Venice
Here is what happens. My daughter, Adriana, and I will be strolling along a street in some city. We have no particular destination in mind. I’m thinking of Venice last year. Or was it the year before? Or, perhaps it was another city altogether. But let’s say it was Venice and we were walking alongside one of the canals. We were in one of those earthly heavens where it doesn’t matter where you are, where any nuance is sufficient, where the most subtle light on a wall, or the architecture in the waiter’s brow is enough. Or whatever it is. Eventually, we come to the oldest part of the city, near Punta Della Dogana and the Peggy Gugenhaim Museum. For some reason I’m driven to check out what is behind a particular Venetian façade, away from the crowded streets. We end up in Antiooo’s Lounge and Restaurant (www.sinahotels.com). Totally unexpected. The dining room is all white, and for that, serene, yet at the same time, busy with embossed walls, light fixtures and small but beautiful flower arrangments. In this place every bite of food is enjoyable. Whether it is or it isn’t. Everything is perfect, whether it is or it isn’t. And then we go into The Red lounge, equally surprising, with a fireplace wrapped in a mirror frame and the hearth filled with wood. Very dramatic. And then my daughter will look at me with her fabulous smile.