Christopher Herot's Weblog

Daily Grommet

Jules Pieri muses on her blog whether her startup Daily Grommet (for which I am an advisor) is "real" yet.  Given the progress to date (raising capital, hiring employees, renting office space) they are already real in the sense that multiple people are invested in their success.  They will only continue to become more real as they launch their site and, hopefully, go public or get acquired some day.  The question is a little like asking when one's children are grown - is it when they graduate, when they move out, when they have children of their own?

At this point it's the slope of the curve that matters, and they are certainly on an upward trajectory.

Spectacle Island

As you approach Boston Harbor by water, you pass through an extensive network of islands.  For several hundred years, these islands were used and abused as places to keep things the residents did not want nearby, such as exiled Native Americans, newly arrived immigrants, quarantine hospitals and unpleasant industries of varying sorts.  Arguably Spectacle Island suffered more than its share, with a horse-rendering plant, a grease-extraction factory and eventually a city dump.  Leaking toxic waste and smoldering underground fires forced its complete abandonment in 1959.  Fortunately the reconstruction of the Central Artery and Tunnel , the CA/T project  a.k.a. the "Big Dig" offered a means to reclaim the island.  By covering the old dump with 3.8 million cubic yards of dirt excavated from the new tunnels, the island has been transformed into a beautiful 121-acre park, complete with a public beach, visitor center and cafe, and some spectacular views from what is now the highest elevation in the harbor.

The island is 15 minutes from downtown Boston by boat.  During the summer months the Harbor Express high speed ferry leaves every hour from Christopher Columbus Park adjacent to Long Wharf and costs $14 round trip.  In theory one can make reservations but the boats are large and there were plenty of seats on a prime weekend in July.  Once you are on Spectacle Island, you can take a shuttle to the many of the other islands in the harbor, but check the schedule as making connections requires some planning. Also, on our return trip, the high speed ferry was replaced by a much larger and slower boat, which accommodated everyone wanting the leave the island but took 45 minutes to get back.  If you bring your own boat, there is a marina (VHF ch 69).

Spectacle Island has a beach, a visitor center where you can sit on the porch, get a burger from the cafe, and see an exhibit on the islands history and ecology (20,000 plants were re-introduced).  There is a network of trails with picnic tables and views of the harbor and neighboring islands.  Well worth an afternoon - or an entire day if you want to see several islands.

Photos here: herot.typepad.com/photos/spectacle/index.html

For more information:

• Boston Harbor Islands brochure
• Island Alliance web site
• National Park Service site
• Jasper White Summer Shack Clambake every Thursday (6:15 - 9:00)
• Island Regatta, Sept 26-27

Fireworks in Boston

Viewed from the Cambridge side of the Charles River.

The The Boston Globe has some good coverage here of how it was done, including the video tour of the fireworks barge, below, conducted by Eric Tucker of Pyro Spectaculars who has done the past seven Boston shows.

Is Boston Wimping Out?

In the wake of last Thursday's snowstorm that paralyzed the Boston area, the Boston Globe ran an article subtitled "Whining belies hardy reputation" which argues that although it snows here every year, Bostonians appear less prepared and more likely to panic than they did in the past.  Indeed, Thursday's traffic snarls seemed to be the result of a decision by most businesses to send their employees home as soon as it started snowing.  The predictable result was that rush hour started early and the heavy traffic made it harder for the snowplows to clear the streets.  Those that waited until the panic subsided found their evening commute much shorter.

Some quotes:

Jim Claiborne, a captain with the Police Department, said he thinks people are more afraid of weather because it gets a lot of hype. "Bad weather has become such a big part of the news; people have become oversensitized," he said. "All these things are in your living room now."

Parker Llewellyn, who lives on Beacon Hill, said he suspected that many people overreacted because "there's fewer and fewer New Englanders living here." He said reports of New England hardiness may be exaggerated.

"This was a nothing of a storm," he said. "But I'm from Chicago."

TrashTalk Application in the Globe Today

Zingdom's Red Sox-Yankees Trashtalk application was written up on the front page of the business section of the Boston Globe this morning.  Reporter Carolyn Johnson accurately described how we used it to showcase how our web services could easily talk-enable the Web.  Now if Boston beats Los Angeles and New York beats Cleveland in next week's American League Division Series we'll have a full week of Trash Talking starting October 12th.

Boston vs. Silicon Valley

At the first of what promises to be a series of events at the Vilna Shul on Beacon Hill in Boston, Doug Levin conducted a "fireside chat" with Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner on the topic of how Boston's high-tech scene differs from that of Silicon Valley from which Scott recently returned after a two year stint.  The comparison mostly favored the West Coast, with a lot of familiar gripes about Boston: VCs who won't fund consumer products, employees who won't leave their "velvet coffin" jobs, employers who sue over non-competes, lack of places like Bucks where deals are struck over drinks.  Kirsner wrote about some of these in a piece on the front page of today's Boston Globe business section, Why Facebook Went West.  He describes how a senior associate at Battery Ventures (not named in the article but identified by Levin as Larry Cheng) met Mark Zuckerberg at a Harvard Student Agencies event  back when Facebook was looking for $1- $3 million on a pre-money valuation of $15M.  Battery passed, and Zuckerberg went to California where he met Peter Thiel.  Thiel agreed that same day to invest $500K for 10 percent of the company which Bear Stearns Internet analyst Robert Peck estimates may be worth as much as $6 billion today.  Both Battery and Thiel had been investors in Friendster and had been disappointed in how that turned out, but Thiel, and later Accel Partners didn't let that stop them.

