Jonathan Snook's Blog, page 11

Go Abstract

As mentioned in my talking about feeling uneasy, I applied for a job. Thankfully, I got that job.

As of today, I work for Abstract. I’m hopping on board as a front-end developer. The company is still small enough that I hope to make an impact beyond just code. One of the things that attracted me to Abstract was the similarities to Shopify when I first started working there.

It is small but growing quickly, and full of passionate design-focused people working to build a fantastic product. Being small means the opportunity to wear many hats, to help craft the product from not only a technical perspective but from a design and vision perspective, too.

Another factor that attracted me to Abstract was the fact that not only do they allow for remote work, a large part of the company works remote. As an advocate for remote work for many years, I’m happy to see more companies like Abstract embrace it.

Ever since working at Yahoo!, I’ve had a desire to work on design and development tooling. Back then, building a prototype engine—a tool for bridging the gap between design and development—has helped fuel my career for nearly a decade since.

While I had always imagined working on my own product, I could never seem to will myself to build it. Other people’s deadlines seem to work much better as motivation.

As such, I am excited to work on a product that I believe in a product space that excites me with a great group of people.

Uneasy

I never used to have imposter syndrome. I felt confident in what I knew and didn’t know. About three years ago, a series of events really made me question my abilities. Throw in some burnout and depression and I am still left feeling uneasy and unsure of myself.

Those feelings have spilled into other things: I don’t write much about web development anymore. I stopped doing conference talks. I haven’t made any significant progress on personal sites or apps.

I took on some hobbies outside of web development. I bought an espresso machine and learned how to make delicious coffee. I bought a couple cameras and have been practicing my photography and editing. I even contemplated getting into video work.

Maybe I should open a coffee shop? Or create a magazine? Maybe a video series?

Every time I get to the point of execution on anything, I start to freeze up. I hit a wall every time I want to put myself out there. (I’ve written and rewritten this post a few times.)

I decided to apply for a full-time gig again, after spending the last couple years freelancing.

I’ve been nervous going through the interview process. I haven’t had to do a coding exercise on the fly in about 7 years. In the past, I’ve been relaxed—even cocky. Now, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. Thankfully, I finished within the allotted time, my heart beating quickly from the stress.

Then came a take-home exercise to build in React. I understood some of the concepts of React but I had never actually used React to build a project. It was a fun exercise and I enjoyed the challenge. At one point, I hit a wall, thinking I wouldn’t be able to finish it. I thought I’d have to rewrite the whole thing. A last-minute epiphany allowed me to get everything working.

Maybe I do know what I’m doing. At the same time, maybe I’ve learned some humility, too.

The Codification of Design

There’s often a disconnect between the design comp and what the developers want to build. Designs feature elements that differ slightly (or grossly) from previous elements that have been designed.

When this happens, developers have a conundrum. Do they (A) develop a pixel-perfect implementation of the design or (B) use existing patterns that differ from the design in front of them?

What we have here…

If the developers build to the design composition, the code base grows with exceptions and design inconsistencies.

If the developers build using existing patterns, designers might push back on how things don’t match what was designed.

…is failure to communicate

Everything that a designer draws in a Sketch or Photoshop file needs to be turned into code. Code needs to be developed, delivered to the user, and maintained by the team.

That means that complexity in design can lead to complexity in code.

That’s not to say that complexity isn’t allowed. However, it is important to consider what the impact of that complexity is—especially as it relates to your codebase.

The same thing applies to print designers. What kind of paper do you use? Four colour process? Spot varnish? These things all impact costs.

How elaborate are your digital designs? Do you require a lot of individualized art direction for each page? Oversized hero images? Custom interactions? These things impact costs.

For example, having a component look a bit different on different pages can result in extra code to accommodate those differences.

Pattern Libraries

Pattern libraries are one tool in managing project complexity. By grouping like with like, we can see the complexity right up front. It allows both designers and developers to review whether yet another component variation is necessary.

One thing that many pattern libraries don’t have but should is a rationale or explanation as to what problem each component and component variation solves. That way, a rationale is required to explain why the library should be expanded (and why the cost to build, use, and maintain the code should be increased).

Talk, talk, talk

This is why it’s important to have these conversations during the design process. It’s important to understand what the priorities are within your team. It’s important to understand what tradeoffs you’re willing to make. Without consensus within your team, you’ll continue to butt heads as the requirements of the front-end development team conflict with the requirements of the design team.

Little Bird, Portland

I love Portland. It’s a lovely city filled with plenty of great food and definitely plenty of great coffee. Almost every morning is spent at a different coffee shop.

