Greennovation

The last 25 to 30 years have set up an interesting paradigm on the business landscape. More is always better. More is always desired. If you were an advertiser, you needed to get people to spend more money on, well, basically everything. If you were the government, you incentivized a collective environment that encouraged ever greater levels of spending and consumption, and, eventually risk-taking. If you were the financial industry, you wanted to create more products to sell to more levels of society to create more returns...and also to borrow ever greater amounts of money. And, finally, the consumer. More features, more technology, more loans, more credit...more, more, more.

The question as to whether the years to come will be different comes with a variety of answers. Some might say that capital investment will be the future engine of growth...that maybe the consumer will be more focused on saving for some time. Some might say investment returns will be...different in the times to come. Whether bullish, bearish, or somewhere in between, there is an interesting trend emerging that transcends a lot of political or market prognostication. This is something that can be embraced regardless of viewpoint, position, or leaning. It refocuses the discussion away from the next government program or the bears that have been calling for a correction for the last 6-months without really seeing one of any significance, and it brings it back to the core of the Global economy. Ideas, specifically, brilliant ideas and innovations, are what brought us to this point and to the society in which we live. Consistently figuring out ways to get "more" of this or that in the easiest way possible is simply not sustainable. As a society we will be driven by the original, the innovative, and the new. If we are to progress out of the current economic downturn in a way that will engendersustainability, we cannot focus on rebuilding or holding onto things that brought us to where we are today, but rather, it must be about looking towards something new. In 1909, would we have really been able to conceptualize cars, blogs, nuclear anything or even half the things that we rely on during our daily lives? How can we say today what will happen or be happening in 2109?

Well...we can say this today. If our society is going to make it to 2109, it wouldn't hurt to change the focus. How can we get MORE (always an attractive prospect within human nature) by using LESS.

Efficiency. Productivity. All of those words will be key, and can be seen as already being key. Over the past 6-months, companies have beat their projected earnings in record fashion. Interesting...considering we are in one of the worst economic downturns since the great depression. Some might say that it wouldn't make sense that companies should be beating analyst expectations in this fashion, but, accounting trickery aside, they're doing it by generating the same or similar top lines with less inputs and costs. Less employees, less materials...LESS in fact leading to more. It will never be detrimental to consider resource uses with a consistent focus on how to make sure things are being done in the best and most efficient way possible.

In fact, going GREEN and considering these types of ideas in the normal course of business activity has actually been proven to be more beneficial than most might think...

GREEN OIL: Bio-fuels are one of those "next big things." Everyone has seen the funny ads with the socially and environmentally conscious individuals traversing the country with a peace-corps like zeal and dedication on nothing more than fuel made from vegetables. Completely sustainable "green crude." What if algae was able to be created and developed so that the harvesting process for this fuel could be completely streamlined and more of it could be more efficiently produced? Synthetic Genomics, led by J. Craig Venter, and Sapphire Energy, backed by Bill Gates, are engineering algae currently. Their goal is to come up with a sustainable substitute for gasoline, jet fuel, and even diesel.

Once the idea of EXTRA COST and FINANCIAL

TRADEOFFS are tackled, sustainability is realized to be essentially one of the biggest current catalysts of organizational and technological innovation. Immediately, some of the most logical cost savings comes from using less inputs, some of the increased revenues come from better products, and some of the best ideas come from new business entrepreneurship. The smart way to think of environmental preservation is not as an increased cost, but instead as innovation's new frontier. The time is now, as it's never too soon to take up the charge and secure invaluable first-mover advantages. There are always going to be a plethora of opinions about public policies and best practices...and it's a safe bet that there will come a time again when people think less about saving for tomorrow and focus on consuming for today. One thing will be certain, however, and that is the fact that practicing economically sound innovations with a focus on preservation of the environment will not be going out of style any time soon. In some ways, LESS will always lead to MORE.

ANIMAL

The words of Animal by Mike Snow were drumming through my head as I was on my way last night to meet my favorite foodie for a late night dinner at Animal restaurant in West Hollywood/Mid-City. We had read so much about these hot young chefs that won Food and Wine Best New Chefs of 2009 and a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant- we had to try it for ourselves!

Dropping my car off at the valet (the easiest, quickest way to park here), I was instantly impressed by the simplicity of the decor. As my partner in crime put it "They just get it. The ambience is subdued so all the customer can do is focus on one thing: the food." The simple wine racks behind the bar, the black tables and chairs, and the egg shell colored walls, all added to that elegent New York City style of restaurant that speaks to my epicurean senses.

Greeted by our hilarious, knowledgeable waiter John was also a treat...

His recommendation for two: two appetizers and two entrees.

Our choices:

- Pork belly, kimchi, peanuts, chili soy, scallion

-Melted petite basque, chorizo, grilled bread

-Leg of lamb, merguez, salsa verde, alubia criollo beans

-Quail fry, grits, chard, slab bacon, maple jus

As witnessed by our choices, this menu is definitely NOT for those of us aiming to lower our cholesterol. If you do not fall into that category, however, find your way to this place immediately.

Save for one piece (out of the 8 pieces on the dish), the pork belly tasted EXACTLY as it should, with that amazing flavor of chicharron. Perfect blend of fat and meat (and yes, we ate the fat). The kimchi tasted straight out of a Korean kitchen. Mixing those two flavors together would not be something I would ever think to do, but the crisp, cool, spicy nature of the kimchee was an ideal pairing for the pork belly.

I don't think I've ever had melted cheese of any kind that did not taste good (pretty tough to get the gloriousness that is melted cheese wrong), but the addition of the crisp chorizo underneath of the Petit Basque cheese, then placed atop thick pieces of a french baguette had me reminiscing back to my days in Spain...perfection.

My eating mate had the leg of lamb. Upon first glance, we were surprised at how obviously over-cooked it looked. Beware of first impressions. We were proven wrong. Apparently the young chefs in the back roast it, quickly pass it over the grill, and then add some secret ingredients to create the flavor of this lamb which I have never heretofore tasted. Also not a huge fan of criollo beans (bad childhood memories) but this preparation, paired with the salsa verde, really hit the spot.

The quail fry. More moist on the inside, crisp on the outside than the best friend chicken. The chard, grits, and maple jus took me down to the South in a nuveau home cookin' kind of way. One bite with all the ingredients on my fork caused a tasty explosion in my mouth...and it was even better when finished off with with a gulp of the Mourvedre from Hug Cellars our waiter John so highly recommended.

And finally...

the Tres Leches. One of my favorite desserts of all time. As witnessed by the picture, we couldn't even wait to snap a photo before we dug into this one. I've had my fair share of Tres Leches. As simple as they are, I believe the flavors in this dessert ecompass everything I seek when deciding to eat a dessert (which I do only so often). This tres leches beats all that I have tasted.

Though we left this dinner a little over-satiated, we can't help but give this place our nod of approval. When in WeHo, check this place out.