Discover Colombia!

Just about a year ago, I came down to Colombia to visit my friends Evan and Ryan, who were in the process of opening up a restaurant and a hostel in the middle of the city center of Santa Marta, Colombia. What started out as a cool idea for a vacation turned into a life-altering experience. The second I stepped foot on the land, I realized I was about to discover a completely different way of life. The people, the culture, and the natural beauty of the coast of Colombia are incomparable to anything I have seen or experienced before. Life is good here…and nobody will hesitate to tell you how good it is. Fast forward to today- I am here again. Last night at Evan & Ryan’s hostel, La Brisa Loca, I had beers with 5 others who were also repeat visitors to this gorgeous land. Over the course of the next week and a half, I want to share my experience with you- with the hopes that the next time you hear “Colombia”, you don’t think solely of Pablo Escobar or the FARC. Check it out for yourself- and don’t hesitate to ask any questions along the way!

The Way Forward

I'm sure you've heard it over the past couple of months... "It's a great time to buy real-estate. Prices have to come up from here. This is as bad as it can get." I've heard it over and over again with other financial assets as well--bonds, stocks, loans…the list goes on. Isn't that type of attitude, that sense of infallible certainty, what got us into the crisis in the first place? It's easy to play Monday morning quarterback and start phrases of recollections with, “well, if I only had purchased _x__at _x_ price, I wouldn’t have to work…” Fact is, when push came to shove and the chips were down, you didn’t, and chasing after what you didn’t do yesterday is no way to gain success tomorrow.

The way forward has to be embodied in new thought, with a new vigor for finding the next 'big thing.' Think of it as putting your fingers onto the pulse of a trend and finding it before it is strong enough for the rest of the world to see. If, as you start probing, you begin to hear a couple of layers of objection- all the better, as it’s safe to say you have ventured beyond the realms of the proven and into true entrepreneurial risk. In that space, true vision becomes less empirical and more about what you can see that others cannot. There are areas of the world that afford this opportunity- there are emerging markets doing so well that they are clawing their way to "developed country" status. There are industries, nascent in the current state, which do the same. Combining the two taps into a viable idea in an area where it can flourish- allowing for a great synergy in today's economy. 6.5 billion people are searching for that next big thing. We are in a position to give it to them...

Into the Tar Pit

In the second week of the year 2010, amidst all the buzz of modern humanity returning to the "Paleolithic Diet", my two favorite foodies and I ventured into the Tar Pit- Mark Peel and Jay Perrin's recently-opened restaurant on La Brea Avenue. From the moment one walks in the door, it is apparent a lot of thought has gone into its creation. Whether it be the stunning marble bar running along the left side of the supper club, featuring throw-back cocktails from expert mixologist Audrey Sanders (of Pegu Club, NYC), or the art-deco booths lining the outside of the box-shaped room, every detail is impeccably presented.

Dining with a group of three, we were able to try several Sanders' designed cocktails before being seated. The Gin Gin Mule (probably the most recommended drink from those who have beeen there), Lil Jig, and Jamaican Firefly were among our favorites. Though we made our reservation for 8:30, we weren't seated until around 9:00, which was fine for us as we were having a ball with our cocktails.

Upon being seated, however, it was apparent the servers came from the ilk of some of my favorite servers in LA, the waiters at Campanile. Our server was more than willing to share her recommendations, we looked forward to her visits to our table. Our appetizers: the Steak Tartare & Duck Sliders (pictured). Though I acknowledge that you can't go many places these days that don't have a steak tartare on the menu, I will go on record saying that chefs in LA should tatste the version from the Tar Pit- it was unlike any I have tried in years. The meat, cut up in cubes, tasted fresh and more importantly...it TASTED of something! The Duck Sliders, prepared with an orange gastrique, were out of this world. Enough said.

When ordering our main courses, our thought was to choose a variety of plates that would allow us to end the meal saying we had tried many of the main themes/components of the menu. Our choices: The Shaved Octopus Salad, Wild Boar Meatballs, Steak and Kidney Pie, Gnocchi with Escargots. The simple act of having to look at these pictures while writing this blog is causing my mouth to water. Though the picture of the baby octopus was taken in jest, I must talk a bit about this...

Save for when I am eating tako poke at a Japanese restaurant, I have not been many places where the chef has not cut the octoupus into little bite size pieces. I understand that this might not be the most appetizing look for the American diner, but for those who have the ability to overlook the asthetics of this funny little creature, order this salad and eat the baby octopus in one bite, the flavors are incredible.

If eating at the Tar Pit, go out on a limb and order at least one thing you have never eaten before. Another dish we dug was the gnocchi w/ escargots- where else can you find something like that in LA? The steak and kidney pie did not fall far behind. If there was one thing we could have done without, it was the wild boar meatballs, there was just not enough taste to differentiate them from any other type of meatballs.

Besides the meal, the Tar Pit has created an altogether astounding conglomeration of wines from around the world. And the best part- each bottle only costs $38. We ordered wine #311, a 2007 Duoro Tinto from Portugal. None of us had ever had a Portugese wine. A conversation with Chef Mark Peel as he was making his rounds revealed that Portugese wine was all the rage in the 70s.

All in all, a great evening. There is something to be said about a restaurant that takes risks and makes it taste good. Skip the caveman diet. Go to the Tar Pit.

