The young, upbeat restaurant manager tapped into the power of Clematis Street one weekend a couple of years ago. A group of college students wandered into the Wine Dive bar and eatery for brunch and asked him to play some party music. He obliged and, with the beats cranked up, the kids went wild, dancing in the aisles. “I thought, ‘Hey, we’re on to something here.’ And it’s just grown from there,” manager Anthony Lill recalled last Sunday as he observed clusters of daylight revelers at what has become the hottest weekend brunch on Clematis Street.
If not for the sunlight drifting through the bar’s open portals and the plates of breakfast fare steaming out of the kitchen, this could be any Saturday night at The Wine Dive. The drinks – and the tipsy – are plenty. The club music is amped. Beefy security guards survey the scene. (Just their presence keeps the crowd in check, says Lill.)