Getting to go out for dinner with Matt and Frankie at Pasture to bitch about our respective year-end conversations was always one of my favourite traditions, and even though we’re no longer all at HPE and those two don’t even really have those conversations any more (lucky to be at start-ups, I suppose), we still like to do it. In the spirit of tradition, nothing ever really changes on the Pasture menu, so neither does my order. The short rib croquettes are a perennial highlight, crumbling and falling apart atop an almost fluorescent gochujang aoili. I go for a sirloin steak, medium-rare to perfection, a good char and a pink middle. Peppercorn sauce and garlic butter, more generously apportioned than usual, set it off nicely. Chocolate mousse for dessert, topped with cream and chocolate shards, and a splash of olive oil for good measure, is not quite up there with the best in Bristol, but is a fine way to end the evening nonetheless. Shame the year-end of conversation can’t say likewise.