The Los Angeles nightclub scene got a major shakeup this weeks with the news that nightlife impresario Brent Bolthouse has split from Sam Nazarian's SBE Entertainment Group. SBE is behind the Katsuya restaurants, the SLS Hotel, the Abbey and more. SBE bought half of Bolthouse's production business in 2005. Known on the LA club scene for years, Bolthouse came to national prominence as Heidi Montag's former employer on the MTV show "The Hills." StyleSection LA reports that Bolthouse and business partner Jenifer Rosero will continue to operate Bolthouse Productions as an independent entity continuing to produce events for their many prestigious clients.

And in a related real estate update, Sam Nazarian's gorgeous Los Angeles lair which was listed at $18.5 million appears to have been pulled off the market.

No, not the latest bloated-budget Hollywood thriller, but something much closer to home: The Providence Effect, an award-winning documentary about Providence-St. Mel, a small school in Chicago's gritty East Garfield Park that has achieved an incredible 100% college acceptance rate against all odds.

Oprah deserves at least some of the credit; she gave the school $1 million to help fund the educational juggernaut that has been called the future of education. Obama meanwhile visited the school in 1998 and gave an incredible inspirational speech that showed he was destined for the highest office in the land.

The movie centers on the equally inspiring journey of the school's principal Paul J. Adams III, who has challenged the Chicago school system for 30 years with his revolutionary approaches to teaching, and also founded the Providence Englewood Charter School. Of course the Obamas and Oprah have been sent copies to view in their personal screening rooms, but the film opens in select theaters nationwide this Friday.

Fundraising for breast cancer research goes luxe at the "Cure In The Canyons" event at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village in Westlake Village, California. The event on Sunday October 4 includes 29 cabanas offering free products, spa and beauty treatments from Kerstin Florian, Calidora Skin Clinic, Institut de Vie!, The California Wellness Institut, manicures by OPI, and a special appearance by Billy and Melissa Yamaguchi of Yamaguchi Salon who will conduct a Feng Shui beauty seminar while his dedicated style experts provide mini-makeovers. Gourmet food, cooking demonstrations, mini-seminars, wine and spirit tastings provided by ONEHOPE Wine, Korbel, and Heiniken, will also be part of the day. There is also a special men's lounge which includes men's spa treatments, beer, salsa and other snacks. Guests will also be able to test drive on of the three new 2010 Lexus Luxury Hybrids.

Funds raised at the event support local California research at USC/Norris Lee Breast Center, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Michael Press MD PhD, and National Research. Grants are awarded as deemed by the Medical Advisory Board to have the most significance in the etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. Tickets are available for $75 at the Cure in the Canyons website.

They do fundraising a bit different in the small town of St. Helena in the Napa Valley. Just Imagine, the joint fundraiser which benefits all St. Helena public schools, takes place next Saturday September 26 at The Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena and features an evening of dinner, dancing and auctions for $150. The Just Imagine auction catalog includes live auction items like a trip to Bordeaux that features a lunch with Michel Rolland, a girl's poker night atop Spring Mountain at Erna Schein Winery and David Abreu's Macho Magnums (40 magnums of Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa Valley's most famous names, all from the 2005 vintage, donated by David Abreu). Or how about a family food and gardening adventure from chef Michael Chiarello. The daylong family adventure will explore different aspects of foods we eat (farming, animal care, gardening or foraging), and will culminate in cooking with those foods.

You don't need to be at the event to purchase one-of-a-kind 'buy-a-spot lots,' that include a cocktail party for 50 hosted by Erle and Kristin Martin, an afternoon of hiking Mt. St. Helena, dining and wine tasting for 30 hosted by Spottswoode and Amici Vineyards, a holiday caroling event for 10 families hosted by Salvestrin Winery and the music teachers of St. Helena or a special showing of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory at The Cameo Cinema featuring Woodhouse Chocolate. Tickets vary depending on the adventure.

On Friday, Sept. 25, Islay single malt Scotch Laphroaig is hosting Distillery LIVE 2009, an interactive, online webcast tasting for whisky fans across the globe. The star of the show is their new limited edition 18-Year-Old (right).

The 18-year aging process results in a Scotch bright gold in color enhanced by soft, sweet and spicy Islay peat smoke with a hint of the sea. The full-bodied whisky tastes of a tang of smoke that fades into smooth floral scents, which blends seamlessly into an oaky nuttiness and a lasting smooth, sweet finish.

Hosted in the United States for the first time, Laphroaig Distillery Manager John Campbell is traveling to bourbon country to join Maker's Mark Master Distiller Kevin Smith for the live-broadcast event at the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky.

