Feldman's Faves: May 24, 2021

Good Morning BL5!! (thanks Duncan) – I hope you are all enjoying the long weekend and have been able to properly (and safely) partake in the MAY 24 celebrations. With the vaccine roll out picking up steam and cases coming down, I am bullish on us all having a great summer (fingers crossed).

I’m excited for this Friday, with Neill and Tim leading our BL5 Zoom. Although part of me feels that I might regret it….

My theme this week is on interesting characters, that can be described as the good, the bad and the ugly.

BAD BLOOD By: John Carreyrou – Sometimes you read something and you say to yourself, “you can’t make this s%&t up”. The story of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos as described in this week’s book recommendation, Bad Blood is case in point. At one point, she was probably considered the most interesting person in the world. Holmes “invented” a way to conduct blood tests that would revolutionize the practice. Just a little pin prick of you finger could replace the painful and cumbersome process of drawing blood (a lot of it). The most famous lawyer in the U.S., David Boies was her lawyer and on her board as was George Shultz and Henry Kissinger – talking about blue chip. She wore black turtle necks, spoke with a (fake) deep voice. and was considered to be the next Steve Jobs. I remember watching her being interviewed on CNBC and she was treated like a god. Her business was a unicorn and she was becoming an icon. And then the truth came out. The entire business was a fraud. In this book, WSJ report John Carreyou uncovers the crazy story of the rise and fall of Holmes and of Theranos. This book reads like a thriller but is even better given that it is true story (hard to believe). Here is a good review from the NYT - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/books/review/bad-blood-john-carreyrou.html

How I Built This with Guy Raz - Eleven Madison Park: Daniel Humm – One could make the case that Daniel Humm is in fact, “the most interesting person in the world”. After dropping out of school at age 14 to pursue a professional cycling career, he realized that he was not going to make it and turned to cooking. He became a rising culinary star in his home country of Switzerland, then moved to San Francisco and then ultimately became the chef of the number one rated restaurant in the world – Eleven Madison Park – where his creativity and use of all animal parts was part of his “thing”. When Covid hit, he like many other restaurant owners, was forced to shut down, which he did. Instead of retreating, he decided to turn his restaurant into a kitchen that would feed those in the most need during the crisis. He survived this crisis and has decided to make a major change to his business by going 100% plant based. Not a single “World Top 50 Restaurant” is plant based so this is a big risk. Humm is doing this because he wants to push boundaries in his cooking and because he feels it is the right thing to do. I hope he succeeds…..Here is Guy’s description of the story along with the recording - Daniel Humm dropped out of school at 14 to become a competitive cyclist, and supported himself by cutting vegetables and making soup stock at fine restaurants in Switzerland. When he eventually realized he'd never become a world-class cyclist, he pivoted to the equally competitive world of fine dining, and soon became a rising young chef in Switzerland, and then San Francisco. In 2006, he was wooed to New York to re-imagine the restaurant Eleven Madison Park, and began drawing raves for his painterly presentations of duck, foie gras, and suckling pig. The restaurant was recognized in 2017 as the world's best, but was forced to shut down during the pandemic. When it reopens in June, it will generate a new buzz in gastronomy: this time by revamping its menu to be entirely plant-based: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?i=1000519801344

Thank you for your ongoing participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon