How remiss of me not to write about catching up recently with my former colleague and good friend Annette, who was passing through New York en route to a pro bono law conference. Given that dinner was on the company credit card, I was a little more expansive in my choice of venue than I would have been had I been footing half of the bill myself. I boldly made a reservation at the Union Square Cafe, a Manhattan institution for more than twenty years.

We chewed the fat – actually, I had gnocchi followed by the sea bass special – and discussed past, present, and future plans. Annette was so excited to be back in the city, I realised suddenly how much of a local I felt.

Having decided we hadn’t eaten quite enough, we met up for breakfast a few days later at Balthazar, another culinary institution, this time further downtown at the corner of Spring and Crosby. Very French, very busy, very SoHo. Having a friend in town is a perfect excuse to go there – if I needed an excuse, that is.