In NYC and Italy
![nyc_italy1](https://thefeiringline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/nyc_italy1.jpg)
When Byron Bates suggested that we meet at the Soho Grand for wine, I thought he had to be joking, because ever since it opened its doors in 1996, the bar/restaurant associated with the hotel had been a wine wasteland with nothing much to offer except the likes of Cloudy Bay, La Scolca and Clicquot.