India, Aug. 7 -- The second I walked into Amicii, Bengaluru got quiet. In my head, I was in Singapore. The green, slow version. The one with glass canopies and plants growing out of walls, where you go on a weekend with nowhere else to be. Maybe it was the mint-green arched ceiling letting in the light or maybe it was the vines trailing down cream arches. Maybe it was just the feeling that someone here wanted you to exhale. Also read | I dined with chef Kunal Kapur at his new Bengaluru restaurant: 3.5 hours, 8 courses, 1 serious tofu conversation

My Instagram feed had been full of Amicii reels for weeks, the red archway, the giant red flower on the ceiling and the neon bar. I came for the aesthetics. I stayed for a couple of hours. And I...