Going to visit NYC?

A friend of mine is spending the next 6 days in NYC and asked for restaurants that "won't completely murder" his wallet.

Here's the email that I sent:
*please note: I lived in Manhattan about two years ago; though new restaurants have opened, the following are my tried and true favorites. I also think most tourists spend too much of their time in Midtown. It is for these reasons that I have focused my efforts for those who venture below 14th St.

Best Italian: (mid range price, family style, freaking amazing): Piccolo Angolo 621 Hudson Street, New York www.piccoloangolo.com
Hip/Australian: Public http://www.public-nyc.com/ - try the Kangaroo...and the chili infused vodka drinks. Make reservations-in NoLita.
Spanish tapas: Las Ramblas (west village) http://www.lasramblasnyc.com/ ; OR Boqueria (more of a scene, no ressies, both in Flat Iron and SoHo) http://www.boquerianyc.com/
THE COOLEST GASTRO PUB IN THE WORLD: The Spotted Pig!!! For SURE get the Gnudi (chef's most famous) and the Burger w/ Fries. http://www.thespottedpig.com/ Ugggh.
Chinese Soup Dumplings: Joe's Shanghai http://www.joeshanghairestaurants.com/ - go to the one on Pell Street and you can walk around the corner to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory http://www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com/ for some freakin' amazing and different flavors of Ice Cream
Fresh, local, cheap: Westville (they have both an East and West version: both equally delicious). Make sure to get there with some time to kill, it gets full for brunch/lunch. http://www.westvillenyc.com/
Brunch: our favorite place to go was Nero's in the meat packing district because of the all -you-can-drink mimosas/bellinis, but a quick google search didn't pull up any websites- it may have shut down...

Want a really cool place to have a drink- prohibition style?
Go to the Campbell Apartment outside but still kind of in Grand Central terminal...old school lounge with a very cool history: http://www.hospitalityholdings.com/

Have fun in NYC and let me know what you think!"

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.

The Question: Can the US economy recover without the US consumer?

This is an interesting question, and it cuts basically to the heart of the current issue. People generally believe that we are in a better place today than we were a couple of quarters ago. That much is understood. What isn't understood, and what is frequently asked, is whether or not this is sustainable. Have we been doing a lot of things that aren't repeatable in the coming quarters, or are we truly just getting warmed up? In the past, the consumer has made up about 70 percent of the overall economy, if we define "past" as the past 25 years of economic expansion. How has this occurred?

Note the following:

-Rising Asset Prices (house, stock market, etc)

-Low cost of borrowing and easy access to credit

-Decreased financial regulations that, in some ways, made access to money even easier than it otherwise would have been

These three main ideas, along with others, combined to make people very willing and very able to do one thing: SPEND MONEY. The key question to ask is, is what's going on today going to inspire people to spend money more freely? The government spending and Fed policy can help, but there is no economic force powerful enough to completely replace and regenerate the effect of the general population spending money. Note the following points relating to today:

-People are still WAY down in their investments relative to 2007 peak prices

-Home prices (depending on area) are depressed or still deteriorating

-Unemployment and under-employment are still on the rise

-Increases in regulations will tighten access to credit

-Securitizations are way down relative to recent past

-Bank Lending continues to be tight

-Savings rates have increased and are projected to increase further as consumers de-leverage their balance sheets

Maybe something will happen to turn things around, but these general facts, and probably some others, make a case that it is very tough to expect consumers to just jump right back in and start spending just as much as they were. Therefore, it makes sense to consider other ways in which the overall economy can grow. Consumer-led growth is a Keynesian principal, meaning, economic growth is catalyzed by the money consumers are spending. There is another view, the classical view, founded upon the idea of economic growth being centered around business invested and technological innovation. Ultimately, this innovation improves society and standards of living, and, while early in the cycle it does not lead to very much consumer spending, as the picture changes going forward, sparks ignite in a few distinct corners of the economy that lead to an overall larger and more sustainable recovery. A way to think of it is as though we had a pie, and the filling of this pie was depending upon factors that made people spend lots and lots of money. If people were spending, we had a nice, filling, tasty dessert. When they stopped, we were left with an empty crust.

When faced with an empty crust, there are two options:

1. Go back to doing the same things and trying to find the same sources of filling.

2. Create an entirely new dessert: Creating something new is definitely tougher to conceptualize, but that doesn't mean that it isn't possible.

Consider the following: Corporate balance sheets (ex autos and financials) are in fantastic shape. Companies are cutting costs and have more cash than during any prior economic down turns. The table is set for investment, especially with recent increases productivity and efficiency. As long as government policy is not too stifling, there is a significant chance of economic expansion, just not in the ways that it has been driven in the past 25 years.

This view was inspired from one of John Maudlin's pieces, Thoughts From the Frontline. What really grabbed me was that, instead of simply re-hashing all of the ways in which growth as occured in the recent past and trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, it takes what is currently going on and finds a theoretical framework that fits better than anything currently being proposed. There is no way to pull out a crystal ball and truly know. I just think it's nice to think that the recovery can come from sources and be driven by factors that no one truly knows at this time. If we can be so surprised by the crisis itself, who's to say we can't be equally, if not more surprised by the recovery?