Gotham Gal

Golden Flushing Mall, Queens

I took a trip this past week to the Golden Flushing Mall.  Bottom line, it was amazing.  I am definitely doing another trip out there and taking the kids with me.  One of the many things about NYC which is so amazing is that there are so many people living here from different cultures that create pockets around the boroughs where each separately congregate in a community that is similar to the one they came from.  Going to the Golden Flushing Mall it a lot easier than getting on a plane and going to Asia.  English is certainly not the first language here. 

We began in the basement where the food court is.  After taking one lap around the place we were blown away.  Didn't know exactly where to start.  Serious Foods actually has a wonderful map of the place that I am going to bring along next time.  This is one of the cases from Spicy Wok where I went back to get something to eat.

This is a sign at one of the places we got some food too. 

I had this bowl of stir fry.  Rice on the side.  It is great how they serve it in these big silver bowls that you just return when you are through.  The vegetables, some of which I didn't recognize, were $4.99 a pound.  The fish was $6.99 a pound.  Then they mix it together in a wok.  She said to me after I chose everything...not too spicy?  Yes, not too spicy. 

My friend got a shrimp noodle soup that was also served in a nice bowl to return to the place.  Really good, simple and you can tell that they just made it. 

After lunch we walked up to the grocery store.  This was the best time.  We entered the grocery store and first made our way down the dumpling aisle.  Freezers filled with every dumpling you can imagine.  I started picking up a few bags.  Before I knew it I needed a cart.  My friend said we could share a cart.  Are you kidding?  I want my own cart to fill up!  LOL.  Next was the pickle aisle  which had everything pickled from chili peppers to sauerkraut to radishes.  It was hard to hold myself back.

Dried anchovies and octopus.

Also took a stroll through the vinegar aisle where there are thousands and thousands of bottles.  We wandered over to the seafood area where there were live eels.

Soft and hard shell turtles.

Live prawns.  I wonder where they were sourced.  You never see live prawns. 

Then found ourself down the dried aisle finding loads of dried mushrooms.  I also went a little crazy on the noodle aisle too. 

Check out the dumpling wrappers.  Got one of each. 

Bottom line I filled enough in my cart to get four bags of groceries.  Total cost $54.  We had such a great time.  Next time we are going to check out another community in the local neighborhoods of NYC. 

 

 

 

Sally Broom, Tripbod, Woman Entrepreneur

When I was traveling in South Africa, I got an email from Sally Broom.  She had been following my travels on my blog and wrote that her travels to South Africa had left a mark on her.  She told me that she runs a company called Tripbod that connects visitors with like-minded locals to help them experience the real destination through the eyes of someone who lives there.  Would either Jessica or the both of us like to try out their services? 

I got on Tripod and played around for awhile asking Sally questions here and there over the next few days.  Eventually asking her if she had started the company by herself.  When she told me that she had I scheduled a time that we could talk.  Not surprising when we finally spoke she knows both Geoff and Julia at Editd where I have an investment as they all live in London.

Sally grew up in the Lake District of northern England.  So incredible beautiful there and Sally said there were tons of kids and lots of freedom.  She left to go to school at the University College in London.  Before going to UCL she did a gap year living in Madagascar doing marine research.  A gap year is big in England.  Everyone gets a student loan for that year but because she had always had a job mainly working as a waitress and she had been classically trained in music and sung at weddings and events so she had put away a decent amount of cash.  Even when going home at Christmas she would pickup a job a the local pub.  Good work ethic. 

UCL Is a very entrepreneurial school.  She majored in neuro and human sciences and considering going to law school after graduation.  The last day of her final exam she decided to take the money that she had saved and start an online business.  She launched yourfaithplanet.com which was a website designed to help young people taking a gap year plan their trip to do work overseas. 

The gap year is a very lucrative business rife with middle management companies being paid huge amounts of money that never go to the destination group ( the organization that the kids go work for ).  Sally was invited by the Guardian to write an article on this issue.  She uncovered how people were being ripped off and figured there had to be a better way. 

Sally began to connect people with local organizations that had been vetted and trusted to take volunteers.  When she made that connection kids were saving the $5000 that they were giving to the middleman.  Two girls were in the Phillipines called Sally to help them connect with an organization in Manilla.  She did and they took the $5000 they saved and gave it to the organization they were working with.  That money paid for 50 kids to go to school and one to have needed surgery.  She realized that she was on to something.

