I lived in Little Italy for 18 months but I never tested its wares, if you can believe it. I spent all of my time elbowing tourists, dismissing restaurant hecklers and tutting at street vendors plonked right in the middle of the sidewalk. I never actually looked up to take it all in.

Little Italy – which stretches down Mulberry Street from Grand Street to Canal – is gaudy. But after living away from the area for around three months now, I felt I’d recovered enough to see what they had to offer.

So Ryan and I picked up a slice (or 8) from L’asso and then meandered through the streets, laughing at the signs written in Italian accents and noting a far few James Gandolfini pictures. And I oohed and aahed as I noticed the Empire State Building right at the end of Mulberry Street. I actually had patience for it all for once.

We also opted for gelato from Cha Chas, me for Stracciatella (vanilla and chocolate), him for hazelnut. And it was gorgeous and creamy and delicious. I could have almost pretended I was on holiday… if it hadn’t been bucketing down.

To be fair, it’s probably a good thing I looked past what Little Italy had to offer when I lived there, otherwise I’d have eaten this stuff every day. P.s. I know I owe you a blog from Tuesday! Sorryyy, I will get to it.