Together Campbell and Smith, along with Malt Advocate magazine's John Hansell, will celebrate the relationship between Laphroaig and Maker's Mark, specifically the maturation process of Laphroaig in former Maker's Mark bourbon barrels, while educating consumers on traditional Laphroaig expressions.

The webcast is taking place at 8 p.m. EST on the 25th, and is accessible at www.distillerylive.us.com.

On Friday nights many people go on the quest for a good beer but take that simple idea to Per Se restaurant in New York City and the idea gets a little more complicated (and fabulous). Tomorrow, September 18, Per Se is hosting a beer-paired tasting dinner with brewmaster Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery. Brooklyn Brewery Beers will be matched with a seven-course tasting menu. Among the other offerings, this is your first chance to taste "Reinschweinsgebot" an innovative beer infused with bacon from Benton's Country Smokehouse. You can't go wrong with bacon. This event will take place in the Per Se Private Dining Room and costs $350 per person.

The new owner of the 289-ft. Maltese Falcon, the world's largest, best designed, and most expensive sailing superyacht, must be pretty pleased with his purchase, a relative bargain at $100 million thanks to the recession; the yacht just won the Perini Navi Cup, the world's most stylish and exclusive regatta which we wrote about last month. 19 superyachts all from the Perini Navi shipyard, builders of the Maltese Falcon, competed in the race which took place in the billionaire's playground of Sardinia. The triple masted Falcon reached top speeds of an impressive 21 knots to capture the Cup as well as a Rolex wristwatch presented by the president of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, His Highness the Aga Khan, and master yachtbuilder Fabio Perini.

[via JamesList]

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with fashion icon Dayle Haddon and Modelinia.com, where supermodels share their beauty, fashion and lifestyle secrets, to curate this season's display for the Bryant Park lobby at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC. In line with the overall theme of travel for the week, the exhibit tracks the journey of fashion and automotive design over the past seven decades. Illustrated with iconic photographic images throughout the years, the display is brought to life with key fashion pieces provided by Southpaw, one of New York's leading vintage resources. Mercedes-Benz Presents designer Narciso Rodriguez closes the Twenty First Century with his contribution to fashion over the last decade, in particular his unforgettable dress for First Lady Michelle Obama.

Before Jay-Z took the stage on September 11 at Madison Square Garden, the sponsor of the concert, Absolut vodka, hosted a reception at the Garden's private clubhouse. I accepted the invitation not only because I knew the concert would rock - and it did! - but because I was curious to find out how Absolut vodka positions itself these days.

When I started my career in the mid-1990s, Absolut was the only brand I knew to ask for when I ordered drinks with my girlfriends. But when those outings turned into dates and toasts over promotions and engagements, it seemed like there was always a new fancy or unusual vodka to try (potato? organic?). Still, in my mind Absolut remains tried and true, with that royal blue lettering and beloved clear bottle. When ordering flavored vodka, I've never asked for any other brand.

Headed to the reception, though, I realized my Absolut knowledge was sadly out of date. I could not recall what had replaced the legendary ads featuring artist-decorated bottles, the campaign that had cemented my loyalty: In high school, I plastered the pink walls of my bedroom with those ads, carefully torn from my parent's magazines.

In the comfy confines of the Garden's wood-panelled clubhouse, I quickly got up to speed thanks to Alisa and Kris Wixom, who both work on the Absolut campaign for TBWA Chiat/Day New York.

Sports OPTYX by gruen, a stylish new high-tech, high-performance eyewear line born from a collaborative effort between PrescripSun™ by Carl Zeiss and Nike Vision Lens Technology, was just launched at the U.S. Open. The new line will be vailable exclusively at OPTYX by gruen, the high-end eyewear boutique founded by industry legend John Gruen with branches in New York City, the Hamptons and Greenwich, CT, whose celeb clientele includes Martin Scorsese, Kate Moss, Lauren Hutton, Dustin Hoffman, Madonna, Alec Baldwin, Steven Spielberg and Elton John.

Nike Max Optics delivers precise vision at all angles regardless of the curvature of the lens, while Nike Max Tints enhance critical visual details, providing the ideal amount of light and the optimal range of color for all sports. In order to guarantee maximum performance, athletes must have a clear view in all directions; the Nike Max Optics' patented performance designs have been crafted to allow the clearest view over the widest angle, granting precise peripheral vision, customized for major types of sporting activities, including golf, cycling, running, skiing and rowing.

At a press event for Jackson Hole, we chatted with Travis Rice (a JH native) about his upcoming Quiksilver Natural Selection snowboarding competition -- and this awesome trophy.

