And when have meetings ever been enjoyable?

For everyone that straddles the world of corporate, the words ‘town hall’ don’t exactly evoke mirth.

Which is why, I was pleasantly surprised with no less than a meeting at a San Francisco Financial District hideout called Town Hall, where everything from the wrought iron chandeliers to the knockout cocktails gave me a newfound love for the likes of corporate.

The namesake for a meeting space, I chose to indulge through this meal as metaphor for a meeting.

Every meeting starts with an agenda, which generally clarifies, excites, or thrusts anxiety into the grey cells. The agenda here begun with a symbolic whiskey, absinthe, cranberry and orange peel cocktail, strong enough to evoke all the aforementioned feelings with a gradually shifting palette. For what started off with a smoky whiskey taste was supplemented with a tangy orange flavor, wiped out by the hypnotic taste of absinthe.

The middle of every meeting usually involves debate. And debates beg for endurance. Which I chose to acquire via a succulent apple and spiced walnut salad, battling its own with chunky blue cheese and pickled radishes. A delectable crunch of textures that rippled from tangy to sweet to sour to spicy, the crispy apples atop were the real game changer in the arena of healthy eating.

The rebuttal energy was derived from a spinach and endive salad, encasing my new-found favorite pine nuts as accomplices, with a hidden bed of asparagus. While not as alluring as its predecessor due to an overwhelm of sourness, the toasted nuts compensated, and you could say collaborated to result in reason.

Towards the end of every meeting emerges a hidden agenda (which may not be as morbid a thing as imagined) or a surprising new discovery that leads to an accomplishing derailment. My sentiment exactly when I got the butterscotch pot de crème, a texture that I have come to despise in all its glup, partially due to my affair with all things crunchy. However, the perfectly rich flavor sans sugar was a pleasant trek off the beaten path of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Which however, made its debut with dark and butterscotch chips to lift the crème with. An inventive idea which merrily became part of this culinary strategy, adding richness, texture and a newfound perspective!

And like any good meeting, the climax is always one of rejoicement (or relief). Requiring a natural boost of (even more) chocolate energy, I opted for the Mississippi Mud Cake, with pecan caramel, dark chocolate ganache, and marbled chocolate marshmallow. To say this was indulgent was an understatement – for it made me forget every ounce of meetingdom and chocoholic inhalation. While gluttonous beyond belief, the soft, softer, softest textures actually worked, with a light crackling crunch in the center and from the burnt marshmallow surface. Ending with a raspberry glaze breaking the saccharine sweetness with a light tang.

Productive meetings always evoke a feeling of accomplishment. Similar to the cheque arriving in a book aptly titled Sons of Poetry, like yours truly.

And metaphorical meetings are painful to part with,
But joyous to recover with if transformed into routine.

Hello, Modern Corporate.