I find myself relaxing before dinner on a rooftop with friends at the southern tip of Manhattan, sipping rose, gazing north towards the city that has stimulated my appetite and my ambition since we first 'met' last year. I am here for a week over Easter - eager to experience the city, drink it all in and let it seduce me as it does: in small bites, chance encounters, glasses raised, and avenues traversed. Easter Sunday my friend M. and her husband were invited to an Easter dinner and, in true New York hospitality fashion, an extra chair for 'my friend from out of town' was added. I don't think it hurt that I was advertised as a food enthusiast who would gladly bring her famous homemade ricotta. I felt immediately welcomed into the fold of this assortment of friends. Nothing brings lawyers, writers, actors, musicians, and actuaries together quite like good food, prepared with love. And nothing cements new friendships quite like freeflowing wine, excellent cheese, and homemade Manhattan floats - cherry soda topped with a boozy bourbon ice cream, a sumptuous dollop of vermouth whipped cream and a cherry drunk on moonshine.