This is just second place.

Luxist: Now, the first place one is 24 carat gold, right?

Travis Rice: That's correct. The first place trophy weighs about 40 pounds and it's 24 carat gold. This one right here is silver-plated, and the third place one is polished bronze.

L: Do you know the value of these things?

TR: I do.

L: Can you tell me?

TR: No!

L: Shoot!

TR: It's definitely a very impressive number, like, our whole thing is like, I think a lot of contests just slack on trophies. I think a solid trophy is so important instead of just like "we have a little ribbon for you," and you get 10,000 bucks.

L: So, I'd imagine you have a closet full of those little ribbons.

TR: Yeah, and it pisses me off! I mean, you try so hard for something and then you end up getting this cheap, laser-inscribed piece of glass or something.

L: And the trophy's different every year?

TR: Yeah, this is our second year, and we wanted to do metal this year. And it's original artwork, you know?

L: So tell me about the event; explain it to me like I'm a child.

TR: The contest is called The Natural Selection for a reason. If you've ever seen a snowboarding contest before, for the most part they're man-made, they blow snow for them, they build up all the features, make jumps. This contest, however, is actually held on natural terrain. We let God do all the work. And, you know, we live in Jackson Hole, so the insane snowfall that we get there allows us to hold a contest of this type of scale.

L: Last question: Can it be worn?

TR: You know what? I think it COULD be worn. But it is gonna HURT.

L: Heavy, huh?

TR: I mean, I could try an put it on your head right now, but I think it's not gonna feel that good.

L: I feel like we might get in trouble for that in here.

TR: Yeah, it might just be a faux pas.

If you want to hit Jackson Hole for the Quiksilver Natural Selection competition, start here.

A stock of 350 beautiful Cartier objects from the last 100 years or so (up to the 1970s) is about to be exhibited at the Palace Museum in Beijing, China. The exhibit will feature items ranging from watches to clocks and other Cartier "Treasures." Cartier has made some very nice stuff, and still does. Their clocks being among the most beautiful items.

The above Cartier clock is from 1926 and is known as the Chimera Mystery Clock. It is made with gold, platinum, a citrine dial, lots of other jewels and precious materials including diamonds and emeralds. It has a manually-wound 8-day power reserve movement located in the base, with the gears moving through the center of the Chimera and into the clock face. A beautiful object and representative of the fine pieces being show at the exhibit, which will run from September 5th - November 22nd, 2009. If you are going to be in Beijing at the time it will be worth checking out.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Want Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame to cook for you? How about Masaharu Morimoto of Morimoto and April Bloomfield of The John Dory too? On October 4, these chefs and other will present a special tasting dinner to benefit the new High Line park. The event is the latest in a series of dinners to benefit the park which recently opened in New York City. Mario Batali will also offer a special auction item for supporters for the first time. Leadership packages, which include 8 – 12 tickets, are $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000. Individual tickets are $1,000 and $2,500. A limited allotment of $500 tickets is also available via the High Line website.

[via The Examiner]

Since the W Hotels brand launched in 1998 their properties have featured a reinterpretation of the classic hotel Presidential Suite, dubbed the Extreme Wow Suite. Now W has commissioned Paris-based architect / designer Patrick Jouin to create the Extreme Wow Suite of the future, taking technologically advanced customization to the max. The resulting design includes hidden details and elements of surprise in addition to every imaginable luxury. The main feature of the suite is a large pod (above) housing a bathtub that can move around to capture different views, containing movable screens that will display greeting messages, time, temperature and information on the location city. The concept suite was just unveiled in Sao Paolo, Brazil as part of a special touring exhibition entitled "Le Paris de Patrick Jouin."

The VIP tent at the annual Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge in the Hamptons is always quite a scene, but this year attendees noticed the space was particularly plush. That's because Diamond Teak, one of the key sponsors at this year's event, furnished the VIP area with heirloom-quality pieces from its Spirit Song Collection (above). The company was founded by two Harvard grads, Kevin and Christine Yardley, who volunteered with the World Teach Organization in Costa Rica. They conceived of Diamond Teak as a way of bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to protecting the environment and boosting the local economy there. They now have over 12 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) / Smartwood certified plantations, protecting over 1.000 acres of jungle terrain. Diamond Teak is an end result of this process - the finest teak wood furniture from the best wood hand-selected by master crafts people. The company has accrued a broad range of high-profile clients, including Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, and Sarah Jessica Parker. The Spirit Song Collection's elegant curves mimic organic forms in nature, combining golden tropical hardwood with shimmering marine-grade stainless steel.