Grand Opening of the Joule Hotel: AKA Chasing Martin Scorsese

This is legendary director Martin Scorsese. He was in town this weekend to host the grand opening of The Joule, a hip new hotel downtown. Along with Scorsese, N’Syncer Joey Fatone, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and the Jonas Brothers (eeeeee!!) were all at the party. Tim told me if I got a picture with Scorsese, he would buy me drinks at Al’s. So, that should have been incentive. Was it? Yes. Did I see any of them? Um, no. But the party still rocked anyway. Jump for details.

First of all, the entire block of Main Street was blocked off for this event. We pulled up and there was a gospel choir singing and swaying on the patio of Charlie Palmer’s, the restaurant at the Joule. (BTW, the Joule is located in between Iron Cactus and Neiman Marcus). A crowd of people had gathered across the street in order to spot celebrities. I just tried not to trip as I stumbled out of my rental car.

Once safely inside, the lobby was strangely quiet. We walked toward the elevators and a hotel worker asked, “Where would you like to go tonight?” (Uh, the party?). Sensing confusion, he explained that the party was actually happening in the ballroom, by the pool, in the penthouse, in the restaurant, and in the bar. We could start wherever, but he recommended the ballroom. While we waited for the elevator, I realized just about every person I’d ever put in Scene was standing right next to me. Creeeee-py. But kinda awesome.

Anyway, we got off the elevator in the ballroom, grabbed a plate of beef tenderloin with bone marrow and a vodka drink, and sat down across the room from T.O., who was wearing enormous diamond earrings. There were about 20 ladies around him. I tried to take a pic but alas, the darkness was too much for the iPhone. We ate some parmasean puffs, talked to some Scenesters (hi Capera! hi Ashley!) and headed to the Pool. Wow. I’m sure you’ve already read about the mermaids, but yes, there was a mer-man and a mer-woman. According to sweet Doss Alexander, the mer-man had come from Florida (I think) and had made the fish tails himself. Every 45 minutes or so, a “mer-handler” would come and lift the models out of the pool (they obvs couldn’t walk due to the tail), and take them to the bathroom. Huh. The band was from San Miguel, and I found out later Todd Fiscus found them when he was in Mexico on vacay. Next up: The Penthouse. There was a table overflowing with dessert, and we grabbed champagne and admired the views from the bathroom (gorgeous). Next, back down to the ballroom to listen to Bebel Gilberto, the featured performer of the night. It was really crowded. She had a great voice, but she was a little sleepytime-esque, so we went down to Charlie Palmer at the Joule and encountered an enormous table full of oysters, stone crab, and shrimp that were literally as big as my hand. Mr. Dallas was munching there too. They closed off the restaurant for the event, and it was pretty quiet there, so it was a good place to relax.

Finally, we went down to PM, the new bar that has just opened in the Joule. It is gorgeous. Really unbelievable. A little goth, very tongue-in-cheek, very glam speakeasy. There was a burlesque show every hour, and apparently, there are going to be different acts on the little stage depending on the night. Sean Avery was there with Mike Modano and Willa Ford. Brendan Higgins was there too, in a white dinner jacket.

At this point it was time to go. We realized we hadn’t seen any of the people we were so excited to see. However, I think it was the nicest party I’ve ever been to, and it was fun, too.