By: Larry MacDonald

In the second-quarter issue of Contra The Heard investment newsletter (just out), editors Ben Stadelmann and Benj Gallander regale their readers with an amusing account of their recent trip to the Berkshire Hathaway annual general meeting (AGM) in Omaha, Nebraska. A highlight was their dinner at Gorat’s Steak House, Warren Buffett’s favorite restaurant.

“What a spot it was, a veritable Smithsonian time capsule,” reported the Contra Guys. A Saturday Night Fever disco ball hung over the dance floor and white-haired septuagenarians danced to the “hardcore” elevator music dished out by an “equally fragile lounge singer.” The steak was tender but it’s “kind of sad when HP Sauce is necessary to provide, rather than accentuate, the flavour.” When the bill came for their “very filling meal replete … with a decent bottle of California wine,” the Contra Guys were amazed at how inexpensive it was.

Somehow, it’s not surprising that the richest man in the U.S. likes such a place. Buffett always did like bargains. And he never was a food connoisseur: his diet has long been heavy on hamburgers and soft drinks. And he’s often seen imbibing products of companies in which he has investment stakes, e.g. Sees chocolates, Coca Cola, Dairy Queen cones, etc.

The thing is, Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger, derive a great deal of satisfaction from what they do, which is simply “reading and thinking” as Munger describes it. They both “insist on a lot of time being available during the day just to sit and think, something rather uncommon in business.” They don’t need good food and restaurants; in fact, they would be distractions.

Oh, by the way, the Contra The Heard didn’t buy any stocks in the second quarter. But they are eyeing the beaten-up financial sector and looking forward to their usual year-end buying spree during tax-loss selling season.