My Last Post

On Blogspot, at any rate.

After Mack's constant badgering to get my own domain, and to transfer platforms to Wordpress, I've finally done it. Effective today, I will be blogging at www.onlyhereforthefood.ca (for those who subscribe to and read my blog in an aggregator, you'll need to update your subscription to use my new feed address: http://www.onlyhereforthefood.ca/feed/).

Blogger has been great to me over the past year and a half, with its friendly interface and lovely blue spotted theme that I've gotten quite attached to.

Thanks for the memories, Blogger! I'll see the rest of you on Only Here for the Food!

#500

Plugging away at this blog, juggling restaurant reviews, staying afloat of local culinary news, and maintaining my kitchen experiments have almost become an unpaid part-time job. But I love it.

I didn't start this blog with the intent of narrowing the focus to all things epicurean, but it has become that way, and I have accepted my development into a full-fledged food enthusiast. And what better common ground than exercising one's sense of taste? Food is disarming; it brings people together; but most of all, it facilitates memorable experiences. In blogging about restaurants and recipes, I hope that my excitement about the possibilities of food translate - dishes to gather around, places perfect for a specific mood or occasion, and events that incite a better appreciation for what the city has to offer.

As mentioned in my three hundredth post, it was no coincidence that my interest in food heightened right around the time that I began documenting my eating adventures. What I didn’t realize until recently however, is how important of a role those around me have played in supporting my newfound appreciation for everything edible. From my diner buddy to my pho friend, Latin food connoisseur and Asian cuisine cheerleader, coworkers who never tire of my incessant ramblings, and all who have shared a kitchen with me, I thank you for humoring me with your interest, patience, and appetites.

The best thing about a personal blog, of course, is that I don't have to limit my content. I do still enjoy commenting about the arts scene, and in particular, the wonderful plays staged by the theatre community. And so, despite the proliferation of food-centric posts, I will continue to think of myself as a blogger who simply happens to write often about food.

Onward to the next 500! Thanks for reading!

Milestone #2

Back in December, I vowed to overcome two challenges. The first, to maintain this blog for three months, which I reached back in January. The second was to accumulate three hundred posts.

This is post #300.

It seems that I reflect too much on the nature of blogging, especially considering the life span of this blog isn't particularly long. So without being too self-indulgent, I will keep it short: a blog is a great way of visually documenting one's experience. I don't think it's any coincidence that my interest in cooking heightened right around the time I began The Cooking Chronicles, writing not only notes about my experiments with new recipes, but also uploading pictures of the finished products. A straightforward medium of organizing thoughts, ideas and adventures, I'm finding that it is ultimately worth the time that it takes to post in detail.

Next up: besting Dickson's post count...any bets?

Blogs are the New Black

Via Eat Drink One Woman, I read a recent New York Times article about the proliferation of food bloggers. In New York, it seems, the fashion isn't merely to report about the fare and the service (as critically as possible), but to also divulge details about chef appearances, menu changes, and restaurant gossip. The fight against this phenomenon:

"Some restaurateurs are only grudgingly adapting. In a telephone interview, Mr. Hennings, the owner of E. U., said he had no idea who Ms. Freeman was the night she dropped by, but he pegged her as a blogger because she was snapping photos. He said it was unfair to judge a restaurant based on the first half-hour of service by a new chef. 'These blogs can be ridiculously hurtful,' he said.

"But others, like David Chang, owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar and Momofuku Ssam Bar, have embraced the blog world.’It’s instant marketing,' Mr. Chang said. 'They get the notice out there. It’s a more egalitarian thing.'"

While I myself have no ambitions to increase my blog's traffic or to gain elite status as a food blogger extraordinaire, I would like to think my enthusiasm for food has rubbed off on those around me. After all, it's a privilege to be able to share good meals with good friends, and variety is the spice of life, so I'll continue to document my culinary adventures so long as this is enjoyable.

Milestone #1

My own O.C. (cheesy, I know) celebrates its three month birthday today, reaching the first milestone I set for myself in December.

As of this post, I have accumulated 100 entries, which works out to an average of 1 post per day. While I doubt I will be able to maintain such a breakneck pace throughout my blogging life (interesting how such phrases have managed to work their way into my vocabulary), I can say it has been quite an enjoyable experience thus far.

At times, yes, it does feel like a chore to have to timely document most activities in my life, but I know in the future I will come to appreciate this record. I suppose one of the things I am struggling with is this exactly - there is no end date on this blog; it's meant to be active, continuously developed, dynamically changing as I grow. This is a challenge, as with most tasks - papers, projects - there exists a definite end date. It is my hope that I am able to surpass this honeymoon period, this initial stage of enthusiasm, and maintain this blog for years to come.

Thanks for reading and for your comments so far!