Time for some good news.

Apparently Ralph Archbold, Philadelphia’s most well-known Benjamin Franklin impersonator, is on the mend following his stroke last year.

Regular readers of this site (hello mum and dad) will know that a little under a year ago I interviewed Ralph over dinner in the City of Brotherly Love. It was depressing to hear about his stroke in June, but according to this article and accompanying video he’s on the road to recovery. Hoozah.

Today’s dinner with a stranger is actually brunch with a stranger. But I felt that “Brunching With Strangers” was an awkward title for a website, so I’m going to say that, technically, the meal I had counts as a dinner. Right? Right.

Anyway, by clicking here you can read about Teresa Suarez. I met up with Teresa last month at a tea shop in Manhattan, where I quizzed her about the three jobs that keep her busy — primarily her work selling adult novelties.

Here’s the third and final (mercifully, I’m sure) video of Margarita Pracatan and I attempting various festive songs. I know it’s a little out of date. This time round we’re singing “Feliz Navidad” with two key elements. First, we’d had quite a lot of wine by this point. Second, neither of us knew the words.

Pretty fantastic, yes? Hmm. Perhaps don’t answer that question. Anyway, apologies for getting the video up after the festive season. I’m sure you’re heartbroken. A real dinner interview update is coming next week.

Hello again!

Hope you had a good time over Christmas. Later this week I’ll be uploading the rather belated third festive music video I recorded with Margarita Pracatan. In the meantime, a short update on my travel plans this year.

I’ve updated the list of places I intend on visiting in 2010. Take a look and if I’m going to be visiting your location, then get in touch and book a dinner with a stranger by clicking this handy link. Or not. It’s entirely your call.

I’m heading home to England for Christmas and won’t be updating this site until 2010.

I know, you’re devastated. But stop the sadness and dry your tears because I’m leaving you with a splendid festive gift. Here’s the second of the three recent videos I recorded with Cuban singing sensation Margarita Pracatan — it’s our stellar attempt at “Merry Christmas” late one Saturday night in New York.

Another update? Oh my!

Here’s another dinner interview, this time in New York City with actor/teacher Jack Freiberger. Click here or here or even here (hint: all the links lead to the same place) to learn about his work developing a one-man stage show (running off-Broadway until January) that merges both the acting and educating worlds.

Back from another weekend in New York City and two fun interviews.

More on the first of those two interviews later this week, but in the meantime enjoy this video that I made with Margarita Pracatan during last weekend’s visit. Yes, I reunited with the Cuban singing sensation from my interview almost exactly a year ago. Two bottles of discounted white wine later and I was up for singing some Christmas songs to get into the festive spirit.

Behold the first of three videos, our rendition of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” for your listening pleasure. Ahem.

Let me work some magic…abracadabra, here’s a new interview!

This time I’m back in Washington, DC, for an interview with magician Michael Chamberlin. Click on the picture above or that link in the preceding sentence to learn about this Maryland-born magician, and also to watch a rather splendid video of a nifty magic trick he performed after dinner.

I have zero reason for using that headline other than the fact I was recently in Philadelphia for a weekend visit and the Elton John song “Philadelphia Freedom” came to mind.

Moving on swiftly, I didn’t have any dinners with strangers in the City of Brotherly Love but I and two friends got to try some really nice eating establishments.

First up was Jim’s Steaks, which serves up the traditional Philly snack of cheese and steak on a sandwich roll. Jim’s has been in operation since 1939 and is still very popular, as evidenced by the line snaking round the street corner on the Saturday afternoon I paid a visit. You get hustled through the place pretty quickly, but that doesn’t diminish the simple but delicious snack served up. Tender steak, juicy onions, a slathering of Cheez Whiz all combine to make one tasty sandwich.

That night the three of us ate at Portofino, an Italian restaurant that’s been open for more than 35 years. Apparently we were in the mood for visiting long-running places that day. The menu has your traditional Italian restaurant offerings — Chicken Parmigiana, spaghetti, calamari — and a really rather limited wine list. Still, it’s a welcoming place and the food is of consistently high quality. The food also doesn’t feel heavy, so you’re not left in a food coma after dinner.

The next morning, struggling with the joyous combination of a sinus infection and a mild hangover, I sat down with my friends at Crêperie Beau Monde, which specializes in sweet and savory crêpes. My crêpe had fresh berries, Chantilly cream and ice cream, and it was really rather fantastic.

Now I’ll get to work on persuade Beau Monde to open a branch in Washington, DC.

Quick update with some new travel plans — Philadelphia, Miami and New York City are all looking close to definite for visits in the coming weeks.

If you live in one of the cities listed above and would like to try dinner with a stranger, click here to make a reservation.