She began to connect visitors with like minded people.  She got involved with youth conferences to help kids refocus their lives outside of college.  Then she started to hear from the parents of these kids who would wonder if Sally knew someone in Rome that was local for their holiday.  She began to make more and more local contacts.  When you go somewhere when you know someone local the experience is totally different.  That is how Tripbod was created.

The travel industry is broken and I know I am seeing a variety of different sites and models trying to figure out what the next generation will look like.  When you travel to certain areas that are poor and the ability to get rid of the middle man and pay a local directly is empowering.  What Tripbod is doing is gathering a local army of volunteers.  Think Etsy for travel.  Each entrepreneur, in their local areas, create their own shop on Tripbod.  Each shop sets their own price based on what they will do from helping someone plan their trip, taking them somewhere special when they get there or just making reservations.  The website add 15% to the cost which they take for running the site and doing the diligence on the tripbods. 

Every local has to be approved and vetted by Tripbod.  Right now they have over 300 tripbods in over 80 countries worldwide.  The company has a team of six.  Liz Sutcliffe is Sally's co-founder who was with Rough Guides when they met.  They then found a tech co-founder, Pete Moran.  The founder of Rough Guides came in as a mentor and an angel investor put some money in too.  They also have an intern that is paid through UCL.  In essence they are boot strapped but will start to look for funding soon.  The next big opportunity is the Olympics that is coming to London in 2012. 

I love the whole concept.  Connecting travelers with on the ground experts in the local area they are traveling to.  Creating an army of entrepreneurial travel guides around the world is clever.  Loved speaking with Sally too.   She is super smart and loving the start-up world as she had taken her work ethic and experiences putting them to work to help others see the world in a different light.  Shaking up the travel industry at a local level. 

 

 

Asian Duck Noodle Soup

This took me no time at all.  Perfect for the now cold winter nights that have quickly set in. 

12 cups chicken broth

2" piece ginger - grated

2 large shallots sliced

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. chili oil

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

Package of noodles ( I used thick white noodles from the Asian grocery store )

3 scalllions - sliced (white parts only)

3 bok choy

3 large shitake mushrooms sliced

2 duck breasts

sesame oil

In a large deep pot cover the bottom lightly with sesame oil.  Turn the heat to high and then once the oil gets hot add the ginger and shallots until they start to brown.  Turn the heat down to medium.  Add the bok choy and mushrooms.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.  Add the soy sauce, chili oil and fish sauce.  Slowly pour in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil.  Make sure to taste the broth before it really boils so you don't burn the roof of your mouth.  I added a little more chili oil to spice it up and a dot more soy sauce.  Put in the noodles and once they are done just bring the soup down to simmer.  Add the scallions

Separately, in a 500 degree oven, I seasoned the duck breasts and then put then in the oven with the broiler on.  Once the skin got crispy, I turned the broiler off and set the oven to bake at 500.  The duck takes about 10 minutes at most.  It is best on the rare side because the duck continues to cook in the soup.

In a soup bowl put the pieces of duck on the bottom of the bowl, ladle the soup over the top and serve.

Slice the duck in small pieces and set

Balaboosta

Balaboosta (n.)(bah-lah-b00-sta) A Yiddish term meaning the perfect housewife, homemaker, wonderful mother, cook, and gracious hostess. She does it all and does it well.  My Mom used to call me a balaboosta.  I love the saying so how could I not dine at Balaboosta?

A really comfy room.  Simple and warm with wooden tables throughout and a small bar in front.  The kitchen sits to the right of the restaurant when you peer in the window from the street.  You can literaly stand outside and watch the kitchen operate.  It is inviting. 

The people behind Balaboosta also own Taim, a mobile bus serving falafel, hummus, salads and smoothies.  The picture of the woman in Balaboosta must be the Grandma of the family when she was a young girl.  Just guessing. 

We started with a cocktail at the bar while we waited for our friends.  Mika is the drink in the wine glass which is made of aperol, prosecco and club soda.  The other is called Matilda a mixture of aperol, lillet and a small shot of orange soda.  Matilda was mine.  Really nice.

