Marina O’Loughlin on The Grill, New York

For a long time, after every New York visit I’d come back and become suffused with dissatisfaction. Restaurant-wise, it seemed I’d done a reverse Oz, going from sparkling Technicolor to kitchen-sink black-and-white.

Recent visits have felt less awe-inspiring. It seems that the city – Manhattan, especially – is playing it a lot sager. Chrysler Building-high rents and costs will do that to an independent business.