My final meal in New York - at least for this trip - is something of a rush on my way back from the office to my friends’ apartment to hurriedly pack and make my way to JFK (the airport not the assassinated president). It is almost just going to be Shake Shack - boring, considering I’ve got that in the UK and already on this year’s list. But I remember Alex telling me how good Little Ruby’s is, realise that it’s right around the corner, and I reckon an Australian brunch would do quite nicely. I tempt myself away from the burger to the sweetcorn fritters, with an excellent sweetcorn mascarpone, alongside some bacon, tomatoes, salad, and avocado (I mean, it is brunch after all). I add in an egg (it’s an option, I’m not a maverick) and a hash brown (just to see how they manage them this side of the pond - the answer is ‘same, really’). It works! The fritters themselves could maybe do with a little more structural integrity, but the flavour combination is to die for and texturally well balanced. I wash it down with some OG fresh lemonade and dash back to East 9th Street one last time. Til the next one.