Privé – Philly Geek Dinner – The Guest

Privé LobsterPrivé Dessert

The September 3rd, 2008, Geek Dinner at Privé was an interesting and good time. We had a smaller crowd but were treated like kings (I botched the geek dinner invite by sending the venue announcement only a few days in advance, so it was low turnout – that’s what going on vacation and unplugging from geekdom gets me!)

The folks at Privé set us up in our own room. It was unintentional, but to me it was amusingly appropriate – privé translates to private.

The chefs are budding, potential future superstars. Table Talk describes prior Buddakan and Brasserie Perrier experience. While dining we learned of Le Bec-Fin experience as well. The foods here are exotic and fun just to hear described – influenced by countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, with inspiration from chef Peter Karapanagiotis.

Steven Wells of Philadelphia Weekly accompanied us, camera in tow, and geeked right in. While we typically geek out on the latest technology and Internet trends, Steven added new topics everyone ate up. Some of the things I remember Steven bringing up: geneology, HD video, security and anonymity (on the Internet), the value of Twitter, and implants (not those kind) for human enhancement (not that kind)… Honestly, it was us who brought up Twitter – Steven raised the question of it having any value. Good challenge!

Breakdown of what we consumed, mostly on recommendation from Mr. Edwards, our water – everything was fantastic…

  • Karpouzi
  • Shrimp Orzo
  • Lollipop Lamb Chop
  • Rabbit Risotto
  • Exotic Mushrooms
  • Cheese Boureki
  • Lobster Makaronia (pictured)
  • Beet Salata
  • Walnut Puff (pictured)
  • Octopus Duet
  • Potelle (wine) – Kevin selected a couple wines that went along nicely with the menu.
  • Fiano (wine) – same as above.
Mark your calendar and join us October 1st, 7pm. Venue to be announced early ;)
UPDATE: Next Geek Dinner is November 5th, 7pm.

Chrome after a day of use

Been using Google’s Chrome browser for a day, and so far it’s a great experience.

No. Sorry. That’s an understatement. It’s revolutionary. As the comic describes (yes, Google released a comic to introduce Chrome), this browser takes the web to impossible places. It makes the web more like an operating system, allowing each site (tab) an independent process and memory allocation, improving javascript speed – via a virtual machine – by orders of magnitude, and integrating more cleanly with Gears.

I’ve liked the browser enough to find Windows more useful than OS X this morning. A strange feeling indeed.

I’d mentioned in an email yesterday that the question was whether Chrome would quickly grab users away from Internet Explorer and other browsers or if it would be incremental in its chipping. My expectation is that it will still be chipping, but it’s going to be much faster than expected.

Just as the Google search tool grew wildly popular purely out of speed and relevance, the Chrome browser will gain huge momentum because of speed and relevance. Since there are still massive amounts of IE6 installations out there (proving that not everyone goes out and upgrades) a swing won’t happen over night, but it will gain ground more quickly than Firefox or Safari (Opera not mentioned since Chrome pretty much destroys the reason for Opera’s existance – speed).

A couple questions are begged… Is this where we really see web 2.0 take hold? I think so. And how does this affect Google in terms of monopolizing the web? They now own search and could quickly dominate the browser.

Philly Geek Dinner is Wednesday Night (September 3rd, 7pm)

Useful links:

I finally went for a bike ride to see Privé in person. What I found was better than imagined, even after reading Michael Klein’s enticing description and having high expectations.

During my drop-in visit I met Kevin Landon, who abandoned a staff meeting to give me a tour (the video below doesn’t do the restaurant any justice, the place is fabulous). From talking with Kevin I learned Privé opened only two weeks ago and has been doing wonderful.

We’ll be one of the first groups there, and probably the first blog-heavy group. He showed me around and I got to see the impeccable cut white stone walls, attractive furniture, sleek lines and spotlit mural. He promises the food to be as good or better than the looks.

And he’s probably right. They’ve hired the young Peter Karapanagiotis, 23, who performed as saute-saucier at Buddakan as well as Brasserie Perrier. It’s going to be a real treat to experience his work while he’s fresh and the restaurant is brand-spankin’-new.

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