Powers of Two

One thousand and twenty-four (1,024) is a power of two - 2^10.  

October 24th (10/24) also happens to be my friend Jeff's birthday.  On Tuesday, I went to dinner with him at Comstock Saloon with his boyfriend Sam (the inspiration for my blog) and my roommate Mitra Lohrasbpour (whose full name I am using so that when she's googled, "Powers of Two" will pop up).  Mitra and Sam (not relevant, but both are MIT alums) were the ones that pointed out the power of two correlation to Jeff's birthday, and for that, this blog post is dedicated to them. 

In a group of 23 people, at least two will have the same birthday with a probability greater than 1/2.

When you walk into Comstock Saloon, on Columbus and Pacific, the restored 1907 building musters up feelings of being transformed to Prohibition-era times, complete with dim lighting, dark-wood decor and a leather booklet detailing the fanciful cocktails. Our waiter, a kind, whimsical man from Virginia with tortoise-shell glasses and a jovial laugh, was incredibly friendly, overly attentive and bounced to and from our table quite often, checking up on us and taking new orders.  

12+3-4+5+67+8+9=100

The restaurant, opened by the same guys who opened Absinthe in Hayes Valley, was the only San Francisco bar to make it to Esquire's "Best Bars in America 2011" list, and so of course, we had to order some cocktails.  From Jeff's Sazerac, with rye, sugar and Absinthe, to Mitra's "Blood and Sand" with scotch, vermouth and cherry liquor, the Powers of Two conversation became exponentially more interesting. 

Among all shapes with the same perimeter, a circle has the largest area.

For small plates, we shared the Hangtown Toast with pickled eggs, bacon and oyster dressing a 7x7 Big Eat 2011 Pick, and the jalapeno corn fritters, which we devoured quickly.  The toast was one of the most unusual things I've eaten: the toast was crisp, the pickled eggs had a subtle tartness to them and the dressing gave the toast some moistness.  The toast was surprisingly light, considering the ingredients on it, and the compact pieces were perfect as small bites. 

   111,111,111

x 111,111,111

12,345,678,987,654,321 (it's a palindrome)

(1 + 2 + 3 + ... n)^2 = 1^3 + 2^3 + ... +n^3.

As entrees, Jeff and I shared the beef shank and bone marrow pot-pie and the fried oyster and ham po' boy with cole slaw and potato chips.  The pot-pie was my favorite - when we smashed into the crispy, crumbly crust with our forks, the aromas of beef steamed up and the shank pieces were tender and juicy.  

The sum of the squares of the first 7 primes is 666:

2^2 + 3^2 + 5^2 + 7^2 + 11^2 + 13^2 + 17 ^2 = 666.

The po- boy was well done as well - the fried oyster and ham pieces were substantial and fried foods always make my heart flutter.  The potato chips that came on the side were amazing as well: spicy, oily and crisp, like an upgraded Kettle's barbeque chip. 

The sum of the first 144 digits of pi is 666.

Overall, we had some great American fare, punctuated by cocktails worthy of the 7x7 list.  The highlight, however, and definitely a reason to make a visit, was our kind waiter, who appeared frequently with a twinkle in his eyes, hunched down eagerly when listening to our questions and humored us when we asked him personal questions.  

For the finale:

6x7=42

66x67=4422

666x667=444222

6666x6667=44442222

66666x66667=4444422222

666666x666667=444444222222

6666666x6666667=44444442222222

Enjoy your meal!

Restaurant:	Comstock Saloon
Location:	155 Columbus Ave, SF, CA
Items ordered:	Hangtown Toast with Pickled Eggs; Jalapeno Corn Fritters, Beef Shank and Bone Marrow Pot-Piel Fried Oyster and Ham Po' Boy
Pricing:	$10-$30
Grades:	Taste: B+; Cleanliness: A-; Service: A+