Photo by Jeff Newton Hot City  Destroyers

Havana Tuesdays

Not that hot, sweaty evenings are a stretch here in the Valley, but there’s something cool about evoking a steamy night in Havana, Cuba, which is exactly what the Mondrian Scottsdale does each week.

Havana Tuesdays kicked off last fall at the resort’s resident restaurant Asia de Cuba, celebrating Cuban-inspired small plates like chicken lollipops with chipotle and honey glaze, and $10 specialty drinks, including mojitos, margaritas and martinis (try the Havana Sunset, a sweet/smooth combo of Finlandia Mango, fresh mango puree and a splash of Chambord).

It’ll be hard to keep your drink to your lips, however, as live, Latin jams from the five-piece band Rakata Project will tempt you to do more mambo’ing than mingling. After 8 p.m., the party continues in the adjacent Skybar, where you can rest those dancing feet on a sleek, black-and-white-striped settee, or flaunt your fedora for another round of mojitos and merengue.

Info: Havana Tuesdays start at 6 p.m., no cover; Mondrian Scottsdale, 7353 E. Indian School Rd., Scottsdale, 480-308-1100, mondrian-scottsdale.com.

Fresh Start Women’s Foundation

It started out as a day of pampering at Rolf’s Salon in 1992 – a day for women in need of a fresh start. Sixteen years later, the Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, co-founded by Arizona natives Pat Petznick and Beverly Stewart, sees more than 500 women each month looking to turn their lives around.

Whether they’re single mothers struggling to get by, high-powered execs looking for a career change, survivors of domestic violence, or women who simply aren’t happy with their appearance/relationship/financial status, the Jewell McFarland Lewis-Fresh Start Women’s Resource Center offers workshops, seminars and mentors to help them find new paths in life.

The Website is brimming with success stories of Valley women who have donned new, positive outlooks on life. Most (82 percent) of their clients are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, but Fresh Start helps all women over the age of 18, in any situation, and we think that’s pretty cool.

Info: 1130 E. McDowell Rd., Phoenix; M-Thurs, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fri-Sat., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 602-252-8494, wehelpwomen.com

Geisha A Go Go

Think fast: What’s your favorite karaoke tune?

If at least two titles didn’t spring to mind (a loud, annoying rock anthem and a sappy, heartfelt love ballad) that you simply have to belt out on karaoke night, you’ll want to prepare your song list for Geisha A Go Go, pronto.

This new Scottsdale Asian restaurant, brought to you by the same guys who dreamed up Drift and Stingray Sushi, takes the best of Asian cooking (think hot rocks, whole-fried fish and house-made sake) and blends it with the best of Tokyo pop culture.

Specifically, Geisha will feature flashy Pachinko machines – a Japanese gaming device that’s part slot-machine, part pin-ball machine – along with Japanese shoji screens that will pump out annoyingly catchy rock songs and dance music. Best of all, karaoke will be available in private rooms for up to 10 people – not enough to truly humiliate yourself, in our opinion, but still enough to make this one cool karaoke joint. Sign us up for Welcome to the Jungle and Love Hurts, please.

Info: 4302 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, 480-699-0055

Champú Studio

The warning on the Website reads, “This is not your father’s portrait studio.” We’ll take that one step further and say this is not the gaudy Glamour Shots studio of old. There are no fuzzy boas, blush-happy makeup artists or super-soft lighting techniques.

Instead, Champú Studio, which opened in northwest Phoenix last September, combines an upscale hair salon with a professional photo studio. Go in for a simple cut and color, or stay to take full advantage of the photo studio, which offers quality headshots, a modeling runway for runway parties (no matter what your age) and music video shoots. Photo shoots range from $50 to $300, but don’t let the affordable prices fool you – the vibe is chic and professional, not cheesy and amateur like you might expect a hair-and-pic combo studio to be.

And why should it be anything else? The studio was started by longtime photographer Shannon O’Rear and his wife, Kim, who is also photographer and a former master stylist at Rolf’s Salon.

Info: 6685 W. Beardsley Rd., Ste. 110, Phoenix, 602-319-1700, champustudio.com

Downtown’s Floating Sculpture

The Valley has a history of angst over land-based public art. Despite support from artist communities, many residents tend to see public art displays as too expensive, too controversial or both.

Enter Boston-based sculptor Janet Echelman and her floating sculpture of a saguaro cactus blossom. The $2.4 million project for Civic Space at Van Buren Street and Central Avenue Downtown was approved by the City Council in December.

It calls for suspending a 100-foot-wide, nearly transparent net on three towers up to 160 feet tall, then letting it float and flex with the breeze. Supporters say it will truly make Downtown unique. Critics say it’s a waste of money, and that it won’t survive our summers and monsoon storms. We say anyone willing to do anything new to Downtown is cool with us.

Despite protests and a near-death experience at the hands of a deputy city manager, the project was on track at press time. Completion is scheduled for early 2009.

Info: phoenix.gov/ARTS/civic_faq.html