MAPA DA MINA - BLOG da ANA CISSA - Ana Cissa's Blog

©anacissapinto I am in Campos do Jordão. Campos is located at an altitude of 1,700 meters (about 5,577 feet), in São Paulo State, and is one of the most loved mountain destinations in Brazil. I have spent many many winters here, since I was a child. Campos has been a set for the best childhood memories for me so whenever I have a chance, I try and come back. I just love it here. My grandparents bought their house in 1948, and the family has enjoyed spending winters here since. Calla Lilies and Hydrangeas are the most common flowers in Campos and we have been lucky to have them in abundance in the house's backyard. This afternoon I decided to take some pictures of the calla lilies. Such fascinating flowers! A little later on it will be time to light the fire, open a nice bottle of vino and play monopoly with my nephews. Life is sublime. And I feel lucky and grateful.

Brazil's New Glamour Capital | São Paulo | Food & Wine

Again, I went to one of my favorite restaurants in NY, though this time, just to seat at the bar and have a night cap with a friend. BLUE HILL is THE place I want to go. Always. Anytime. I fell like if I had a restaurant it would probably be pretty much like Blue Hill. They are so chic, and understated at the same time. The ambient is very inviting, they play Coltrane Ballads, Bill Evans Blue and Green, and the likes. The small, below ground dining room has the feeling of an exclusive, guest only club, yet Blue Hill may be the best low-profile restaurant in town. Backlit banquettes and warmly illuminated brick walls with a cozy bar at the entrance, Blue Hill invites you in and you just want to stay, until they close! Chef Daniel Barber “wows” his well-heeled clients (including the Obamas) with inspired New American cooking based on extremely fresh seasonal ingredient. The food is, overall, simply prepared and everything tastes like it would in a farm. Blue Hill's menu showcases loc...

A friend sent me this line from MOONSTRUCK that is just genius, though I am a sucker and I do believe that without love we are all niente. Still I wanted to share it. It's brilliant. "Love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die. The storybooks are bullshit." Ronny Cammareri (played by Nicolas Cage)

I finally found the perfect lounge bar. 675 Bar is a “no-frills” subterranean “hideaway” divided into raw-brick “alcoves” equipped with “foosball, board games, Jenga, Pacman and a pool table”. You can choose to play games or if you just want to chill, have a drink, and actually talk to a friend and hear what they are saying, this place is for you. I love the decor of 675. It's very cozy, inviting, homy and yet sophisticated. They serve awesome drinks, two of my favorites being: SOMMERWIND - Riesling, Lychee, Cucumber - and OLD SAO PAULO - Sagatiba Cachaça, Cointreau, Orzata, Passion Fruit Puree. They also serve yummy small plates like quesadillas, crispy calamari, sliders and tasty empanadas. If you are planning on going, try to get there before 9pm. By 11:30pm the place gets pretty crowded and there might be a line to get in. I am definitely going back to 675, and I will make sure to get there early enough to secure one of the awesome candle lit alcoves. Très romantique & tr...

Tonight I had dinner at Lure. I ha d been there once before, and even though the decor is very cool ( Lure Fishbar's has a retro yacht-docked-in-Saint-Tropez interior) and the food is also pretty good, I didn't have a major desire to go back to eat there again. But tonight, I wanted to have sushi, and I was looking for a place close to Angelica's Theater where I was going to catch a late movie with some friends. And I remembered Lure. Lure is right in the heart of Soho, on the corner of Mercer and Prince Street, right across the Street from the Mercer Hotel. Super cool location. The restaurant is down some steps, in a sub-sidewalk location. It is very well lit, the glamorous Yacht decor is chic and fun at the same time. My friends and I had some tasty sushi rolls, I enjoyed a delicious glass of cold and crisp Wakatake Onikoroshi "Demon Slayer" Junmai Daiginjo sake, and we all had a great time seating at the sushi bar that is tucked in the back of the very spaciou...

©anacissapinto Just yesterday I was talking to my nephew about the last time that he was visiting from Brazil, and how we were hanging out on my rooftop, on 3rd Ave and 11th Street - in the middle of Manhattan - and we saw a giant falcon take a pigeon, right in front of us. This morning I received a visit from another extraordinary flying creature. A beautiful New Yorker cicada is chilling in my living room right now. Looks like she had a long night. Good morning Nature! I am so glad I can't escape you!