Inbound Thinking

Last night I had dinner at Dante in Cambridge with HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah. It a nostalgic meal: My whole experience in Cambridge started 18 months ago when I met Dharmesh for dinner at Dante. Little did I know that dinner would be the catalyst for many (good) changes in my life. Dinner was also a bit of a celebratory occasion, in honor of the successful launch of Facebook Grader, which I developed with Dharmesh.

I was pleased to find that Dante is now serving a prix fixe 3-course menu. For ‘primi’ I had the truffled potato gnocchi, beef carpaccio and Parmigiano Reggiano. The gnocchi were fantastic, flavorful and delicate, not the overly tough potato gnocchi I’ve experienced elsewhere. The carpacio was also excellent, cut to just the right thickness and served with a slight glaze of balsamic vinegar which amplified the beef flavor without overpowering it.

I ordered the lombatello for my ’secondi’ which is basically an Italian take on Steak Frites. Dante uses the hanger steak which has great flavor and is quite tender when cooked properly, that is to say not over-cooked. I ordered mine medium-rare and it was perfect. The steak was about a 5-ounce portion which is a nice size when eating three courses; I was able to enjoy my meal without over-eating. The patatine fritte were shoe-string style, fried crispy and coated with herbs and Parmigiano. They serve an addicting garlic-thyme aioli for dipping.

After the first two courses I was craving a bit of sugar and indulged in the zabaglione as my ‘dolci’ course. The zabaglione was smooth, rich and delicious but the warm hazelnut cake was the star of the dish. Many chocolate cakes are too rich or over-sweet, but this one was wonderful. Its light and fluffy texture accompanied the custard perfectly.

With my meal I enjoyed a glass of 2005 Hitching Post Pinot Noir. I really liked the wine, I need to see if my local store has any bottles. It was flavorful and accompanied the carpaccio and lombatello well.

Overall, it was a delcious meal. Honestly, even if the food weren’t great it would have been a fun night, Dharmesh is great company and we always have very interesting (albeit nerdy) dinner conversation. It was a great way to both reminisce and celebrate the success I’ve enjoyed since joining HubSpot. Thank you, Dharmesh!