I’ve been opining about the last 10 years because it is the beginning of a new decade. On New Year’s Eve, 1999, Ed and I shared a bottle of expensive champagne and Beluga caviar that I bought at Petrossian on 7th Ave. and 58th St. in New York -- $100 an ounce. Ed explained how I should prepare it with toast points and crumbled egg, etc.

There was some fear that our electronic systems would be sabotaged and we would all wake up with malfunctioning computers and NO E MAIL. It didn’t happen.

It was a pleasant evening and the next day I phoned around, looking for a ballet class on the holiday and found one.

I called my friend, I... in New York, to wish her a happy new year. She said that many fine restaurants had closed on Christmas Day and that she and her sister had been unable to find one so that they could eat a festive dinner out. So they made a roast at home. I was surprised at that since it has been, traditionally, common to have NYC restaurants cater to holiday diners, ‘though, it is true, one must make reservations well in advance.

My dream New Year’s Eve is to have hotel and dinner reservations at the Renaissance Hotel. It is located at the north end of Times Square, at exactly that point where the diagonal Broadway crosses 7th Avenue, creating the triangle from 42nd St. to 45th St., known as Times Square. Their restaurant is on the second floor, and the southern end faces the Square and it is all glass and one can sit having lunch and watch the cars separate as they go up Broadway or down Seventh Avenue, take your pick. The uptown traffic looks as if it is coming straight at you. Being there on such a night is very pricey, but I want to do it once anyway. And the nice part about it is that, after the dinner, and watching the ball from this safe haven, you just take the elevator up to your room and sack out without having to worry about transportation or crowds.

Then the next day, you can walk up Broadway in the biting cold (usually) and over to 5th Avenue and look at the store windows – and lunch at Rockefeller Center café, and watch the ice skaters and maybe even buy something at Tiffany’s. Yes.

xx, Teal