At twenty-seven, YouTube sensation Ben Leonards is married to his work. If he's not whipping up lasagna with a side of science experiments, he's running statistical analysis of bitcoin during explosive behavior periods.
When a friend asks him to org...
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I haven't been to stiff formal meals before but having an assigned seat helps me figure out where I'm supposed to be. Eighteen table placements have name cards by them, and mine is in the middle of the long side of the table, with Linda to my left and a talkative bold guy to my right. Philip and Brenda sit together on one short side of the table, and Mr. Baxtor and Melissa sit on the other short side facing the younger couple.
I don't know any of the six men or the one woman on the long side opposite me, but the same man that Linda talked to upstairs sits next to her on her other side. They are talking about government funding and grant writing. Linda's relentless, and I suspect the Chicago Public Library is about to get a large donation from the insurance company the man owns.
The antipasto is as good as what we had at the restaurant, but the increasingly excited guy next to me distracts me from smelling and tasting it by narrating each slice and bite as if he were on camera. When he goes into the details of how the celery is pickled for the Artichoke Custard with Anchovy and Garlic Fonduta, Pickled Celery and Oregano, I abandon my reservations.
"At the beginning of the year," I say, "I filmed how cabbage, cucumbers, radish, olives and tomatoes underwent pickling with three distinct recipes and determined what was the difference in the flavors as a result, plus I explained the chemistry behind the transformations. But I haven't even thought about trying celery. I have more things I want to try to pickle, and I'll have to add celery to my list."
"I can send you the recipe for this one if you want to try. It's our chef's invention. Her take on traditional Italian food is the best. Her promotion was the best decision I've done in years."
Is he talking about an ad? School?
"Promotion?"
"I own Del Mio Senso. I'm Mo Ballerini." He puts his fork down and extends his hand my way over the table.
Will he give me the passata recipe the executive chef refused to share?
"Would you send me the passata recipe you use as well?"
"And the code to my safe?"
"No. I have enough money. But your passata remains a mystery."
He explodes in a shrill laugh, and I recognize it as one of the noisy reasons I escaped to the balcony earlier in the evening. "Good one." He continues to chuckle.
I take out my wallet and pull my card. Angie forced me to print some, but this is the first time I get to use them. I put it on the white tablecloth and slide it his way.
"Gastro Goodness? Oh, you run a YouTube channel? Benjamin Y. Leonards. What does Y stand for?"
"I've been doing food science for about five years now on the channel. And Y. stands for Yo-Yo. Like Yo-Yo Ma the cellist, not the toy."
"Interesting. Food Science." He puts my card into the interior pocket of his sleek black jacket. "Do you play the violin? I play guitar, but those are the only stings I touch. Did being named after a virtuoso help you become one yourself?"
