The dog food entrepicurean dinner

The driving rain and strong winds did not deter seven brave souls from attending the second Entrepicurean dinner. The only tangible impact of the bad weather was the horrible traffic that made me get here only around 6:30, which did not leave much time to get ready for the 7pm arrival of the guests. Luckily Mary and Hamid came early and were able to help out with some of the preparations, and all went well.

Tonight's Entrepicureans, visible in the picture clockwise from the lower left, included Hamid Benbrahim, Mary Chiochios (co-host), Greg Silverman, Paolo Gaudiano (co-host), Boaz Sender, Caryl Hubsher Hull and Chris Williams. This diverse group proved to be highly entertaining, I suspect my neighbors wondered what the laughing was all about. If I had to compare the first and second dinners, I would describe this one as being significantly more raucous, if somewhat less focused on any themes related to entrepreneurship or food. The conversation, which flowed freely through a wide range of topics, was at times quite colorful, irreverent and downright hysterical. Greg tried in vain to get people to talk about golf, but gave up as he quickly found out that he plays more games in a typical year than the rest of us combined have played in our entire lives. Nonetheless, both Hamid and I expressed interest in joining him on the links to get some pointers. Boaz was probably the most entertaining, as he argued in favor of pop culture while coining neologisms (e.g., "dog food your vertical").

The food

Appetizers included small mozzarella balls drizzled in truffle olive oil (just brought back from my recent European tour), soppressata, olives and a few other treats. The main meal included three items: Risotto with saffron (typical Milanese dish), chicken scaloppine with Marsala sauce, and carrots cooked with apricot jam and Marsala. For dessert, having run out of time to make the fruit salad I had planned, Hamid kindly ran down to Whole Foods where he got a yummy layered cake. All of this was washed down with cocktails, a variety of red and white wine, and some lovely Limoncello (thank you Chris) to finish off the meal.