There’s an awesome article in today’s Dispatch about the local food blogging crew. I’m glad to see Heather, Lisa, Jim, Becke, and others get the attention they deserve. Being a child of the internet myself, I rarely look for reviews in magazines or newspapers anymore… it’s got to be online. And if it’s got to be online, it might as well have the personal touch that these fine folks bring to the table with their individual blogging efforts. Props!
My(dining)Space
Bloggers love to share thoughts, shots of their eating experiences
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
BY KEVIN JOYWith a digital camera and a hefty appetite, Jim Ellison is ready for action. Seated in a booth at Ohio Deli & Restaurant, a comfort-food outlet on the South Side, he quietly takes eight pictures of his Dagwood sandwich. It will soon become fodder for CMH Gourmand — his Web log, or blog — through which he chronicles his culinary adventures in Columbus and beyond.
“I think I appeal to the average person,” said Becke Boyer, who started her blog, Columbus Foodie, in 2005 as a way to record her meals while following Weight Watchers. “I’m not one of those people who put my finger on trends. I just like to eat.”
Central Ohio food bloggers, many of whom also post reviews on larger, more general-interest Web sites such as Columbusunderground.com, consider themselves an increasingly popular medium for advice, entertainment and, on occasion, influence.
Heather Popio began her food blog, Sopressata, in March. When she visited the newly opened Pistacia Vera bakery in German Village, she wasn’t happy to discover that the new place has no seating. Popio soon received a posted comment from Anne Fletcher, Pistachia Vera’s co-founder, stating: “Thanks for the feedback! We are listening.” (Seating will be available in January.)
Lisa Dillman, 32, whose Restaurant Widow blog gets roughly 1,500 hits a day, has drawn readers from California to Singapore, some of whom have asked the server for dining tips before traveling to central Ohio. The Clintonville resident would like to add podcasts or video to the site.