We shared all of our appetizers and then each ordered a main course.  To start they give you a bowl of spicy shrimp toast with a dip on the side.  I am a huge fan of shrimp toast and these were good.  Crunchy with just a nice shot of spice.

Our first appetizer out was a fluke ceviche mixed with pomegranate, pistachios and lime.  A beautiful presentation and really well prepared.  The fluke was fresh and I loved the acid of the pomegranate and lime on the fish mixed together with the crunch of the pistachios. 

Crispy cauliflower mixed with pine nuts and currants.  I am a big fan of the currants.  They just bring a little touch of sweetness to the dish which works really well with cauliflower.

Grilled pizza with a carrot puree, caramelized onions, goat cheese and a few sprigs of cilantro.  So different.  Just goes to show you can put anything on a pizza crust and make it taste good.  Loved the carrot puree. 

This shirmp is one of their signature dishes.  Shrimp wrapped in shredded phyllo dough, deep fried and then with a flying fish roe sauce over the top.  Crunchy and so tasty also the presentation is really nice. 

For the main courses two of us went for the whole branzino.  One of my favorite whole fishes.  Beautifully prepared and simple. 

Fred had the special halibut.  Roasted halibut served on top a leek and pea puree and red kale.  I love the combination of vegetables in the puree.  They are innovative with the veggies here. 

I had the lamb.  Grilled lamb chops covered in a persian lime sauce with beets, orange slices mixed in a arugula salad with a potato latke. 

For dessert we split an intense chocolate mousse.

I thought the favorite was the berry crumble.  I kept going back for more 

Loved Balaboosta.  Totally mellow.  Great vibe.  Good service.  The food was really good and creative yet simple.  I was a little concerned before we went that there might be lots of garlic in the food but if there was they prepared the food using garlic as an accent not as the main ingredient.  I didn't taste any garlic.  Looking forward to returning. 

WE Summit

This past week I was asked to speak on a panel at the WE Summit called The Art of Fundraising: Decoding the Equation.  Amy Millman, the President of Springboard Enterprises was the moderator. Amy was great and I was really glad to finally put a face with the name. 

The event is put on by the US Israel Business Council.  This years mission was to to promote high-growth women-led Israeli businesses.  There was a competition to selection three women entrepreneurs in Israel and then bring those winners to NYC to meet, greet, network and showcase their companies.  The winning companies were HDH Medical that is working on creating innovative surgical solutions, Sol-Chip an innovative solar company and Tipa-Corp that is bringing a new world of biodegradable and recycable package solutions to market.  Each using technology to create innovative products.

I sat on a panel with two women, Dorin Miller, a partner at the Cedar Fund and Michal Tsur a second time entrepreneur currently of Kaltura.  Both women are beyond impressive.  Smart, thoughtful, entrepreneurial, analytical and strategic.  I am looking forward to sitting down with each of them individually in the future because certainly the conversation was for the audience and except for shaking each others hands before and after the event we really did not get a chance to talk. 

Israel has always been an entrepreneurial hub.  It isn't so surprising that many of the ideas that come out of Israel are ripe with new technology platforms.  All Israelis serve in the military where much of that type of training takes place.  I have only had the pleasure of meeting with a few Israeli companies in the past year that have contacted me about their businesses directly and we have talked on Skype.  Each entrepreneur impressed me with their razor focus and intellectual intensity. 

After the panel ended I spoke to a few people including the group behind the conference.  It was small and intimate and I was impressed with everyone I spoke to at this event.  I love that the Israeli Government is focusing their efforts on highlighting women entrepreneurs by supporting them financially and bringing them to the US to showcase their companies globally.  Would love to see more countries to that. 

 

Baking For Good

I am a big believer that every woman should be an entrepreneur.  There are many businesses out there being funded and certainly some of them might have billion dollar market caps while others only have $50 million market caps but the economy needs them both.  We also need smaller entrepreneurs that bootstrap their companies to become maybe $5 million businesses that I refer to as life style businesses.  Those businesses fund their personal lives and many others without investors.  I am a huge fan of that model although it doesn't benefit me as an angel investor it makes me happy to see women creating businesses that they love doing every day and affect the economy at the same time.  We are returning to our roots where there was a local store, a cobbler and perhaps a jeweler but now you can have those local businesses and create a niche community across the globe.  That is pretty powerful. 

