Gotham Gal

Diane Birch

 We went to see Diane Birch at Joe's Pub last night.  Always have been a fan of Joe's Pub.  Small intimate atmosphere that gives you the feeling of being in the musicians living room.

Diane Birch, has been making the way through the blogging scene, particularly with the "mommy" bloggers.  That is certainly a wide category but each of these women are market makers in their own community.  Steve Greenberg, of SCurve, is the genius behind using the internet with the musicians he represents.  In full disclosure, we are investors in SCurve records.

I have always been impressed with Steve's pulse on music that he believes in but I have been more impressed with his fundamental understanding on how to use the web to expand his artist's audience.  He gets social networking, he gets twitter, he gets the blogging community etc.  Where there are so many companies who know they have to use it but are so secretive and don't understand it is the transparency that is one of the keys.

I am personally not a huge fan of Diane's music but she is absolutely young, talented and enjoying the music.  I'm glad we had the opportunity to see her and all the fans that came out for the show. 

Fancy Food Show

Yesterday I spent 10 hours at the Fancy Food Show.  It was fun, fascinating, interesting and tasty.  A little bit of a sensual overload.  BTW, this show has been going on since 1955. 

I walked the entire show.  There are literally thousands of booths.  The entire Javits Center, downstairs and up.  The lower floor, which is where Ricks Picks  had a booth, was where the vendors from throughout the US were and upstairs was the International floor.  I visited Italy, Greece, Egypt, India, France, etc.  I tasted cheese, sausages, chocolates, sausages, chips, peanuts, olive oils, vinegars, brownies, cookies, brines, etc. 

My observation is that there is a definite line drawn between the higher end, newer markets, beautiful packaging and then the lower end old school type of branding.  I spent a little bit of time talking to the people who run the event.  Attendance was up by 6% over last year.  They were also seeing a shift in the markets.  More specialty stores.  Larger stores such as A & P who are realizing that they need to think about raising the quality of products they have in the store as the market is asking for better value and healthier products.  These type of products I would called the Target of the food industry.  Maybe no more expensive than the brands that they are selling now but they have the look and the branding that the customer wants in their kitchen.  Also, more people are eating at home and with the advent of the Food Network and alike, food becomes a bigger business every year.

It was interesting talking to the retailers, the distributors, investors, etc.  One of my old favorites, the people behind Bone Suckin' Sauce were there and I got to meet Pat who runs the company.  I remember ordering from them, online, over 10 years ago when they made me fax over the paperwork which I had to print from their site.  Long time.  There business has seriously grown.  I have always been a fan of Fizzy Lizzy and really enjoyed talking to Liz at the after party where all the "food" people went to download in the east village. I spoke with Anne Saxelby for a while too although she isn't a vendor, she is the queen of cheese at the Essex Street market (you can also order online).   I saw brands that were tiny and have obviously been funded such as Food Should Taste Good multi-grain chips.  I tried Mari's brownies which are out of this world and a local company.  I see Effie's in person after already reordering their crackers from Foodzie , I got to try their new corn cracker.  Checked out the products at Dancing Deer Baking Co. which has recently been financed and enjoyed the chocolates at John Kelly.  Those are some of the highlights. 

Although the cheeses from Italy were outstanding the vibe is so different in the International area.  My guess is that the countries represented are subsidizing the businesses who come to the show as they  help the export markets.  They are having a good old time up there eating and drinking coffee and wine.  Quite interesting actually.  Lots of duplication.

All and all, a really interesting day and as an investor, it was really worth spending the day there and getting to see the day to day and meet the faces behind the people who love the product.

Jewelry

Tammy Gia, who is the woman that we helped get out of Brazil a few months back is a jeweler...and a very talented one at that.  She is going to be at a new designer show all week on Mulberry Street selling her wares.  If you are in the neighborhood, check it out.  If you aren't, you can always buy her creations on line.  Of course, she also has a store on her Brazil site and Etsy ( not sure the link here).  Tammy is also a photographer too so the pictures of her jewelry are well captured.  She is also an absolute sweetheart.  If you get to Mulberry, let her know I sent you. 

