Five Stars

This is the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel, a five-star Starwood property on Sukhumvit Road. Barry and I had dinner here last night to belatedly celebrate the birthday I spent in flight over the Pacific last month.

This is the lobby -- the picture doesn't do it justice. The colors are warmer and richer in person, the air is ever so lightly perfumed by the giant flower arrangements, the lighting is perfection, and there is a jazz band in the corner to entertain you.

This is the dining room, and again the picture falls far short of the reality. You cannot believe how flattering the lighting is -- we both looked two inches taller, 10 pounds thinner, and five years younger. Wait staff hovers just beyond too close, waiting to do everything except chew for you. The food is divine, the band is sublime, and our window table gave us a view of Sukhamvit, which looked lovely and sparkly and urban in the dark.

The highlight of the evening was when Barry sent three tiny roasted onions flying out into the night when his knife slipped as he cut into a truly enormous steak (best guess: two pounds of meat). We tipped a little extra to make up for it!