Babbo

This week, Katherine, Elizabeth, Stephanos and I, went to Babbo near Washington Square in New York. What an outstanding restaurant! We had two wines. The first was a refreshing, mineraly, Tuscan white: Batar 2000, from Agricola Querciabella. This was perhaps the best Italian white I can recall drinking. It must be rare, because the word Batar does not appear in Hugh Johnson's wine book. The red wine was a Gattinara 2001, Antoniolo SF. It was predictably enjoyable.

For antipasti we shared Warm Lamb's Tongue Salad, Pig's Foot Milanese, and Grilled Octopus. For primi, we shared Gooseliver Ravioli with Balsamico, Beefcheek Ravioli, and Garganelli with Porchini. For segundi, Stephanos had cod, I had sweetbreads, and Liz and Katherine shared Pork Cheeks Friuli Style.

We shared two contorni: Carciofi Romana and Babbo Greens. The Carciofi Romana tasted the same as those we had in Rome but was much more elegantly presented.

My impression was that this was better than any restaurant we had ever been to in Italy. There were restaurants in Italy that served an outstanding dish that matched Babbo, but none hit every single dish on the mark. In particular, Babbo was a notch above Enoteca Pinchiori in Florence- a Michelin 3 star when we ate there.

Reflecting on that, I remembered that a few months ago I wrote that Frasca in Boulder, Colorado was better than any Italian restaurant we had gone to in the United States. Now, Babbo is a notch above Frasca. I wondered whether, if we went to Piperno in Rome, would we think it was better than Babbo. Then, if we went to Oliveto here in Oakland would we think it was better than Piperno? Maybe all Italian Restaurants are better than all other Italian restaurants.

A Disturbing Trend

My father died at age 66.
My two grandfathers died at an average age of 72.
My four great grandfathers died at an average age of 74.

If this is a trend, I don't like it very much.

Investment Books

One of my daughters is considering managing her investments. Over the last forty years I must have read fifty to a hundred books on the subject, many of which I own. I recommended that she read the following:

"A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton G. Malkiel. (It is important to read the 2003 edition or later.) This is the best introduction that I have read and it gives very wise advice. It advocates an asset allocation approach emphasizing exchange traded funds.

"Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre. This was originally published in 1923. Computer screens have replaced ticker tapes since then, but investing is still ruled by greed and fear. This little book covers the irrational aspects of investing. It is said that it was actually written by Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest speculators of all time who won and lost a fortune several times. Ultimately, he committed suicide in the men's room of the Sherry Netherland hotel. So much for speculation.

"The Battle for Investment Survival" by Gerald M. Loeb. Written in the 1950s and updated in the 1960s, some of the details are dated, but the principles are eternal. Loeb did not believe in being invested all the time. He advocated buying when business conditions were bad or getting worse and selling when business was wonderful. He was a very successful investment advisor.

"One up on Wall Street" by Peter Lynch. During the 1970s, the stock market as a whole went nowhere but Lynch's Magellan Fund consistently made outstanding returns. He was a master at discovering and evaluating growth stocks. He believed in being fully invested all the time.

Malkiel, Loeb, and Lynch present three different approaches to investing: asset allocation, market timing, and stock selection. You can make money with any of those approaches, but probably not by using them all at the same time.

(Those of you who are familiar with this subject probably are wondering why I did not recommend a book on value oriented investing, such as Graham & Dodd. The answer is that while this approach to investing works well, very few people are willing to put in the effort necessary to follow it.)