THE GIRLS

Food and drink are inexorably linked to reconnecting with people you haven't seen in a while. When you want to catch up with old friends, you don't say "Hi Fred, long time no see! Let's go sit in the local park and catch up!" or "Meet me at the beach!" or "Come over to my house and play Yahtzee!"
No. You do the normal, sensible thing, and catch up over coffee. Or lunch. Or you might bump into each other at a party where you will inevitably have a drink in your hand (or you can excuse yourself to get one if things aren't going brilliantly).
I suppose talking over food or drink means you're occupied enough to have something else to focus on as well as each other, but you're not focused enough to not be able to talk. And if all else fails, at least you can talk about the food.

Last week I caught up with some fabulous girls I don't see as often as I'd like, over dinner of course, and I think I've found a new favourite Willie hideout - I'd never even noticed Al Porto Vecchio on Nelson Place before, let alone eaten there and it's gorge. As in gorgeous, but you could gorge there too quite happily. They have a big Mediterranean-style courtyard out the back, open fires inside, and serve good wood-fired gourmet pizzas. The seafood wasn't as rave-worthy but in general, we liked it, and I came home with a sore stomach. But that was from laughing, because it certainly wasn't one of those times you needed to talk about the food.