Bal Harbour

uring that long, lonely lockdown of 2020 and early '21, you may have had the same thought once or 500 times a day: I can't wait to be around people again. That feeling of gather- ing tightly around a table, of rubbing actual shoulders, of extending a hand and learning a stranger's name. It was like food, and we were famished. Then it happened, a little and then all at once. Pubs and clubs and concer ts returned to recognizable forms, and once again, our inner voices said the same thing in unison: Maybe…. not so many people? As doors swung back open, we began to see the utilit y of a door that closes. Locks, even. Friends are fine, but, you know, in moderation. We want to be around people again, but just the right amount, and just the right people. We want to be in a crew that's as carefully curated as a good wine list. It's that primal need to socialize, balanced by a new appreciation for our ow n persona l space, that's driving a worldwide boom of private social clubs. Exclusive socializing is the moment. As our culture undergoes a Soho Housification, Soho House itself is exploding in size. What began as a single London venue in 1995 has grown to over 40 locations in 14 countries, including one of this year's newcomers, Edgewater's Soho Pool House. Like most other Houses, this one w ill feat ure a restaurant, a healthy tonic bar, and an open work- space that transforms into a bar in the evenings. But as befits its neighborhood, Soho Pool House centers its impressive ar t collection on works created within Miami, with a par ticular focus on Latinx and A fro-Caribbean ar tists. As always, members can bring a guest or two; decide for yourself whether yours will be someone you met on Raya. What if you want your social milieu to be less about connections and wealth, and more about a shared interest (and wealth)? For the exclusiv- ity-minded audiophile, Wynwood vinyl bar Dante's Hi-Fi has a smartly curated record collection and a top-notch sound system, inspired by the vinyl club scene of Tokyo. "I'd spent some time in Japan bouncing around these hi-fi bars," says co-founder Sven Vog tland, "and I love spinning records in a room that's age-appropriate, where you can listen and learn and hear the DJ tell their stories." Vogtland isn't alone in his enthusiasm; the line for Dante's regularly stretches down the block. So now they too provide a membership plan, which o˜ers a private concierge and guar- anteed seat to a lucky few. And I do mean few; out of what "feels like thou- sands" of applicants, Dante's has accepted around 30 members. The Stereo Membership plan is "a program for true music lovers," Vogtland D says. "We send a questionnaire out to people who apply, with questions like: why you? How can you make Dante's better?" A vinyl bar where a potential VIP can be denied for bad taste in music? There's an idea whose time has come. More spots will open up sometime in 2023, and you best believe I will be working on my essay every day between now and then. Given its level of cultural heat, it is inevitable that entrepreneur, bon vivant, and internet loud person Gary Vaynerchuk would get into the private club business. His Flyfish Club has no brick-and-mortar space just yet , its first proper location in New York having only just been secured. But they've been throwing private pop-up events here, like last Februar y's Bubble Boat , where members in the Miami area sipped Champa g ne on the ver y symbol of wealth and exclusivit y: a yacht . Unique among private clubs, Flyfish sells memberships on the block- chain as an NFT, or at least they will if "the blockchain" and "NFTs" still exist when I finish typing this sentence. See for yourself later this year when Flyfish opens on the Lower East Side. If wellness is what motivates you, a new Los Angeles private club concept from gym conglomer- ate the RSG Group wants to serve it up with a side of t he good l i fe. " You're socia l at t he g y m," says RSG president Sebastian Schoepe, "but only for the duration of your workout. We thought: how can we extend that social environment so that you hang around for longer, around people who have the same interests as you, all under one roof ?" Their new club Heimat combines the best elements of a g y m, a restaurant , and a remote work ing space in one 75,000-square-foot , five-level private club. High-end fitness classes feature the city's most in-demand trainers like pilates guru Abe Ahern, Michael Mina's rooftop restaurant Mother Tongue serves up craveable food that suits even the cleanest LA diet, and now that we're post-o¢ce, comfortable co-working areas allow members to at least pretend to be productive before ditching it all for a cock tail by the pool. It's like Equinox, Soho House, and WeWork all had a baby, and that baby imme- diately got too cool for its parents. "We toured all the luxury concepts around the world, and nothing like this existed," Schoepe tells me, "but the world deserves it." San Francisco and Dallas are next for Heimat, and Miami can't be far behind. "Everybody wants to feel special," says Vog tland, "to be able to say: you can't get into Dante's? I 'll call and get us a table." The new crop of private clubs have something for everyone: customers get a top-notch, highly-specialized social experience, and the undeniable pleasure that comes from being in a room not everyone can get into. Everybody wins. It's good to be almost all the way back. WANT TO GET BACK TO MINGLING WITH PEOPLE, BUT WITHOUT ALL THOSE… PEOPLE? A WAVE OF NEW PRIVATE CLUBS AND MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS MIGHT BE YOUR ANSWER. BY DAVE HOLMES ILLUSTRATION BY DANI WILDE Private EYES EXCLUSI V E SOCI A LIZI NG IS THE MOMENT. 162 BAL HARBOUR

• Cover