The great constellations of the food blogging universe joined the hoi polloi on Thursday night at the Makor Center for a panel discussion on food blogging moderated by Andrea Strong. Here is a picture I am stealing from Slice’s website so you can see the panel in all their splendor:
From left to right you will see: Adam Kuban of Slice and A Hamburger Today; Andrea Strong of The Strong Buzz, Alaina Browne of A Fully Belly, and Josh Friedland of The Food Section.
I arrived on the arm of my friend Diana and quickly met up with Danny from Year in Food. The place filled up nicely and soon, after an introduction from Mr. Makor Center (who invites us to return next week for a panel on aphrodisiac food—I suspect an orgy!), Ms. Strong began the discussion. Questions were raised about food blogs vs. mainstream media, making money, design, and how each food blogger got into food blogging. At the end, questions from the audience were allowed and I asked the panelists about how they negotiated their privacy with something as public as blogging. There was a dead silence and I was asked to leave.
Afterwards, I introduced myself to the panelists and was invited out for drinks on the town. We ended up at a certain Upper West Side bar/grille type place and sat at a long extended table. I was lucky enough to sit near Josh “Food Section” and his wife, Danielle:
Did you know Danielle’s a blogger too? Her blog–Celebrity Baby Blog–gets more hits a DAY than any of us do a week. Perhaps I should shift my focus?
On my left was uber internet guru Anil Dash (he’s the Vice President of Six Apart which makes Typepad, the software I use to run this site!) and Alaina of “A Fully Belly” who was an early champion of my site: she put me in touch with the woman who designed my masthead. We all posed for a photo together:
I love Alaina’s glasses, don’t you?
Across from me sat Danny “Year in Food” and Diana who enjoyed her time among the food bloggers.
(Her eyes are half closed because she’s so star struck!)
Sadly, I missed out on the other half of the table: most notably Adam Kuban of Slice/Hamburger fame. We agreed, afterwards, to meet up some time for a pizza/burger adventure. I wonder if he’s had a burger at Peter Luger’s? They’re reasonably priced at $7.95.
All in all, it was a great night out with the foodies. And with Clotilde coming this week, the food blogging universe is about to implode! It’s nice to finally meet the people whose stomach linings I know better than my own.
There are so many great blogs out there and they are getting better all the time.The more I read , the more I appreciate the power of the internet.
Restaurant reviews and opinions are no longer concentrated in the hands of a few at the major newspapers or magazines.
With all the great writing, photos, design and layout. Who needs food magazines? It is truly amazing to be able to almost instantaneously communicate with people all over the world who share the same interests.
The glasses are cool – but LOOK AT THAT SUIT, will you. But please send Alaina back. We want her over here on the West Coast.
The meat is so good at Peter Lugers, their burgers must be fantastic. I can’t wait to hear if they live up to their steaky counterparts.
Hey Adam,
Great to meet you in person. We’re going to try to make it to the Clotilde-a-thon between Father’s day commitments, so maybe we’ll see you there.
I know you’ll show Clotilde a great time!! This country needs some improvement in the international relations department! Let’s just exchange everyone in the upper levels of the State Department with international food bloggers.
Viva la Amateur gourmet! Stop kicking my dog.
So glad to have finally met!
Great to meet you and Danny and the others. See you all around.
MM