Locanda Verde

 Friday, I had the pleasure of doing something I rarely do, have a nice leisurely lunch with a few glasses of wine.  What a treat.  We went to Locanda Verde.

Locanda Verde has taken over the restaurant at DeNiro's hotel, The Greenwich Hotel, in Tribeca.  The previous restaurant was called Ago.  The good news for everyone in the neighborhood is that the chef, Andrew Carmellini, is fantastic and needless to say, so is the food. 

The decor in the restaurant has not changed since the beginning.  Big open rooms, large bar, European in feel and casual.  Carmellini took the casual feel and went with it on the menu. 

Lots of wines by the glass, beer too.  We shared everything which is the way to go, then you get to taste a little bit of everything.  We began with a whipped sheeps milk ricotta with sea salt, olive oil and herbs over the top served with triangular toasted bread.  Full of flavor, spreads nicely across the toast, would spread it over anything on the menu.  The foccaccia, which was just 2 small pieces that probably comes when you sit down, were light, airy and tasty.  I spread the cheese over that too. 

On a second go around we had 2 large wood-fired prawns that came over a thinly sliced fennel and sweet pepper roast.  Perfectly cooked, large and delicious.  Our next round was pasta.  Pasta, to me, is always a treat.  I rarely eat is and I love it.  We had the fettuccine verde.  Green fettuccine with a cream based bolognese which was out of this world.  Carmellini did fantastic pastas at his last place too.  We also had the broccoli rabe grinder.  Crispy bread, like a hero, filled with broccoli rabe, thickly sliced sausage, spicy peppers and ricotta.  Another winner.

Had a few scoops of the sorbet to finish.  A win win for Tribeca to have a delicious casual spot.  No question that I will return.  One of the best new places I have been to in a while.

Josh goes to camp

 Yesterday we dropped Josh off at the camp bus.  I remember the days when we used to drop all 3 kids off at the camp bus.  Seems like yesterday.  Now, everybody is doing their own thing. 

Josh went to camp for four years with his sisters then they bagged camp.  The next year Josh went to a different camp which was not a big hit.  The following summer we all went to Paris to live which was probably better for the four of us than it was for Josh.  After all, he was a 12 year old boy and doing the cultural thing daily got to be a bit much.  This year, he opted for returning to another camp with his friend (pictured above).  We will see how it goes.  His fear is that the landscape changes but the clientele doesn't.  I get it.

He is certainly at the age to figure it out himself.  If he absolutely abhors the experience, there is always the pick up method.  I would have never done that 4 years ago but at this point, he knows the drill.  Fingers crossed. 

Ricks Picks updated online

Ricks Picks made some great changes to their website and added a new product which I highly recommend trying. There has been a lot of buzz about the product, The People's Pickle, which is blowing off the shelves.
The Fancy Food Show is going on right now which I plan on attending tomorrow, all day, more on that later. The NYTimes, featured Rick on their first post about the Javits Center food show.  Could this company replace Vlasic pickles on day? 

The Standard Grill

The streets are hopping, the windows are open, the bars are packed walking up and down Washington Street.  The Standard has truly changed the neighborhood.  I was given a tour of the restaurant during construction and really thought they were doing a great job.  Now, seeing the final product, I still feel the same way. 

The front room is a long bar on one side, probably fits over 25 people, and the left room is filled with tables.   The low ceiling and big windows give the room a feeling of intimacy and the white and black tiles on the floor make the restaurant feel a little bit like a high end fish place out of Boston.  Not sure why I felt that way but I did.  This is the more casual area.  The back room, which is the main restaurant has a more clubby feel.  Dark woods, a very cool penny tiled floor with booths and leather chairs.  An open kitchen in the back where there are also a few stools to sit and watch the food get made.  I like the whole vibe. 

The menu is big but not too big.  You can order from the counter from a variety of salamis and oysters.  I like that you can get a half a dozen oysters and a glass of Dom Perignon.  A nice touch.  There are about 8 different appetizers, the same amount of sides and main courses and then an addition of mains from the grill. 

