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32 CABANA CONFIDENTIAL BY BILLY FONG. PHOTOGRAPHY JONATHAN ZIZZO. W hen Peggy Sewell invited me to attend a dinner she was hosting in honor of London-based Martina Mondadori Sartogo, I quickly canceled other plans and replied with an emphatic yes! Mondadori Sartogo, founder and editor in chief of Cabana magazine, was in town as part of her tour for the coveted tome Cabana Anthology and to debut her new collection of bohemian table- ware. The editrix had arrived via Houston, where she'd made the rounds to numerous events during Texas Design Week. When I entered Sewell's parlor, I knew this would go down as one of the most elegant and effervescent dinner parties of the season. Of the 16 dinner guests, many hailed from abroad. Rounding out Mondadori Sartogo's international entourage were Brits Beatrice Vincenzini Warrender, managing director for Vendome Press, and Cabana's CEO Giulia Costantini. Also from across the pond was Jane Pendry, the brilliant and stylish force behind the Dovima Paris collection. Pendry and I locked eyes over our stemware, since we both were wearing larger- than-life glasses that made us look as if we'd been separated at birth. Post cocktails, Sewell ushered us to the garden, where the chicest dinner table was set inside her gorgeous conservatory. That's when I knew we were in for a festive evening — I spied Brad Kelly escorting his aunt Nancy Dedman into the scene. Aside from Brad and myself, Nick Even and designer Alvise Orsini were the only other gents in attendance. (I'm always in heaven when the ratio of boys to girls leans to girls.) The long table was ablaze in shades of spring, crafted under the watchful eye of Margaret Ryder, who handled the styling of the dinner. From the pink ranunculus, peonies, and carnations to the orange Indian sari used as a runner, I was in sensory nirvana. Sewell had even chosen an upbeat Latin playlist to keep her guests in a cha-cha mood. Others in the chit-chatty crowd assembled around the tablescape were Sewell's beautiful and expecting daughter, Jacquelin Sewell, as well as Cathy Kincaid, Cristina Lynch, Heather Furniss, Kerri Davis, Elizabeth Robertson, and Lisa Fine. Indian glassware from Cathy Kincaid's personal collection Lisa Fine, Beatrice Vincenzini Warrender, Alvise Orsini Beatrice Vincenzini Warrender Peggy Sewell Jacquelin Sewell, Nick Even Cristina Lynch, Jane Pendry Billy Fong, Ann Hobson Nancy Dedman, Brad Kelly Martina Mondadori Sartogo Heather Furniss Nancy Neuhoff Cathy Kincaid The conservatory set for dinner