Master Dilettante

I’m engaged in a debate with a friend on when is a “reasonable” time to start eating dinner in the U.S. So as not to prejudice your thinking, I won’t indicate more at this point.

To help us inform this debate, please complete this 5-question, “Dinner Time” Survey. Also, please feel free to post any comments on this blog.

Thanks! We’ll post the results once known.

Inspired in part by my colleague Adam Nash’s post on Google Reader, I made the switch a few weeks ago to Google Reader and have been entirely pleased with the clean UI and overall ease of use.

I’ve been using the Email function (see screen shot above) recently but, silly me, just fully realized that Google Reader is integrated only with Gmail. Lifehacker’s post on the integration characterized it as making it easy to share blog posts by email, and I agree that it is, indeed, easy — particularly if Gmail is your primary email application.

But I resent the forced lock-in to Gmail, especially because I predominantly use Yahoo for personal email. Bloglines and Feedburner, in contrast, allow the user to choose the “from” email address. I understand why Google would chose to integrate in this manner, but I don’t have to like it. The forced Gmail usage certainly fuels the Google is evil debate.

In this age of fast food, mass market franchise restaurants and celebrity chefs, the decent family and neighborhood restaurant is hard to find. My new favorite Italian restaurant is A Bellagio in Campbell. Not only is the food authentic and delicious, but the service is unparalleled. I’d already written a Yelp review and felt compelled to update it after lunch today:

You MUST eat at A Bellagio regularly. I mentioned before that the food is outstanding and that the service is impeccable. Just when I thought the service was great, the owner today went above and beyond the call of duty and completely blew my mind.

Three friends and I arrived for lunch and, to our chagrin, discovered that it was closed due to some construction work on the the air conditioning system. The owner immediately recognized me from past visits. After a moment in which he registered his disappointment that they were closed for lunch, he immediately exclaimed, “Never mind! Come sit down! We’ll serve you lunch!” Again, THEY WERE CLOSED! And yet the owner of this authentic, neighborhood family joint opened the restaurant just to serve me and three friends!

But wait! There’s more! Yes, the air conditioning was under repair, but he turned it on just for us, so that my pregnant friend (see Patricia N.’s review below) would be comfortable. AND he then insisted that we not even pay for the meal!!! We, of course, insisted the opposite and left a generous amount (we didn’t receive a bill) and tip for the waiter.

This generosity takes customer service to the ultimate level. Of course, I wouldn’t presume anything when visiting, but know that it’s a great place with a great, homey feel. Coupled with the excellent food, A Bellagio is my favorite Italian place. Whoever you are, you must try it!!!
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Original Review:
Delicious Italian food coupled with impeccable service in a personable, neighborhood restaurant.

I’ve been to A Bellagio twice now and experienced delicious meals both times. I haven’t the education to classify the region of Italy from which the food hails, but everything I’ve tried has been delicious.

Last night, I tried two specials, an appetizer of mozzarella and tomatoes topped with prosciutto; a particular name exists for the dish, but that name eludes me at the moment. Just like mozzarella caprese but with prosciutto to boot. I didn’t ask, but the mozzarella was soft and creamy and light and undoubtedly made on the premises. I also had a dinner special of rigatoni with a prime rib meat sauce. That’s right, prime rib. Fantastic.

I’ve sampled other dishes, and everything I’ve tried I’ve enjoyed.

The wine list is plentiful. And the desserts are quite tasty. I’ve sampled the chocolate torturo, the chocolate mousse, the zabaglione and the cheesecake. All were excellent.

I’ve been here twice with a Campbell friend who dines at the restaurant once a week. The owner and wait staff all know him and provide friendly, efficient service. The owner poured us complimentary limoncello shots, too.

An excellent Italian choice, in the neighborhood of Campbell or any other neighborhood for that matter.

See all of my reviews on Yelp!

I’m going to continue to post my restaurant reviews both on Yelp and here. This week, “the dinner club” checked out Pezzella’s on El Camino in Sunnyvale. Here’s my review:

My colleague John C. tells me my Yelp reviews are too long to read, so I’ll keep this one relatively short.

Pezzella’s is a great neighborhood Italian joint, with hearty, tasty dishes. The ambiance and decor are casual; it’s a place for family & friends, not dates.

Everything served is traditionally American Italian. The garlic knots (twists of bread slathered in garlic and butter and tomatoes and herbs) are off-menu and worth trying. The chicken Parmesan (which I just about always get), the mozzarella caprese, the baked rigatoni — all are classic and delicious. The wine list is serviceable, and the service is friendly.

I’d repeat here for a casual dinner with good friends.

See all of my reviews on Yelp.

The Wall Street Journal today is reporting on efforts by academics to prove that poker is a game of skill — not chance. Motivated by a desire to overturn a Congressional ban last September on certain payment methods used for online gambling, Harvard University Law School professor Charles Nesson, professional poker player Howard Lederer and a number of “theorists, statisticians, law students and gambling lobbyists” conducted an all-day strategy session at the Harvard Faculty Club.

The Journal explains that, “Under U.S. common law, games that are predominantly chance are considered gambling, while those that are mainly skill are not.” The Congressional payments ban applies to gambling, so demonstration that poker predominantly is a game of skill theoretically would exempt it from the ban.

According to the Journal’s article, the group is supporting the Poker Players Alliance, poker’s 400,000-member lobbying group, and seeking scientific proof that poker is a game of skill.

In a related effort, Freakanomics author and University of Chicago professor Steven Lewitt is engaged in statistically analyzing performance results of good and bad online poker players to establish the differences among them.

Lederer, Lewitt and others also put forth the argument that the fact that it is possible to intentionally lose in poker but not in pure-luck games such as baccarat or roulette establishes that poker logically is a game of skill.

For the complete Journal article and further reading, see the following:

• Harvard Ponders Just What It Takes To Excel at Poker by Neil King Jr., Wall Street Journal (3 May 2007)
• Poker: Skill v. Chance (from Steven Lewitt’s blog)
• Know any lousy poker players? (Lewitt blog post on “pokernomics” study)
• Pokernomics Web site

Thanks to Bonnie for forwarding the article to me!