I had the pleasure of meeting with Emily Dubner this past week who is the entrepreneur behind Baking For Good.  Her business encompasses every aspect of the life style business I am talking about and Emily has layered a powerful social good piece to her business that resonates with most women. 

Here is what I love about Baking For Good.  Emily boot strapped this business with her own hard saved money.  She created a website that looks good and works.  15% of the proceeds from every treat you buy goes to the non-profit of your choice and you have about 200 to choose from on the Baking For Goods website.  I love the tagline on her card...a little bit of sugar goes a long way.  The packaging, branding and total product looks and feels beautiful.  The business can easily scale doing more parties and weddings, corporate events or just gifts.  The treats are absolutely delicious.  Best part is that Emily is growing the business with her own money, hard work and brain power. 

My advice to her when we met is don't take anyones money.  Continue to do what you are doing.  If you need a short term loan because your business explodes one day and there are 400 orders online in a day then see if you can borrow some money from your parents.  You will quickly pay them back because the turn around time is quick. 

I highly recommend Baking For Good for some gifts this holiday season.  Who can resist a chocolate chip brownie where 15% of the proceeds to go a non-profit organzation. 

More on living in a remote world

Image by Microsoft Sweden via Flickr

I was asked to write a post about living in a remote world from Janet Hanson the brilliant woman behind 85 Broads who is working with Microsoft Office 365.  So here is second of the two posts.

Hand held smart phones have changed the work world in good and bad ways.  On one hand you can be sitting by a pool calling into a conference call, doing email and closing a deal but on the other hand the constant flow of information can distract you from your daily life. 

There is no doubt that there is something about the instant gratification that runs deep in our society perhaps that is the constant obsession with checking our phones for any information.  The problem with that is that you ignore people around you and instead of socializing with the people in the present you socialize with people online.  Having a conversation with someone live in any setting takes a good deal of restraint to keep the steam of information at bay.  Yet these are just social skills that need to be learned.

The best thing is that you can conduct business anywhere at anytime.  I was recently in South Africa for a week and I did not stop blogging for one day.  I spent the summer out of the city and was able to continue to blog, talk to the companies that I was working with and even meet new people and hear their ideas through the beauty of Skype.  That is pretty powerful. 

The ability to function in a virtual world is changing the game especially for women.  We all work on our computers no matter if we are at work or not.  Women tend to be the one who manages the family finances and the day-to-day needs of the household.  There is no reason why someone can’t do their job from anywhere with the commitment to come into the office yet not from 9 – 5.  That workday has disappeared because we are living in a 24/7 world of access to information and you can plug in at 8pm at night if you had to get something done personally at 4pm.

I knew someone that started a company and none of the employees resided under one roof but across the country in different states.  He was able to hire the right people for the jobs and everyone conversed and did business in a virtual world.  There was Skype for conference calls, computers for access and hand-helds for constant communication.  It worked.  At one point a main headquarters was established because there was a time it became necessary but those early beginnings certainly created a culture that is was okay that not every employee live in the vicinity of that office. That culture gave everyone the ability to hire the right person for the right job no matter where they were located.

In essence, the wireless world has let us do everything we need to do when we want and on our own terms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dahna Goldstein, Philantech, Woman Entrepreneur

If there is one thing you can take away from this blog post on Dahna is she confirms that the 19th century proverb, "if at first you don't succeed, try try again" can sometimes be a good mantra for an entrepreneur. PhilanTech was the first company funded by Pipeline.  Pipeline trains women to become angel investors aiming to change the investor pool and PhilanTech was the first group of fellows choice.  Bravo. 

PhilanTech is working to solve a problem in the non-profit sector.  There are over $43 billion in grants awarded each year.  Yes, that is correct, $43 billion.  13% is spend on administering the grant which is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Hugely inefficient.  If 2% of that 13% was spend on the service delivery that would be quite an impact.  Wouldn't it make sense if there was a company that had an online platform similar to the common app for colleges to apply for grants.  Foundations really don't want that but PhilanTech has created something that at least helps the applicants.  But let's go to the beginning of how PhilanTech got to this place.

