He, determined to help wash dishes with an oblivious mama not acknowledging his signs for 'up!', found me and a lazy dog blocking his way.
We have become suspicious: of their mawkish advertising, of their treatment of farmers, of their desperate bids to package up things that really don't need packaging up at all (I mean this literally and metaphorically, versions of "restaurant-style" dishes being every bit as phoney and wasteful as apples wrapped in too much plastic).
When it comes to food to soak up all that pisco, Vinilo (+56 32 223 0665, cafevinilo.cl) is worth a visit for a contemporary take on Chilean dishes such as shredded beef in a stylish roulade.
In the two restaurants, with outdoor seats under shade, I ate delicious Moroccan/French dishes, such as spiced quail with herbs from the garden.
St George's Market in the city centre showcases the quality artisan produce – such as Hannan's beef dry-aged in the world's largest Himalayan salt chamber – that's been inspiring chefs such as Ox's Stephen Toman, who has been exciting British and Irish critics with dishes such as Skeaghanore duck, parsley root, chestnut, coffee and chicory, built on local provenance.
It's early days, so Pisani is continuing to cook the school caterer Ashlyns' menus, while trialling new dishes and holding tasting sessions.
The gaudier dishes have been calmed or lost, the menu is lighter, brighter.
A menu from the early 90s shows dishes carefully hinged between the luxurious and the rustic.
Diagne tried his hand at many things: peddling bags and sunglasses in Genoa, washing dishes in Corsica, working at a warehouse in Florence.
The 14 self-catering rooms are almost like studio apartments, with kitchens in the corners, and are simply and brightly furnished, with aircon, television and daily cleaning – even of your dirty dishes.
Then migrate to the restaurant proper for a feast of unfussy regional dishes such as pizza diavolo with salami and chilli or maccheroni al' ragu made with suckling lamb shoulder.
