anniversary Archives

Ten Years A Food Blogger

Dear Me of Ten Years Ago,

Let’s see if I can remember the moment. You’re in your room of the apartment you share in Atlanta, Georgia with your friend Lauren, avoiding the stack of law school homework on your desk, and trying out potential blog names on Typepad. A week earlier, you posted a question on Ask Metafilter: “How do I become an internet phenomenon?” You asked that question in a manner that was both tongue-in-cheek and sincere. In a few months you’ll graduate law school, and then what? A career as a lawyer? Litigating toxic torts for the law firm where you spent your previous summer in L.A.? The folks on Ask Metafilter offer advice, but this nugget from Aaorn stands out: “Having a single, narrowly-focused topic (assuming it’s an interesting single topic) will draw people more consistantly than a hodgepodge of random things that interest you.” Until you read that, you considered just doing an Adam Roberts blog with bits about musicals and books and the occasional recipe; but, really thinking it over, you realize that food–a subject that’s fascinated you ever since, two years earlier, you started watching Sara Moulton and Mario Batali on the Food Network–is something you’d enjoy blogging about on a regular basis. You type the words “amateur gourmet” into the HTML box and hit publish. A few minutes later, you write your first post–“The Birth of An Amateur Icon”–and send it out into the ether. You then frantically wait for your first comment. It comes from your friend Josh who, along with his wife Katy, urged you start the blog in the first place. Katy, I’d soon learn, would be my first troll, with comments like: “OMG!!!! You are HILARIOUZZZ!!! Are you singel seriously because I LOVE GUYZ WHO ARE FUNNY AND ALOS I LOVE FOOD!!!!”

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7 Years

It’s been seven years exactly since I wrote my very first post on this blog. Usually, when an anniversary comes along, I use the opportunity to share my favorite posts from the archives. But this time I’d like to turn the tables…I’d like to learn all about you nice people who read this blog everyday. So, in the comments, tell me: What’s your name? Where are you from? What did you have for breakfast? How long have you been reading The A.G.? Do you remember how you found it? What’s been your favorite post? What’s something you’d like me to blog about over the next seven years?

Thanks for being such loyal, dedicated readers. If it weren’t for your reading/commenting, I wouldn’t have made it this far. Here’s to another seven!

6 Years

No need to make a fuss, but today’s the 6th anniversary of my blog. Six years ago, on January 14th, 2004 to be exact, I wrote the following words: “Are you sick of competency? Of food blogs run by competent people with flawless track records and no history of salmonella? Are you tired of not having salmonella? You’ve come to the right place.”

Six years later, I can’t believe how that small gesture changed my life so dramatically. Thanks to everyone who’s supported me along the way (mentors, friends, colleagues, designers, illustrators, you know who you are) and, most importantly, thanks to you–yes YOU–for reading me. What do the next six years hold? I’m not sure, but if they’re anything like the last six, I’ve got a lot to look forward to.

[P.S. Check out this Serious Eats interview where I reveal my top 3 favorite posts from the past six years.]