Boldface June 25: A.D. Amorosi rounds up the local gossip

Niki Hawkins, Nicole Cashman and Melissa Magee attended
ICON’s opening soiree. Credit: A.D. Amorosi

After 15 years, local LGBT party planner/promoter Bruce Yelk will stop blogging at his NightlifeGay.com. Yelk also hinted he’d be slowing his roll when it came to producing events. That’s sad — Bruce throws a mean party.

He could have been merely having a leisurely stroll on a breezy Sunday morning, but what was “Top Chef” Kevin Sbraga really doing hanging in front of the recently closed Mildred on S. Eighth St. in the Italian Market? Rumor has had Sbraga looking for a space in South Philly since the beginning of the year, and he seemed pretty serious about being there. Maybe that’s where he’ll add to his formidable list of restaurants, which includes the Fat Ham in University City, Sbraga on Broad Street and — also on Broad — the under-construction eatery at developer Carl Dranoff’s new SouthStar Lofts.

The boutique hotel with the rooftop swimming pool we recently featured in Boldface has an address (1525 Chestnut) with history (the old A. Pomerantz Building) and a Phillies connection, as one-time center fielder Garry Maddox owned the mini-skyscraper. While no dates have been given regarding that bo-tel’s opening, another massive undertaking a couple blocks away, the $50-million redevelopment of the historically registered 1616 Walnut building — branded now as ICON — opened with 206 luxury apartments and 23,000 square feet of retail space for current renters like Theory and Santander Bank. Almost half of the residential units are rented already.

Seen on the scene

Phillip Silverstone, Sir Cliff Richard and Steven Van Zandt at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City.
Courtesy of Phillip Silverstone

• Supermodel Helena Christensen checked out the Barnes Foundation’s new exhibit of Post-Impressionist masterpieces “The World Is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cezanne.”

• Philly podcaster Phillip Silverstone was invited to host Sir Cliff Richard’s hurriedly planned Gramercy Theatre gig in Manhattan on Saturday when his original plans (opening for Morrissey at the Barclays Center) fell through due to Moz’s illness. Springsteen/”Sopranos” stalwart Steven Van Zandt showed, too.

• Philadelphia Eagles first-round draft pick Marcus Smith celebrated with his dad and several large steaks at Del Frisco’s the other night.

•The annual Ball on the Square welcomed Sidney and Caroline Kimmel, John Pcsolar and Alan Sandman, Sharon Pinkenson and Joe Weiss, Rep. Brian Sims and over 370 others, raising $300,000 for Rittenhouse Square preservation.