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.

Warm food on a rainy night

Once again, the Entrepicurean dinner took place on a rainy night, which made traffic a pain, but everyone seemed to forget the weather once they joined the party. I was a bit concerned because I had been awake for almost 36 hours, catching a red-eye from San Francisco the night before, but the lively company and stimulating conversations managed to overcome my sleep deprivation and the large amount of wine and Limoncello that I consumed.

Last night's Entrepicureans, shown in the photo clockwise from the lower left, included yours truly, my daughter Elena Gaudiano (who is back at Northeastern University full time after a 6-month stint at New England Pension Consultants), Mary Chiochios, Greta Meszoely, Pamela Goldberg, Fred Destin and Rachel Bellow. Once again Mary was invaluable as co-host, helping in many ways and doing photographer duty.

I am starting to think that I should drop the "Entr" part of the Entrepicurean: we had so much fun having conversations on a wide range of topics that the subject of enterpreneurship - or the entrepreneurial context - barely came up. On the other hand, I feel that the entrepreneurial spirit that is shared by all participants is part of what makes these dinners so enjoyable. Be that as it may, the evening was great. The details of the conversations are slightly blurry, no doubt owing in part to my own fuzziness. I distinctly recall some lively conversations about living abroad, about fashion, about New York, and some extended reflections about relationships and the impact of divorce on children. Fred made some very interesting observations about the relative immaturity of American men in their 20s and early 30s, in the context of how they relate to women. Fred, like me, was born and raised in Europe, where boys and girls spend time together in all age brackets. I remember as my children were growing up here, being shocked that pretty much as soon as elementary school starts, there begins to be a sharp gender segregation, with boys' parties, girls' parties, but little in the way of mixed-gender activities. Anyhow, Fred pointed out that this may be part of the reason why so many American men until the age of 30 do not seem very comfortable interacting with women.

Speaking of gender differences, I noticed one other interesting phenomenon last night: coincidentally, there ended up being five women and two men, and the two men can safely be described as European metrosexuals. The dynamics of the conversations seemed very different than in previous dinners: much more "chatty," very balanced flow, with clusters forming and dissolving as people floated in and out of various conversations. This was a very different dynamic, especially from the first dinner, when typically there was a single thread going at any time and it seemed that the guys were dominating much of the conversation.

The food

After the usual complement of appetizers, I took advantage of the cold weather to make a favorite winter dish: polenta. For those not familiar with it, polenta is a corn meal "mush," it has a consistency similar to cream of wheat but not as runny and a bit more gritty as the proper polenta cornmeal is of medium coarseness. My favorite way to eat polenta is to serve it on a plate along with a variety of sides and sauces. Last night I prepared five different condiments: tomato sauce, gorgonzola cream sauce, peperonata (a sautee of peppers and onions), sauteed mushrooms (a blend of chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, shiitake, and champignons), and two varieties of sausage. For dessert, Mary brought some Greek delights, including Baklava and some delicious home-made cookies.

There was also an interesting difference in the drinking pattern: the only thing people drank last night was red wine. We consumed four bottles: a 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Domaine Pontifical), a 2005 Angove's McLaren Vale Shiraz, a 2009 Blackstone Pinot Noir, and a 2010 Rosemount Shiraz. Some of us capped off the meal with Limoncello and espresso.

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.

The first Entrepicurean dinner!

Last night saw the official start of the Entrepicurean dinner series! With Mary Chiochios as co-host, we had a total of eight people. In the picture, starting from the lower left and going around the table clockwise, you can see Linda Criniti McQuillan, Michael Davies, Mary Chiochios, Ken Nicolson, Joe Grimaldi, Marlo Fogelman, Angela Shen-Hsieh and Paolo Gaudiano.

It was a great event that included a number of conversations on topics ranging from motorcycles to veterinaries as we enjoyed some good wine and appetizers. During the sit-down portion we spent quite a bit of time discussing the idea of the Entrepicurean dinner and looking for suggestions about format, frequency, size, etc.

The general consensus seems to be that between six and eight diners is the right size: fewer than six would not have enough variety, more than eight would likely lead to clusters of disconnected conversations - not to mention that it would exceed the capacity of my place! As far as topics, there was less of a consensus. On the one hand, several people felt that it would be good to have one or two pre-selected topics; on the other hand, we had no problem finding interesting topics of discussion. Suggestions for future events included for example inviting one or a few young entrepreneurs who could use the dinner as a way to ask questions, do some networking or seek some advice and help. There was also discussion about how to keep diversity by constantly rotating guests, but also having some continuity and creating a sense of community. One suggestion is that in addition to semi-regular dinners, every few months there could be a larger event such as a cocktail party at a different venue, where all "members" of the Entrepicurean community could congregate.

Aside from the self-referntial discussions, there were many other great conversations throughout the evening, including some extended discussions about talent, management styles, VC funding, etc... Joe had some great insights into attracting and retaining exceptional talent, and how often large corporations really look at talent in the wrong light. In a related context, Ken made an intriguing comment: when getting involved with start-ups (something he has now done seven times), he often asks the following question of the founders: "would you rather be right or be rich?" Perhaps not surprisingly, for many people the answer is that they'd rather be right -- something that can create clashes with investors, especially VCs. Mary then pointed out some interesting similarities between investing in companies and investing in movies, which started an extended conversation about content quality, distribution, monetization and other related issues. There were many more topics discussed by everyone around the table, I am wishing I had had a tape recorder to remember them all!

The food

After enjoying some appetizers (Saint Andre, mozzarella, aged cheddar, two types of pâté, salami, crackers, bread,...), we sat down for the main course, which consisted of potato gnocchi with a venison ragù and a side dish of broccolini/rabe sauteed with garlic and hot peppers. The dinner was capped off with tiramisù. In my opinion the gnocchi came out really well. The rabe were quite bitter (it seemed more so than usual) and I probably should have made one additional bunch, but I thought the strong flavor complemented the main dish well. All of it was washed down with various wines, mostly brought by the guests, including some Jacob's Creek Shiraz, Cigar Box Malbec, Stags' Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, Cusumano Angimbé (a blend of Insolia and Chardonnay) and a Renzo Masi Sangiovese. I am happy to report that not all of these bottles were drained... and I was left with a nice treasure chest of unopened bottles, including some Domaine Maume Bourgogne, Supernatural (a New Zealand wine), Veuve Clicquot Rosé, Villa Carlotti Prosecco, and a handmade rosé from the nearby Island Creek Oyster Bar (I had no idea they made their own wines).

Many thanks to all who participated, and especially to Mary for helping to put this together, making numerous suggestions, coming early to help me even though she was having an insane day, and she probably should have been home packing for her upcoming trip and catching up on some sleep! Thanks also to Jonas Daugherty for the venison, and to Fabrizio for the Cusumano.

Welcome to Entrepicurean

Entrepicurean could be interpreted to mean several things. I created the name (and the accompanying web site, which is not yet active) to reflect my passion for entrepreneurship and good food. Most importantly, I wanted to create a social event that brings together individuals who also share these passions.

On a semi-regular basis, some members of the greater Boston entrepreneurial community will be invited to a small gathering where they can enjoy great food and stimulating conversations. Stay tuned for details.