Sunday night I was planning to have a late dinner with a friend at Sundance on Camino Real in Palo Alto, but it turned out that the place closes at 9 PM on Sunday. I was in the mood for a good steak with a glass of Californian Cabernet Sauvignon and a quick search learned that there was a grill place in Los Altos that was still open. The place was packed when we arrived, but because of the time some people started to leave already so we had a table quite quickly. The steak (tenderloin) was pretty good and they had a decent selection of Cabernet Sauvignons by the glass, so I was quite happy.

After the main course I decided to get the bill, but then the waitress asked me to wait a bit because there would be a surprise. I had no idea what to expect of course, but 3 minutes later a huge dessert arrived. The waitress told me that a friend who I had helped to find a job had sent it to me. I thought it was a mistake, I don’t know many people in Los Altos and most of the ones that I know are all start-up entrepreneurs living in Shanghai. The waitress said that he would come to our table in a minute, so I just waited.

And indeed someone walked over and introduced himself. To be honest, at first I had no idea who he was but then I vaguely remembered his name. Not sure if he wants his name on my blog, so I just use his first name, which is John. John explained to me that I had helped him a couple of years ago to get a job at an analytics firm. Then I indeed remembered helping him once with the preparation for some questions for his job interview (over Twitter I think) and I also remember meeting him once a while later at M1NT, probably during Geeks on a Plane.

He had recognized me when I walked into the restaurant and then decided to thank me for my help (he got the job) by sending me a free dessert. Thanks a lot John (he told me he reads my blog), a very nice gesture. It’s a small world! Let me know next time you’re in Shanghai and we’ll grab a coffee.