Before going to see Bill Maher at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, Cecile, our son Jason, and I enjoyed a fabulous, leisurely, early dinner at IL Fornaio Cucina Italiano located in the luxurious Sainte Claire in downtown San Jose. For starters we shared Piatto Di Salumi (an antipasto platter) with fresh oven backed bread.
Cecile had a delicious Casarecce Alla Norcina pasta with morsels of chicken breast, white truffle oil, porcini & champignon mushrooms; Jason feasted on Linguine Mare Chiaro: with clams, mussels, prawns & scallops, and I had Grilled Norwegian salmon with lemon & extra-virgin olive oil; served with sautéed spinach & roasted Yukon gold potatoes along with a glass of Chalk Hill Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast. For dessert Jason had his favorite Affogato AL Caffe (espresso poured over two scoops of vanilla gelato & topped with fresh whipped cream and Cecile and I shared a strawberry sorbet).
After dinner we spent an evening with stand up comedian and political commentator Bill Maher: The WTF? Maher is known for his sharp wit, biting humor, and fearless approach to controversial topics on "Real time with Bill Maher" on HBO. Cecile and I, and Jason have been a fans of my fellow New Jerseyite since his first show "Politically Incorrect,” in the early 1990s.
Maher is a staunch advocate for free speech, and enjoys sparking heated debates that challenge societal norms with individuals from different political ideologies. He is skilled at balancing humor and serious content. He doesn’t shy away from critizing Democrats as well as Rebulicans when its called for. While I don’t agree with everything he says, I believe in a lot of what he has to say, and he makes me laugh in the process.