At the table is a small bowl of chopped Parmesan cheese and another bowl of long radishes and chunky sea salt on the side.  Nice touch and different.  I am a huge fan of the radishes. 

We began with 2 different appetizers.  Octopus that had been cooked and then charred in paprika to give it a Spanish flavoring with chopped sweet potatoes and chilis on the side.  A really nice dish, light but packed a flavorful punch.  We also tried a salad.  Thinly sliced snow peas and thinly sliced radishes with a light cider vinaigrette.  Pretty tasteless, needed salt and just didn't do anything for me. 

Main courses.  Braised Loup de Mer in a shallow bowl served over a chorizo-fennel broth.  Light, well cooked and tasty.  The other was from the grill page.  Swordfish that had been marinated with soy, lime and ginger with a side of some type of mixture of the three to create a chutney.  Heavy heavy handed.  The fish was overcooked and like eating a hunk of steak.  The flavor was so intense that it just overpowered the entire plate.  I barely made a dent on that.  We did have some sides.  A mixture of gold and candy stripe beets roasted with a butter sauce and chopped peanuts.  Really delicious, well cooked and glad I had it.  We also had the duck fat potatoes that have an orange sauce strewn across the top which must be the duck fat but it really gives the potatoes an unappetizing look.  Cream spinach was really good with shaved cheese over the top.  Nice.

We did go with a dessert.  We split the strawberry fool.  Strawberries, chopped, in mascarpone cream over a vanilla sponge cake and shaved strawberry granita.  Nice.

Total assessment, is I really did like the vibe.  The place just opened, and the menu is pretty big.  I would like to go back and check out the "million dollar" chicken and the steaks.  I heard the pork chop was fantastic.  There are probably a few highs and a few lows on the menu and will continue to be.  But, it is around the corner from me, and I believe the kinks can be worked out.  I thought the food was okay, not great, but that was just round one. 

Reading about health care

Reading about health care has been enlightening, distressing, and disgusting. 

What Claire McCaskill said yesterday about how difficult it is going to be to pass a new health care bill made me pause.  She basically said if it was easy, it would have been done years ago.  She also noted that there is so much money in health care that it will be difficult to get Senators to make changes ( basically as I am not quoting her here ).  What I got out of this was that lobbyists and money control each and every Senator in some way or another and that is why nothing gets done in Washington. 

Enlightening...yes.   Distressing....yes.  Disgusting...absolutely.  Surprising...not really. 

Take a look at Albany right now.  You can't make this stuff up.  It is like a bad reality show.  Obama is attempting to make serious changes in DC, I believe he should push even harder for each change, but how do you turn back hundreds of years of business as usual? 

I remember a few years back when we had a party for someone running for the Senate.  His assistant told me that after getting elected, a Senator has to spend about 75% of their time raising money for the next run.  Makes me really wonder about everything the Senator hopeful had to say about what issues they believed in and what they wanted to accomplish.  How can they accomplish anything when 75% of their time is spent raising more money? 

I make donations to support politicians that believe in what I believe in and I hope they represent my vote in the Senate ( or other places of Government).  It has nothing to do with access or slanting their votes.  I don't believe in that.  I am happy to discuss and give advice if they have any interest in listening to me but I really give to support people I believe in.  Call me crazy. 

After reading McCaskill's words yesterday, watching Albany implode and seeing a bit of the business as usual go on, it really makes me question the whole machine.  And BTW, as bad as the Democrats seem to be these days, the Republicans are in bed with the lobbyists and big business more than their counterparts.  Big business should not be controlling the voice of the people. 

Second Chances

After 9/11, there were a handful of people I knew that decided to make life changes.  As many of us in NYC, started thinking more on the lines of carpe diem, there were people who literally said, this job is not what I want to do with my life and I am going down a different path. 

Today, the same thing is happening but for different reasons.  Economic changes, downsizing of companies, salaries that have diminished in value, etc., have made a few people I know to sit back, take a look and make a change.  I realize that unemployment is quite high right now but many of the people who are unemployed, unfortunately, aren't qualified for the jobs that are available.  But that is another post.