Matthew sent me a link to Le Pigeon. Sadly, it had no availability while I was in town. On the upside, there are two sister restaurants, one of which is Little Bird. It was not only open, it had availability. With Foie Gras on the menu, I felt like this might be a little bit upscale. I’d recommend showing up in business casual but I showed up in a button-down tee and shorts with no complaints, so it probably depends more on what you feel comfortable in.

I ordered a cocktail to start, a muddled cherry daiquiri, which, while tasty, didn’t show up until after my opening dish arrived.

The menu is definitely French-inspired. For the appetizer, I had the seared foie gras that was served on a mint crêpe with strawberries and marcona almonds. It was a lovely mix of flavour in every bite and in just the right proportions.

Foie gras

For my main, I had the open-faced corn ravioli. Imagine a flatter lasagna but with the foie beurre instead of a tomato-based sauce. Then add the crispy duck confit and corn flakes on top with a bit of the sweetness from the apricot sauce. A delicious dish that I savoured through and through. The duck confit might’ve been a bit too crispy as I felt like I do when eating a bowl of Cap’n Crunch: it tastes good but my mouth suffers a little more with every bite.

Open-faced ravioli

I ordered a glass of their featured red wine, a Gigondas from Les Pallieres. It paired well enough but I wondered if there might’ve been something else that would’ve suited the meal better.

Verdict: It was a wonderful meal and I’d definitely recommend going if you get the chance. It’s reasonably priced while not feeling too cheap or too stuffy.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★★


Food:
★★★


Drinks:
★★☆


Service:
★★☆

Petit Trois

Tomorrow, we head back home to Ottawa. I didn’t think we’d have a chance to make it on any more food adventures. This morning, after a quick visit to the Great Wall of Los Angeles, Kitt suggested we go to Petit Trois. It’s one of the restaurants I had on my list after watching the last season of The Mind of a Chef and I was delighted we could fit it in.

Petit Trois, unlike it’s sister restaurant, Trois Mec, is open for breakfast and lunch. It’s run by Ludo Lefebvre, who is a Frenchman who has spent the last 20 years in L.A..

As you might expect based on the chef and the name of the restaurant, the menu is very French. The decor is also very French. It’s like a touch of Paris. (Even the people eating there seemed like something you’d find in a Parisian cafe.)

I was delighted to find beignets at the top of the menu. You’re damn right I ordered one. These beignets weren’t like the ones you’d find at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, all covered in powdered sugar. No, these were covered in granulated sugar and filled with a not-too-sweet custard. They were so delightfully wonderful.

I chose a bacon and tomato tartine, which is an open-faced sandwich—this one topped with scrambled eggs. Every bite of this was tasty, with a wonderful mix of flavours and textures. The bread wonderfully crunchy, the bacon not overdone, the fresh tomato, and the perfectly cooked eggs with a bit of oil and salt.

Kitt had an omelette, which I had a bite of. It was tasty but I felt like it would’ve been overwhelming to eat the entirety of the rather sizeable portion. If I ever make it back, I know I’ll have another tartine.

As we enjoyed our meal, I saw Lefebvre around the restaurant. Between a handful of restaurants in L.A., I imagine his days being very full and it was nice to see him present. (No, I didn’t say ‘hi’.)

Verdict: I’d definitely take the time to go here again—and sit at the kitchen counter to watch the chefs!

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★★


Food:
★★☆


Drinks:
N/A


Service:
★★☆

Majordomo

Likely the last restaurant adventure on this L.A trip was to Majordomo—a David Chang restaurant. With all the cooking shows I’ve watched, I was excited to go here and excited to be able to book a reservation a month ago.

Earlier today, in trying to track down a dress code—there really isn’t one except maybe “don’t look slovenly” but they still let me in and anyways—I came across a review of Majordomo by Jonathan Gold. The review was lukewarm and my expectations were tempered.

The dishes are “family style,” designed for sharing. Between the two of us, we ended up ordering six dishes. It was a little much but we really wanted an opportunity to try as many dishes as possible. Once again, if you can go with a group of four, I think that’d be ideal.

The place gets quite loud when it’s full and trying to hear people across a larger table can get quite difficult. At about 80dB, it was already difficult to hear other across our table of two without yelling at each other. (The woman to one side of us wants this $400 sweater but would never use it but her bff said she could totally use it in New York. One guy at the table to the opposite side never really liked fish until he went to Tokyo and bought some fish from the market it cut it himself. Anyway.)

The food!

