I can't say, to be honest. I met him very briefly, and I understand that making these sorts of celebrity visits must take its toll. I've seen Gandolfini signing autographs on YouTube, and though it's obviously nice of him to do it, he's not exactly enthusiastic about it; it's almost as if scribbling anything on a piece of paper is enough - but then again, I've never been one to chase autographs for this very reason.

We showed up at the Garment District Button for the tour, and the guide told us we could meet one of the cast further down the street. There was a short line waiting to meet Joe, and whilst we were standing in line we noted he must be selling stuff from the trunk of his jeep. I figured his recipe book or something.

Sure enough, it was his book, but also a 'Bada Bing' license plate (which is a New York license plate, not New Jersey!), some T-shirts, some pens, and what he called 'posters', which were just A4 print-outs of cast members posing. Basically, you got the hint that you had to buy something to get a photo with him - to 'meet' him at all, in fact. There was no price list, and it all happened so quickly; I got a 'poster' (which he signed) and the license plate. "Forty bucks" he says, as if it's nothing. My friend got the same, worried that choosing something else would cost even more.It's the quickest eighty dollars we spent whilst there. It took us a good few minutes to recover. I don't know if this was even legal, but what the heck, it was an experience I'll never forget. We figured 50 people or so were on the tour, and reckoned he made about $2k. He's apparently just become a father for the first time. Expensive cot, if you ask me!

Still, though, I got some cool prizes for answering trivia on the bus: a bag of pasta, a CD of music, a Satin Dolls poster, a Satin Dolls pen, and a free Sex and the City tour.

We went to Holsten's, which wouldn't have been part of the tour when you guys went. Pretty good. They had that Tony Soprano impersonator guy (the actual double used on the show, who now makes a living making appearances such as these) sitting in the now-famous final-scene booth, with whom you got your picture taken. He was a bit embarrassing; he neither looks nor sounds like Tony, and he was trying to be very hip by saying 'fucking' a lot of the time, which Tony would never do, and which must have sounded awful to the old, confused couple sitting across from him.