Dahna grew up in Montreal.  She speaks French, went to a Jewish Day School and grew up in a family that spoke English.  Her father is a lawyer and her mom had a background in advertising.  When the kids came onto the scene her mother chose to stay home but was involved in several charitable activites.  When Dahna graduated high school she went to Williams in the states to go to college. 

In college she majored in English and did an internship at a literary agency as well as a software company in Boston.  After graduating Dahna worked for a company doing cdroms for k-12 and then moved on to work for the Global Education Network.  GEN was trying to democratize colleges like Brown, Wesleyan and Williams by bringing steaming video across the country for people in rural areas that couldn't afford to go to these schools.  There mission was a bit before its time.  Dahlia loved the software business and decided to go to Harvard for graduate school to get a masters in education with a concentration in technology. At one point she went on to get her MBA at Stern Business school. 

She will tell you that she always had an entrepreneurial bend particularly with a bend towards social good working in venture philanthropies such as Ashoka and Blue Ridge Foundation.  While at Harvard, she did work in a middle school in North Adams volunteering her time.  The school was in need of funding and Dahna was always into playing guitar and songwriting.  She had a musicial cd made and took the proceeds of that cd and gave it back to North Adams.  That experience sold her on the entrepreneurial creativity to give back.

After getting her masters she got funding from the social network fund at NYU in 2004 to build the grant making product she wanted to create for the non-profit world.  She plugged away at this for seven years.  She started putting her product in front of people and the response was that the product didn't make sense.  So back to the drawing board getting money from friends and family to relaunch in 2007.  Dahna changed the model to a profit model that helps non-profits.  Grantees of the non-profits who pay an annual service fee get to use their service for free.  Foundation are beginning to use their grant making tools and they pay for that too.  Online grant management tools are changing the way these foundations are doing business.  They are also building out a research component as they evolve like giving companies the ability to troll through their data base to look for possible companies that would match their mission.

Timing is everything.  Having people build technological platforms to help businesses that have historically been found through introductions and also run very inefficient organzations, PhilanTech is changing the way these companies do business. She is helping them get into the 21st century. 

Dhana has learned one very important thing as an entrepreneur...listen to your market.  She built a product that no one wanted.  I give her serious cred for not giving up and pivoting the product but not the idea.  She is super smart and obviously driven.  I am looking forward to see how the group of women at Pipeline help Dahna grow her company over the next year.  The good news is that Dahna is getting traction. It is now about getting more companies to use PhilanTech products so they can be more efficient with the grants they give. 

Peck Slip Pickle Festival

All weekend long we were discussing the return to our roots through local businesses, social responsibility and the generosity of each community.  How entrepreneurs are being funded and yet many of them will become singular lifestyle businesses while others could be $50 million dollars businesses and others might have a billion dollar market cap.   Entrepreneurs are alive and well. 

I wandered down for breakfast (sleeping in as long as possible on Sunday morning is so key) Fred pulled out the Sunday Review of the NYTimes and said, this article is exactly what you have been talking about.  William Deresiewicz calls it Generation Sell.  His article is worth the read.  His theory to how we got here is interesting.  Regardless, I love where we are.  I like what this generation is about from the people who are creating the tools that allow us to live in a virtual global world to the community businesses that make us feel grounded and part of something. 

We couldn't have wrapped up this weekend more perfectly than by going to the Peck Slip Pickle Festival at the New Amsterdam Market with Josh.  This market place that now takes place almost every Sunday completely defines what is happening in the world of small businesses around food.  Everyone is hip, everyone is nice and supportive of each other and the feeling of community is everywhere. 

We basically tasted a bunch of things and I tried to support as many local vendors as possible.  Many people just love to taste and never buy a damn thing. I didn't buy one of these Brooklyn Butcher Blocks but I have the card and I am going to buy one online after I post. 

We began with the Mighty Quinns slow smoked brisket sandwich with pickles and red onions.   Can't seem to find the website to link too but they make the rounds from the Brooklyn Smorgasburg and Flea to other events. 

Next stop was La NewYorkina.  Dried orange peels with cayenne pepper, pumpkin seed brittle and a gruyere cheese empanada with strawberry jelly.  The empanada totally worked and the crust was killer. Their tag line is "handmade with love".  No question about that.