We had the uni to start which came in a wonderful sauce with some tofu. A nice bit of spice and found it paired very well with the Paloma that I ordered at the start.

View the food on Flickr.

That was quickly followed by the spicy lamb. Easily my favourite of the evening with the mint, the peppers, and that delicious bread.

Up next was the Benton’s reserve ham. Sliced thinly like a good prosciutto and sizeable enough for two to three people, easily. It was a bit plain, though, with just the bing (a style of flatbread).

At this point, the dishes came out more slowly. Something more tapas style would’ve made it easier to mix and match foods to try new combinations.

Up next was heirloom tomatoes with fruit, sesame, and basil.
I feel like the fruit made the whole dish taste muted.

The sausage-stuffed peppers that followed were hot and oily, fresh out of the deep fryer. At the narrow end, the pepper seemed a bit flavourless. The middle was better but the end suddenly got quite spicy, which came as a bit of a surprise after the rather mild start.

Lastly, we had the skirt steak with picked onion rings. The steak was cooked perfectly with a wonderful flavour. The onion rings were a bit of a surprise. I was left with a bit of cognitive dissonance with every bite that left me unsure of whether this was the right mix of flavours.

In the end, I was left with mixed feelings, just like Mr. Gold. I’d go back to try some of the other dishes, to find the right mix for the perfect meal.

Verdict: I wouldn’t go out of my way for it but worth trying at least once with a group of friends.

Experience:
★☆☆


Value:
★★☆


Food:
★☆☆


Drinks:
★★☆


Service:
★★☆

Mastro Steakhouse

Kitt, “the vegetarian”, was in the mood for meat. I’m certainly not going to pass up an opportunity like this. She looked up the best steakhouse in L.A. and Beverly Hills’ Mastro seemed to be the place. With A5 Wagyu listed on the menu, I was definitely in. Lucky for us, we were able to squeeze in a last minute reservation.

The dress code required pants and collars, which meant gripes from the boys for having to wear something other than t-shirts and shorts. It also meant draping my youngest in one of my shirts since he didn’t have a collared shirt for this trip.

This place looks and feels like an classic upscale steakhouse. In my Eddie Bauer shirt, I felt underdressed but no questions asked. The waiter even tried to make light of oversized shirt on my youngest to put everybody at ease. Kudos to him.

The food

With no surprise, I ordered a 12oz New York-style cut of A5 Wagyu. It came prepared very simply, with a tasty char on the outside and just the right amount of salt. It was delicious and I didn’t hesitate to eat every bite of it. (Well, I was kind enough to share with everyone at the table.)

Kitt ordered one of her favourites, Chilean sea bass. Which, to be honest, does that qualify as meat? I had my steak, so I’m not going to quibble. I had a bite of hers and it was prepared very well. It was near melt-in-your-mouth.

I ordered a glass of Stags’ Leap petit sirah, which was a great recommendation for the meal. I haven’t normally been a fan of Californian reds but this one definitely worked.

For dessert, I’m a sucker for crème brûlée. Sadly, I was disappointed in this one. I like it when the caramelized sugar is still warm from the blowtorch. This one was cold.

Verdict: If you’re in the mood for some good meat, go for it, but maybe skip dessert.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★☆


Food:
★★☆


Drinks:
★★☆


Service:
★★☆

Felix Trattoria

Both of my boys, when asked where they’d like to go for our summer trip, simultaneously and without consulting the other, answered: “Los Angeles.”

We were staying at an Airbnb near Venice Beach, which is also very close to a strip of hip places on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. I dubbed it Portland Avenue since it reminded me of the Oregonian city, including a Salt & Straw location.

In researching local places to eat on Foursquare (as I do), Felix came up as a top Italian place nearby to eat. Highly rated and slightly upscale. Reservations were necessary to snag ourselves a table.

The place was already packed upon our relatively early arrival to the restaurant. This is clearly a popular place and we’d soon experience why.

We were quickly seated and reviewing the menu. The staff was friendly and prompt.

The dishes come “family style” making it easy to share. We started with the fiori di zucca and the prosciutto with melon. The fiori is a deep fried squash blossom. While everybody at the table liked these, I loved them. The slight crunchy outside contrasted with the creamy insides. It was a perfect appetizer.

For the mains, we ordered the diavola, orecchiette, tagliatelle, and the foglie d’oliva. The diavola and the orecchiette had some spice to it and were definitely my favourites. The salami on the diavola was so tasty.

I had a super Tuscan wine, the name of which I didn’t make note of, but it paired wonderfully well with the spicy meal.

My boys can be picky eaters but they managed to find something that they enjoyed. (Hard to go wrong with well-made pasta and pizza.)

