So Flying Lab is right across the street from the Metropolitan Market, which is a high end grocery full of all kinds of tasty stuff. Today Tynes was over there and discovered that Armandino Batali, the proprietor of the legendary Seattle foodie mecca Salumi (and father of Mario), was going to be appearing for several hours. John, Jess, and I had made a lunch pilgrimage to Salumi a couple of months back, waiting in line for an hour for a chance to sample Batali’s famous salamis. Today Jess and I gathered up a bunch of folks from our department and headed across the street. I thought it might be crowded at 5 but we just walked right up. Armandino had brought seven or so different kinds of salami and he encouraged us to try them all. You could tell this was his passion and he wanted to share it with people. Since we descended in a bunch, he was curious where we had come from. I explained we worked across the street and were publishing a pirate computer game. We chit chatted for a few minutes and he was a genial and pleasant guy. I picked up some of the mole salami, which is made with chocolate and is outrageously good. He also let us sample a new salami made with anise that Salumi is debuting in a couple of weeks. I wasn’t sure about meat and anise together, but it too was delicious. Here’s a guy that really knows his craft. That was a nice (and tasty) way to end the work week.