Gotta love Porchetta.  There is nothing like the slow roasted pork chopped in a sandwich mixed with the crispy skin. 

Hot Bread Kitchen that is near and dear to my heart was selling bialys today.  Jessamyn, the brilliant founder, got together with Mimi Sheraton before the market at an event to discuss bialys. Wish I caught that.  Mimi Sheraton is one of the mavens of the food industry, wrote a book about bialys and was the food critic for the New York TImes.

When did everyone become a pickler?  Here are all the entries for the pickle challenge.  There were easily a dozen pickle makers there today.  Ricks Picks is still the leader in this space.  Look for some new products as well as bigger and less expensive products coming to you sometime in the spring from Rick.

The musicians.  Sorry the picture is so blurry.  These guys were singing and crooning like they had just come out of the Appalachians.  You have to see and hear that and immediately think about what is going on in our culture.  We have Occupy Wall street happening only blocks away and this group of hipsters making pickles and crooning.  You can't help but take pause. 

This was great.  P & H Soda.  The guy who was doing this was not a young pup.  He had syrup bottles to sell from ginger to sasparilla.  He was making these amazing soda drinks.  We had a ginger lime which was one of the most refreshing clean drinks I have ever had.

Lamb sausage sandwiches at 18NY.  Brilliant idea of using a blow torch to melt the cheese.  Excellent spicy hot sauce.

Blue Bottle Coffee with sweets to sell and a clever drip system. 

First Field was selling their two wares.  New Jersey tomatoes turned into homemade ketchup and a local Jersey cranberries turned into cranberry sauce.  I bought them both.  The cranberry sauce is delicious although they would need some serious capital to stock up on that product to sell all year.

Peanut Butter & Co is a place we have gone to on Sullivan since they opened. They were certainly pioneers in the artisinal food space. Now selling jars of peanut butter from regular to crunchy to honey to chocolate to cinnamon raisin.  Really good. 

I did not get a chance to taste these but they look so beautiful.  The Dumpling Dutch Diva making profittjeres.  I love the pan she is using. Sweet and savory.

I did pick up some greens, apples and such from the farm stands but our last taste was a grilled gouda sandwich with pieces of pancetta from Morris Truck who you can follow on Twitter because they don't have a website.  Just the browning of the bread alone makes your mouth water.

The market was packed, we bumped into more than a handful of friends taking it all in and making their purchases too.  The New Amsterdam Market which was packed more today than others because of the pickle theme defines the times we live in. Smart people creating businesses that they love.  There is a knee jerk reaction to working in structured businesses like banking and people are embracing their lives and what turns them on by becoming entrepreneurs.  They want to enjoy their lives.  I like these times. 

 

A day up at college

It was parents weekend this past weekend and we drove up with Josh.  The perfect autumn crisp day.  In the past I have made a picnic for the afternoon activity but thought it might be just a little too crispy to sit outside.  So we took a short drive to Chester, CT. 

Chester is still a quaint New England town.  So nice to see that these towns still exist.  No Gap and no large grocery store chain but a few restaurants and shops on a windy street. 


We had lunch at the River Tavern (Jessicas recommendation all the way from South Africa).  There is a river that runs thru the town.  As you drive out of town there is a huge lake that was absolutely beautiful with all the leaves changing around the landscape. 

Lunch was really good.  An interesting clientelle that definitely scaled older.  People were having a leisurely lunch with a bottle of wine.  Maybe there is an inn in the area.  I had a simple green salad with feta cheese, walnuts, sliced apples and a champagne vinagarette. 

For my main I had the mussels that were cooked in a white wine cream sauce with shallots. 

We all split the spicy pumpkin bread pudding with vanilla gelato.  Just couldn't pass that up.

We walked through the stores.  This place had a deli with places to sit.  Everything was being made right there by the owners and there were a bunch of items to buy.  This is the balsamic vinegar filling station.

Em picked up a few things at the co-op. 

When we got back to the campus the football game was going on.  We watched for a short time before taking a full on campus tour.  Fred had never seen all of it although I had when I went a few years back for the initial tour.

Nice pool.

We stayed to drop by the parent cocktail party and then made our way back home to the city.  Josh stayed with Emily for the night.  A really nice day and certainly refreshing to get out and breath some country air.