Kirsner's wife Amy Traverso had another theory: that in Silicon Valley, Internet entrepreneurs are treated like rocks stars.  She said that while woman in New York want to marry investment bankers, those in  San Francisco want entrepreneurs.  She recounted one event in Pacific Heights where scores of attractive woman attended in the hope of meeting "their Sergey."

Kirsner did point out some advantages of the Boston area.  For one thing, Cambridge is probably the best place in the world to start a Biotech company, and there are exciting possibilities that may come from the cross-fertilization of information sciences and life sciences.  Also, real-estate is 30% more expensive on the West Coast, which was a factor in his family's return to Boston.

Finally, David Aronoff implored everyone to stop whining about the problem and go do something about it.  He reminded us that while Boston will never be Silicon Valley, we have plenty of talent and plenty of capital on the East Coast.  Of course he did say that plenty of Boston VCs were on UA 179 each Monday to San Francisco.  (A quick check of my PDA revealed 4 "UA 179's" myself in the first half of this year - Boston entrepreneurs need to get out there as well.

One thing everyone agreed on was the need for more events like this one.  Doug is planning a series every month for the rest of the year and there are other ones starting to happen.  Some that I've attended or plan to attend:

• TECH Cocktail took place last week and was well attended.
• Web Innovators Group is meeting on Monday in Cambridge.
• Informal entrepreneurs every Thursday morning at the Andala Coffee House in Central Square.
• Bill Warner's BBQ for Entrepreneurs which I hope he does again.
• The MIT Enterprise Forum which is a very active resource for start-ups
• Mass Technology Leadership Council - mostly larger companies but lots of good events
• Mass Network Communications Council - ditto
• Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange - lots of local events
• Nantucket Conference -every spring
• Future Forward - same organizers as Nantucket Conference, every fall

Update 10 Sept 2007
Other blog coverage of the event:

• Scott Kirsner
• David Aronoff
• Dan Bricklin

Gaslight Brasserie du Coin

In France, a Brasserie is a place to get a real meal at a time when more serious restaurants may not be serving or when one is up for more than a cafe but less than a gastronomic adventure, sort of what T.G.I. Friday's does in the U.S.A.  But now we have the real deal in Boston, starting with Brasserie Jo nn Huntington Avenue, then Bouchee on Newbury Street, and in the past weeks, Gaslight on Harrison Avenue.  Brought to you by the same crew that owns Aquitaine in the South End, this new addition has furthered the transformation of the Harrison Avenue area from a bleak industrial wasteland to Boston's version of SoHo or SoMa, complete with art galleries, Internet companies, and upscale restaurants.

Gaslight is noisy (almost deafening), busy and, I will have to say, competent, lively, and reasonably priced.  Since all good brasserie's serve oysters, we started with a dozen from Duxbury which were a bargain at $2 each.  For a first course we had the Salade Gaslight ($7.75) which had haricots verts, bacon lardons, and onions and and Salade Frisee ($6.75) with chevre, black olives, and leeks.  We followed that with the Steak Frites ($19.50) a Bavette (Flank Steak) with a Béarnaise sauce and the Confit de Canette (duckling) ($16).  Both came with excellent pommes frites.

For wine, we had a carafe (0.5 L) each of the 2004 Chablisienne Chablis ($30) and the 2006 Jaboulet Les Jalet Crozes-Hermitage ($30).

The desserts were OK - the molton of the "molten chocolate cake" ($6) was a little bit of sauce on top of an otherwise undistinguished cake.

In summary, this place has a lot to recommend it.  The food is good, the atmosphere is fun, it's open late (1:30 am) and there's plenty of free parking.

Gaslight Brasserie du Coin
560 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA  02118
617-422-0224
www.gaslight560.com
Reservations Accepted - phone or Open Table
200 seats
Parking - free evenings and weekends

Rocca

Many of the best restaurants in Boston can be traced back to Michela Larson.  During the 80's boom the restaurant she started, Michela's was one of the hottest places in the Boston area.  When the boom ended, Michela's closed, but the alumni went on to greater glory.  Chef Todd English founded Olives in Charlestown (and later five other cities), Figs, Bonfire, Kingfish Hall, and half a dozen others.  Managers Esti (Benson) Parsons and Christopher Myers followed Michela to her new restaurant Rialto in Harvard Square before going on to found Radius, Great Bay, Via Matta and Alta Strada.  Michela herself opened Blu and Red Clay in addition to Rialto.  Now she has left all of that behind to concentrate on one big, new place in the South End and looks like it will be a big success.

