His father and I were once law partners, Basil Paterson.

NPR: Spitzer's Fall Helps Write New Chapter in History

The wild basil is still in my hand and as I chew a green leaf, releasing its strong, earthy flavours, the colours of Ibiza seem at once to be all around me: in taste, smell, sound and sight.

BBC: The three colours of Ibiza

As I headed through the swing doors, a new party - aka Basil McCrea and John McCallister - was coming in the opposite direction.

BBC: It's a love 'n hate thing for the new gang of two

'I look like I'm a hundred, ' he says with a grin, picking handfuls of wild basil from the ground and handing me a stalk.

BBC: The three colours of Ibiza

At Perilla, where the cuisine tends to skew toward Italian-American and Eastern European influences, I serve a spaghettini with crab gravy studded with crushed red chili flakes, fennel seed and Thai basil.

WSJ: Endless-Summer Baked Blue Crab