Verdict: Worth it. A perfect place for a date night. If I lived in L.A., I could see myself becoming a regular of this restaurant.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★★


Food:
★★★


Drinks:
★★★


Service:
★★★

Alinea

The 50 Before 50 Challenge continues. This time, in Chicago for the fifth of fifty restaurants. I flew in just for this, arriving the morning of the reservation and leaving the next day.

They were very specific about not arriving late, so as not to miss any of the show. We arrived a half hour early, rain beginning to come down. There’s no bar at the restaurant. We walked two doors down to an Italian restaurant that had a fantastic selection of tasty martinis, if you’re looking to kill a bit of time before your meal.

At Alinea, much of the enjoyment comes from the experience. This started from the moment we walked through the front door. We ascended the stairs to the second floor and I was delighted by the smell. It was fragrant and slightly citrusy.

The staff was friendly and helpful throughout the meal. Like Librije’s Zusje in Amsterdam, a bit of theatrics was in store throughout the meal.

A bowl of salt was lit on fire at one point with embers on top. Later it was revealed that a baked potato lay underneath and was one of the dishes.

At another point, we were all led to the kitchen to be presented with a root beer style cocktail and a pizza pocket inspired dish. (Both were delicious.)

The food throughout was quite good. The starting dish was a bouquet of flowers that was very tasty. It was paired with a bowl of caviar on cream. The caviar was okay but didn’t compare to some I’ve had elsewhere. (The best I’ve had so far was at Quince in San Francisco.) My favourite dish was probably the spanner crab, followed by the octopus. The rest was wonderful but not transcendental.

View photos of the trip on Flickr

I did the wine pairing and they did a wonderful job. There was a bit of surprise when they brought out a red wine in between a couple whites. Normally, restaurants start with a champagne and then switch to whites for the first few plates (that pair with the vegetable or fish dishes that normally come at the beginning of a multi-course meal like this). Finally, the last couple dishes with meatier plates will be paired with reds. (And lastly, something sweet to go along with dessert like a port or moscato.) I went out of my way to compliment the sommelier on the fine choices.

Verdict: Worth travelling to. Food, wine, and experience come together for a wonderful evening.

Experience:
★★★


Value:
★★☆


Food:
★★☆


Drinks:
★★★


Service:
★★★

New York Food Adventures

After some rather ambitious efforts to go to five Michelin-starred restaurants in a week, a new—and possibly more ambitious—goal has begun: Go to 50 of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants before I turn 50.

In San Francisco, we went to Saison, which just so happened to be on The List. That meant only 49 more to go. New York is a short hour-long flight from Ottawa and, thus, it made sense to go to those restaurants when I had some availability. With a free weekend, I booked the three in the city: Cosme, Eleven, and Le Bernardin. Blue Hill at Stone Barns will have to wait.

Cosme

Cosme serves up “fresh Mexican cuisine from one of the hottest young chefs in the US”.

I’m a big fan of tasting menus where everything is decided for you—including the drink pairing. Cosme only does a la carte small plates, so I was overwhelmed with what to choose. If you can go as a group of four, I think that’d be ideal. That way, everybody can order a couple different things and share.

Even still, Cosme was wonderful. The place was busy but you can still carry on a conversation without yelling. The food was wonderful. I highly recommend the mole with the flat iron steak.

The cocktails were fantastic, too. I kept with the Mexican theme and had a margarita and followed that up with a paloma. The paloma was perfection.

Anthony Bourdain said, “I would like people really to pay more for top-quality Mexican food. I think it's the most undervalued, underappreciated world cuisine with tremendous, tremendous potential.”

I think he’d be pleased with Cosme.

Verdict: If you find yourself in NYC with a group of friends, go here.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★★


Food:
★★★


Drinks:
★★☆


Service:
★★☆




Sakagura

In doing some research on places to eat, I came across a place called Sushi Yasuda. It was rated the #1 place in NYC for sushi. We went for lunch but by the time we got there, the place was full and we couldn’t get in. A quick look on Foursquare revealed another restaurant just across the street: Sakagura.

We walked into an office building and then around the corner and down a set of stairs into the basement. Getting to this restaurant reminded me of a couple of the places I went to in Tokyo where the location felt hidden and hard to find. It made the upcoming meal that much more delightful and this time wasn’t any different.

The place was busy and definitely worth the short wait to get in. We opted for the tasting menu and I chose a flight of sake to go with.