All of the people who I have had the opportunity to talk to about their desire to or are just forced to change the career path that they are on, look at it as exciting with endless possibilities.  Many of them, my guess, will start something on their own or go work with something a little more grass roots.  I have to believe that these changes will be not only good for them but good for the economy too.

Foodzie has been sending me a monthly package of new products to try and review.  One of the products was a jam from Sunchowder's Emporia.  I really liked the jam, the packaging and the size.  So I purchased some more of the product.  After having an email dialogue with the owner, I love the product even more. 

The owner of Sunchowder lost her job.  She decided it was time to reinvent herself.  She was drawn to making jams.  She started making jams by learning how to do it on You Tube.  That right there is a great story.  Bought herself some copper pots, made relationships with local fruit farms, found commercial space to do it, extended herself on credit cards and now she is in the food business.  Selling not only to Foodize but Whole Foods and Home Goods.  From our short exchange of emails, she seems incredibly happy with tons of ideas on where she wants to grow the business.  She has become an entrepreneur.

I love that.  A real entrepreneur that might not have found herself in the position of creating new economies if the old economy hadn't cut off her employment.  My guess is that in the next year, we will hear more and more of these type of stories which is a win win for everyone except of course the company that had to lose her.  BTW, I have now tasted 7 different jams from Sunchowder and each one is absolutely delicious.

Fund for the City of New York

I really do get an opportunity to meet some extraordinary people in NYC.  People who are doing work that we can all be happy about.  People who are making a change and putting their talents to use for the better good of people who need their help. 

Years ago, I met a woman who runs the Funds for the City of New York.  Memorable.  She had energy, smarts, a good sense of humor and a zest for life.  I was lucky enough to have lunch with her again yesterday.

There is really nothing better than sitting down with a few women who are smart and have big ideas and are doing wonderful things.  Mary McCormick, who is the President, of this organization, FCNY, is one of those women.  The fund that she is the President of basically loans money to non-profit organizations who are making constructive efforts to help the city through health care, arts, disability services, education, etc.  She helps guide them through the process, get to the other side, pay back the money and then continue the good work.  Through this group and certainly Mary's efforts, the impact has cast a pretty large net as even foreigners come to talk to her about ways they can do the same thing in their countries and cities.  Quite impressive.

She is probably not under the radar in her circle but to most NYers, they are unaware of the impact that non-profits make in our city.  The City Council alone gives to almost 4000 non-profits in their budget.  From $1500 to a neighborhood organization that makes a local impact that is not really quantifiable to $350K to an organization that saves the city 5 times that with the work that they do. 

Our conversations ran the gamut but there is one thing that Mary said that really stuck with me.  We were discussing politics.  She pointed out that people are no longer interested in voting for politicians who are just politicians.  Obama and Bloomberg changed all that.  People want to vote for people who can do something different and have shown that they have the tools to do it.  You look at someone like Chris Quinn who has taken the role of Speaker of the City Council and made that organization something that the city can not now live without.  She has made an impact so that her budget has grown and her tenacles have been extended.  That has not been the same with under areas like the public advocates office for one which just got a budget cut of 40% to that office.  Unless heads of different Government, particularly city offices, make their mark with their budget and office, as times goes on, that office will cease to exist.  The funding is no longer just available.  There are so many serial politicians in this town that I believe will have a tougher time getting elected as time goes on.

We are seeing change not only in the political landscape but also in the youth.  HS and College students are interested in finding happiness and making a difference and sometimes at grass root levels.  It is no longer about the desire to just make money.  These young kids, who are going to start to graduate, are prime for non-profits that are doing great things around this city, the country and the world.  What we need to do there is figure out how we unite the profit with the non-profit so that the non-profit has a bit of the drive and execution that you see in the profit and the profit needs to be a little more aware of the need to take those profits and give something back.  Not sure what that next group of companies will look like but I am sure that Mary will have her finger on that pulse guiding them in the right direction.