Good things in small sizes

Owing to some last-minute changes and my crazy travel schedule, this episode of the Entrepicurean dinner featured the smallest crowd to date, with a total of five diners. Not surprisingly, the tone of the evening was different from previous dinners, with most of the time spent on a single conversation thread. This made for a more relaxed, intimate evening, with many topics being covered and people naturally taking turns during conversations.

The list of Entrepicureans, shown in the photo clockwise from the lower left, included yours truly, Maryellen Towle of KaiZen Coaching, Mary Chiochios of Chiochios Studios pitching in again as co-host, Claire Spofford of J. Jill and Walter Carl of ChatThreads.

As already mention, this seemed like a small crowd compared to some of the previous dinners, but that in no way reduced the amount or energy of the conversations. In fact, nobody left until around 11! Along the way we covered a wide variety of topics, both personal and professional. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the evening was that, without any prompting or plan, we naturally fell into a pattern whereby at some point or another each of us gave a summary of our own work and experience. In a larger crowd this might have seemed affected, but with the smaller crowd it was a very spontaneous. Maryellen was at the center of some fascinating reflections about the value of coaching, and when in a professional's career (or in a company's life span) executive coaching can be most useful and beneficial. Claire entertained us with stories from past and present experiences, which included her involvement with Timberland as it went from a predominantly domestic brand, to one with unique cachet around the globe. Walter's description of the genesis of ChatThreads and the way it is used by a variety of brands was quite fascinating and led to a lot of questions.

The Food

Usually we remember to take pictures of at least some of the food, but this time we forgot until everything had been cleaned off the plates! And with the late hour and my traveling the next morning, I also forgot to write down the wines we had with dinner. In fact, perhaps the wine itself was the reason why we forgot to do these things... Whatever the case, at least I have a clear memory of the dinner, which had an overall seafood theme. In addition to the usual selection of cheeses, tonight's appetizers included salmon pâté, smoked salmon tartines, shrimp cocktail and sliced bread with butter and anchovy filets. The main course was Farfalle alla Puttanesca, a tomato-based sauce with capers, tuna. The second course was anchored (pun intended) by Filetti di Tilapia alla Mugnaia, lightly floured and pan-sauteed (note: I am aware that tilapia is a fresh-water fish and thus not seafood, technically speaking; however, I was not able to find Filets of Sole, which is what I was planning to use!). The tilapia was accompanied by two vegetables: sautéed kale and a grilled mix of radicchio and endives. All of this was washed down by what I vaguely recall as a combination of a variety of red and white wines - including a sparkling Lambrusco. The dinner was capped off with apple pie à la mode.