Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for asking.

The lunch part went okay and I handled it well, I think. The CTO asked personal questions, like which country I was from and cross questioned me extensively that I finally had to open up about my family, kids, and their school stuff. Weird. He seemed pretty cool-headed though.

I blew the technical part and didn't get the job.

Chalk it up to good experience -- on both fronts.
BTDT. Being more relaxed and understanding how things work will really help you in future interviews.
And remember to get clues from the job ad and the recruiter, on what technical Q's they may ask in the future.

That's great re lunch. But sorry to hear about not getting the job. I'm sure you'll do fine next time.

OP here. Thanks for asking.

The lunch part went okay and I handled it well, I think. The CTO asked personal questions, like which country I was from and cross questioned me extensively that I finally had to open up about my family, kids, and their school stuff. Weird. He seemed pretty cool-headed though.

I blew the technical part and didn't get the job.

So how did it go, OP?

Just a note on "following the host's lead" with respect to order an appetizer: If you're a woman and you go out to eat with a man, generally, the waiter will take your order first, so it might be hard to follow their lead. In those situations, the advice of asking them if they have been to the restaurant before and/or if they know what's good is good advice. You can also say something like "I'm having trouble deciding, do you know what you're going to order?"

Also, in my experience, most often at a business lunch people do order an appetizer and main course, coffee sometimes. Dessert is rare.

Don't order spaghetti or anything complicated or messy.
Salad probably a good idea for vegan so you don't have to ask a lot of questions (does this have egg, dairy, etc)
Soup and salad.