We visited Rocca last night on its tenth night in operation and it was bustling.  It is located in a neighborhood better known for artists' studios than for food, although that may soon change.  Rocca specializes in cuisine from the Liguria region of Italy.

On our waiter's recommendation, we started with the Wild Mushroom Toasts ($5), two small pieces of bread with mushrooms, pecorino, parsley, herbs, and olive oil - just enough the whet the appetite.   For a first course we had the Veal-Stuffed Zucchini with fresh tomato sauce ($7)  and Spring Green Panzotti ($14) - which were ravioli stuffed with spinach and chard and then served with a delicious walnut sauce.  The pasta dishes are European sized - suitable for an appetizer rather than a main course.

By this time we had opened a bottle of 2005 Arnaldo Caprai Grecante ($42) from Umbria.  It was fruity but delicate, with a touch of citrus and grass.  Manager Gary Sullivan spent several months traveling though Italy and putting together the wine list.  It's all Italian and almost everything is in the $25-$45 range.

For our main course, we had the Roasted Whole Fish ($24), a Branzini with herbs, olives, potatoes, tomatoes and pine nuts served in the roasting pan (pictured at right) and the Burrida ($21), a fish stew served over toasted ciabatta.

Dessert was worth waiting for, especially the Smashed Almond Bark ($7) - something between a cookie and a shortbread (lots of eggwhite - like a dacoise) and whole almonds, served with a dark chocolate dipping sauce.  Michela told us she had something like it in Milan and experimented quite a bit before they got the result they were looking for.

The waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and the manager, Gary, knew everything about the wine list.  There were a few, small hiccups in the service, like the mushroom toasts arriving late (comp'd as a result) and an extra dessert we didn't order (promptly and cheerfully removed from the bill).  For a place that had only been open for a few weeks I would say it performed admirably on a very busy Saturday night.  The food was creative, delicious, and reasonably priced for what we got.

There is a lively bar downstairs and a large dining room upstairs.  The front half is lively and quite loud.  The rear is quieter but still festive.  In the summer they plan to serve dinner on a large patio adjacent to the bar.  We will definitely be back.

Rocca
500 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA  02118
617-451-5151
www.roccaboston.com
Reservations Accepted
Valet parking $8.00

Boston Survives Attack by Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Maybe Boston is especially jumpy after being the base of some of the September 11 hijackers, or maybe people here just watch too many TV shows like 24, but an outdoor marketing campaign that ran in nine other cities without incident caused a terrorist bomb scare in Boston that brought transportation to a halt yesterday.

Artist Peter Berdovsky installed around the city a series of battery-operated LED signs that displayed characters from Turner Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  The campaign, devised by the New York guerrilla marketing firm Interference placed the magnetically backed LED circuit boards in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco and Philadelphia where apparently few people took notice.  Even in Boston, the units were up for several weeks until an MBTA worker spotted one of the devices at 8:00 am yesterday on an I-93 ramp near Sullivan Square in Charlestown.  The State Police bomb squad blew it apart with a water cannon and went on to discover more such devices later in the day.  Eventually, someone recognized the image as that of a cartoon character and figured out it was part of a publicity campaign.

Boston officials were not amused and charged Berdovsky and a colleague with placing a hoax device.  It's hard to see how they could be convicted, since the statute clearly requires "intent to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort."  While it appears that the defendants did indeed cause all of those things, there is no evidence that any of it was intentional.

You would think a real terrorist would know better than to put a bunch of attention-getting LEDs on a bomb, but then bombs on TV always have blinking lights.

Sorellina

Sorellina recently opened in the space formerly occupied by Salamander.   Chef Jamie Mammano, who started the nearby Mistral and the almost as nearby Teatro has opened this contemporary Italian-Mediterranean.  The space is dramatic, the clientele affluent and attractive, and the food is pretty good as well.

For appetizers, we had the Yellowtail Crudo with crushed cherry peppers, citrus and sea salt ($16), Macheroncelli - "Kobe" beef meatballs, barolo sauce and pecorino loscano ($14), Arancini - crab cakes ($16), Tortellono with parsnip, ricotta, peas, morels, and asparagus ($12), and Escargot with tomatoes and capers (not on the menu).  All the appetizers were delicious, if expensive.  The Crudo was the best.

For the main course almost everyone had the Veal Milanese ($38) which was a veal chop pounded flat and sauteed with lemon and an endive salad, but we should have had the Scallops ($33) with celery root and truffled celery salad.

With dessert and and some modestly prices ($45) bottles of wine, the damage, including tip and tax, came to $100 per person.

A word about the decor and seating:  The space is dominated by a large, backlit, monochrome mural.  It creates a dramatic impression, but you don't want to sit to close to it.  You have been warned.

Sorellina
1 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA
617-412-4600
www.sorellinaboston.com
Reservations Accepted - Make several weeks in advance for Saturday dinner
100 seats
Valet parking