their waiter is not a human being, but a robot!  This may be the most awesome restaurant in China, worthy of pulling up in an exotic car rental for the full effect!

This Week in Chicago: December 21th – December 29th

Think back to the last time you visited one of Chicago’s many steakhouses.  In a city known for some of the best steakhouses in the United States, a new kid on the block recently opened its doors and has instantly gained a lot of praise from Chicagoans who have been lucky enough to dine there.   Head over to 520 N. Dearborn this week and check out Mastro’s Steakhouse, one of Chicago’s newest and best steakhouses.

New York native Anthony Bourdain has certainly attainted an esteemed career, including author, TV persona and renowned celebrity chef, a series of awesomeness that began as a lowly dishwasher in New York! Yes, now a celebrity chef, Bourdain admits that he does see the irony in the fact that he has always loathed uh…celebrity chefs. 

What?  That is like driving a Lamborghini Gallardo rental NY but claiming to hate them.  Well, I suppose his unique take on the role allows him to express his true feelings.

Either way, I appreciate Bourdain’s complete lack of a filter and ability to marinate in every culture he encounters on his robust and intensely absorbing Travel Channel show, ‘No Reservations’.  Clever title, eh?  Well, when you ingest things like brains and blood sausage on television, I suppose you can't have too many reservations!

As Thanksgiving looms in our path this week, note that those of us traveling may well find ourselves enduring commercial airline travel.  That translates to some of us are going to be waiting around for hours, and possibly stuck somewhere, hungry.  There is always a private aircraft charter, but for the rest, here are the top 5 best airport grub hubs in the event of your demise:

1.    The sushi at ‘One Flew South’ ATL
2.    The chili dog at ‘Pink’s’ LAX
3.    The chicken pesto at ‘Boudin Bakery’ SFO
4.    The ribs at ‘Corky’s Ribs & BBQ’ MEM
5.    The chowder at ‘Ivar’s Seafood’ SEA

A Good Meal: Chicago’s Top 5 Steaks

Where is the best steak in Chicago?  This is a question that will be raised until the end of time and will never have a definitive answer until the end of time as well.  Everyone has their opinion on the matter and there are so many great options that even Imagine Lifestyles cannot come to an agreement on which is our favorite.  However, we will attempt to pick out five of our favorites and at least try and narrow down the choices for best steak in Chicago.

1. Erie Café
2. Smith and Wollensky
3. The Palm
4. David Burke Primehouse
5. Keefer’s

1.) Erie Café (536 W. Erie) If you are looking for a little different style of Chicago steakhouse this is the place for you.  Located far away from the noise and chaos of Rush Street the Erie Café is set off the beaten path in a residential neighborhood.  Once inside, there is nothing swanky either.  Erie Café is just an old school restaurant with amazing food.  Since 1995, Erie Café has been dishing out some of Chicago’s best steaks.  Not sure what to order, we recommend the T-bone with a side of Potatoes Erie.  Sometimes you may spot a exotic car or two some of which are from fleets of Chicago exotic rental car companies.