The restaurant was bright and airy, with furnishings in crisp white and light wood, and on each table was a small bouquet of yellow flowers. There was even a compact hedge of lush green foliage which made a sort-of wall between the restaurant and the canal. The waterway was dotted with canal boats, some moored and some on the move, and with London putting on some brilliant sunshine, the restaurant and its surrounds literally shone.

We were shown to our table—which gave us a front-row view of the canal—by a petite, dark-haired woman with a severe fringe and a perfect red lip. She smiled politely as she handed me my menu. I glanced over it and just seeing the offerings made me hungry. Thank god my hangover was over.

“You cannot go wrong here. Everything’s terrific,” said James.

“So, you come here a lot, then?” I asked.

He laughed, seemingly at himself. “I do, yes. Probably more than I should, but as I said, it’s close to home and I love the food.”

“James!” A large man in a white chef’s coat called out and made his way across the restaurant, gracefully navigating between the tables.

“Paulie.” James looked up at the chef and they shook hands warmly. I wondered if James was one of those people who knew everyone everywhere he went. “This is my friend, Sarah. She’s visiting from Sydney.”

Paulie turned towards me and took my offered hand between his large ones. “Welcome, Sarah. We’ll have to make sure we dazzle you with something tantalising. You have some incredible seafood restaurants in Sydney.” That may have been true, but I wasn’t the sort of person who frequented the incredible seafood restaurants of Sydney. Still, Paulie didn’t know that and I was dressed in Alannah Hill, so I decided to play along.

“Oh, we absolutely do, but I’m very much looking forward to this lunch. James has raved about your restaurant.” Paulie seemed to like that and when I caught James’s eye, he winked at me.

“In that case, may I design a special menu for the two of you?” I looked at James and he shrugged good-naturedly as if to say, “why not?”

I grinned up at Paulie. “I’d love it.”

“Terrific. Anything you don’t like?” he asked.

“No, not really.”

“Excellent.” He clapped his hands together in a way that was utterly endearing. “James, the sancerre will be perfect with what I have in mind.”

James closed his menu. “Sounds good.”

The dark-haired woman suddenly appeared by Paulie’s side and he murmured something to her. She smiled her polite smile at us, took our menus, and disappeared.

“Maria will bring the wine. You two, sit tight.” With that, Paulie was gone and James and I were left alone. I realised, with some gratitude, that I was no longer nervous. Perhaps our encounter with the larger-than-life Paulie had quelled my nerves. I grabbed the moment to take in more of the view, glad James didn’t feel the need to fill the silence.