In the past, most times I’ve tried sake I’ve been underwhelmed. There wasn’t much flavour to it and just felt dull in my mouth. This changed after going to Daruma in Portland. The gentleman there knows his sake and brings in a fantastic assortment. We tried a bunch there and I was delighted by the flavours. Since then, I’m much more willing to try sake.

Sakaguru provided a flight of three. They recommended each one pairing with a particular part of the tasting menu. It’s worth trying, if you’re at all curious about sake.

The meal itself started off great. The sashimi was fantastic. The tempura that followed was yummy. Probably my only disappointment in the meal was the beef. It was chewy and not all that flavourful. One bad dish out of a handful is fine. (And it was the last one!)

To finish, I had a black sesame ice cream that was tasty. I’ve become a fan of sesame as I’ve aged.

Verdict: If you find yourself in the area, do it. And be sure to try the sake flight.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★★


Food:
★★☆


Drinks:
★★☆


Service:
★★☆




Eleven Madison Park

Eleven Madison Park was rated #1 in 2017 and only slipped slightly to #4 in 2018. It’s also a 3 Michelin-star restaurant. As you might imagine, getting reservations means planning ahead. Reservations for a given month open up on the 1st of the previous month. For our July reservation, we booked June 1st. The rest of the restaurants were planned around this one.

The service from the moment we walked in the door was fantastic. Our host was cheerful and friendly throughout the meal.

The food. Oh my god, the food. The meal was incredible. I was nearly to tears with how good the food was.

Most of the dishes have a seasonal twist on them. Being in the thick of summer, corn was a common thread through some of the courses. Caviar served on top of a corn soufflé with a cream sauce, for example, was fantastic.

Chef Daniel Humm himself said, “The duck is probably the only recipe that I feel I have perfected fully.”

And it was fantastic. I highly recommend choosing the duck option, if you have the chance.

By far my favourite dish was the foie gras. Absolute perfection. Each bite was bliss and I savoured it through and through. Nothing I’ve had before or since compares to this dish.

One other interesting tidbit was that we prepaid for our meal when we made the booking. This actually made the end of the meal quite pleasant. There was nothing to sign and no large bill to pretend wasn’t some insanely large amount. It also meant not feeling uncomfortable about how much to tip. I wish more restaurants did this.

Verdict: Worth it. I will fly around the world to go here.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★★☆


Food:
★★★


Drinks:
★★★


Service:
★★★




Le Bernardin

Le Bernardin was good but a bit of a rocky start upon our arrival. Despite the 33ºC heat with untold humidity, I was told by no less than three different people from the front door to my seat to put my jacket on. (It’s the only place I’ve been to that has such strict rules about jackets.)

Each of the dishes were tasty but didn’t seem to be pushing any boundaries or presenting any surprises. The wine pairings were nicely done, all complimenting the dishes. Le Bernardin has knowledgeable sommeliers wearing tastevins (a silver cup) around their neck. (Okay, maybe a little pretentious but considering the jacket requirement, I suppose this shouldn’t come as a surprise.)

The service fell off towards the end of the meal. They asked if I wanted a coffee and I said yes to an espresso. They brought it out and then also brought out petit fours and a dessert wine. I consider the espresso the end-of-the-meal drink and was surprised to have more. We were also left waiting for our bill.

Verdict: If you’re a fan of good wine and good food, you won’t be disappointed but I probably wouldn’t plan a cross-country trip to go here.

Experience:
★☆☆


Value:
★★☆


Food:
★★☆


Drinks:
★★★


Service:
★☆☆




Sushi Yasuda

Our flight was cancelled and thus we had an extra day in NYC. Now was our chance to get to Sushi Yasuda, a 1 Michelin-starred restaurant.

“The kitchen lives up to its hype by ignoring new wave trends in favor of serving classically assembled and spectacularly fresh sushi.”

I wish I knew this going in. I was expecting something a bit more adventurous with the sushi. We did omakase, letting the chef decide what we’d have next. We weren’t disappointed in the quality of the sushi, though, that’s for sure. The sushi was delicious, even if it was simple in its presentation. The octopus was a bit chewy and the oyster tasted too much like the ocean. Everything else was fantastic.

Be careful with the omakase. They’ll keep bringing plates out until you tell them to stop and for two people, the price can add up quickly. There’s no tipping but we still walked out of there with a $400 bill.

If you don’t mind things on the pricy side, I think Sushi Yasuda is a place to try.

Verdict: If I lived in NYC, I think this would be a place I’d go to whenever I was in the mood for some good sushi.

Experience:
★★☆


Value:
★☆☆


Food:
★★☆


Drinks:
n/a


Service:
★★☆