I wrote on my personal blog a few weeks ago about the decline in relevance of the venerable Gourmet magazine and the alarming blurring of the line between the magazine’s editorial copy and advertising, and I had two interesting responses from Jeff, who brought up, as an aside, this “Whining & Dining” blog. Here are excerpts from his second post:
There are many blogs out there devoted to food and what we would like Gourmet or Bon Appetit to really be like – basically not selling a lifestyle … but all about the food!
Blogs like W&D are fairly similar to NY Times, SF Chronicle, etc, and are very useful for the local buzz on the restaurant scene, farmer’s market finds, the local grocery now carries great new ingredients, etc, but aren’t necessarily like some food blogs that are strictly related to the food, cooking, recipes, ingredient sourcing, etc.
I think what Jeff is distinguishing between here are blogs that are primarily newsy and blogs that are primarily about the process of cooking particular dishes, recipes and so on.
Which kind of blog is “Whining & Dining,” and what would you readers of “Whining & Dining” like it to be? Or is “W&D” a combination of both types of blog? And is that O.K.? Jennifer and I seem to be pretty comfortable with the way we’re doing things now, but we like to hear from our readers, too.
Look at the posts that have gotten the most responses (over 20) since May:
5/24: Why Do Restaurants Close? 30 responses.
7/11: It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Burger. 31 responses.
7/19: Smoking. 22. (That is, smoking in restaurants and bars.)
7/23: First Bite: Circa. 29.
7/25: Ciao, Bella (for now, anyway). 23.
6/27: Our favorite ethnic restaurants. 21.
6/27: Can I get a steak right? 47.
6/11: Strip mall and stars. 27.
8/17: Once more, to the stars. 52. (More on the CA restaurant rating system.)
8/21: Chain restaurants. 48.
8/23: Food we lie about. 38.
8/24: This morning’s review of Circa. 58.
8/29: Sigh: Those Yankees. 33. (About reviews of Justin Timberlake’s restaurant in New York.)
9/4: Restaurants We Miss. 67.
9/20: I call it tasting, he calls it theft. 24. (Sampling grapes in the grocery store.)
9/25: Now this makes me mad. 46. (About being charged for condiments in restaurants.)
10/2: Harrah’s puts money on Paula. 36. (Wow, do a lot of people ever hate Paula Deen!)
You will notice immediately that most of these popular posts were about dining in restaurants, service in restaurants, nostalgia for restaurants and thinking about, talking about and criticising restaurants.
While people clearly enjoy the other topics that Jennifer and I touch on — food finds, shopping for food, southern cooking and so on — I think that this list tells us what readers look for on the W&D blog.
BLOG talk
Responses to “What Do We Want ‘Whining & Dining’ To Be?”
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:42 pm
yes, it seems we all enjoy the latest restuarant “dish” (no pun intended); however, if that was the exclusive focus I think we’d be missing a huge opportunity for the shopping & sourcing of special food stuffs. Really, living in Memphis does not provide a plethora of great dining and as a result my husband and I have become much better cooks than we would have been otherwise. So we are constanly on the look out for ethnic finds, unique ingredients, where to get your knives sharpened, what’s up with the farmers’ market, etc, etc. I think that is another important aspect for us foodies.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Thanks for mentioning my comments. I think you actually answered your own question as you summed it up in the last paragraph. What is more relevant to the name of the blog: Whining & Dining? Maybe a separate CA blog on cooking/recipes could be added?
If someone wants to post a pimento cheese recipe (just what we need – another one of those) or something that isn’t even that interesting - you can tell fairly quickly how those posts get ignored, and which subjects get the most attention.
A blog should be targeted on a particular subject/theme, and could contain musings regarding restaurant trends, service failures, prices, corkage fees, etc. Since you and Jennifer eat at so many places but only publish a handful of reviews, it would be interesting to read on a more informal basis what else is out there, what is good, mediocre, and “don’t waste your money on”.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I don’t think it needs to be more tightly focused; it’s fine as is. A blog about food IN MEMPHIS and the surrounding area is what I’m interested in. Recipes are fine if they’re regional recipes and not the latest casserole from someone who grew up in Indiana. Grocery store news is welcome, although I’m not getting up at 6 am for any bleepin’ produce. Restaurant news - well, I think you get a lot of reactions there because everyone wishes they had a place to vent about experiences in restaurants.
If I have a gripe, it’s that foodies tend to assume all Memphians live in Midtown. A lot of live out East, and some of us are wishing we had better dining options than the latest chain.
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I like the variety and subscribe to/read most blogs knowing I won’t love (or even comment on) every article. Just like newspapers.
The restaurant “dish” is entertaining and opinionated. I like that and it’s fun to read (like tmz.com). I also like to find out little foodie secrets like Mantia’s makes fresh mozz everyday or the West Memphis Walgreen’s has Rogue Imperial I.P.A. ($13.99). I’ve been toying with a foodie resource webpage, but I think it can be done with current web resources (like yelp.com).
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:54 pm
For what it’s worth, this blog is more interesting and better than it’s ever been. You have a wider audience interacting on this blog, instead of the same five people that used to blog on here a year or so ago. The topics are interesting, especially the ones about the local dining scene. Kudos to Fredric and Jennifer for improving this blog.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Walgreens in West Mphs has Rogue Imperial IPA?! I am so happy! See, this is something I wouldn’t have learned if this blog existed primarily to provide recipes because I wouldn’t be reading it as I own several cookbooks. I like tips/tricks for cooking but I mostly enjoy the banter regarding service, food quality, atmosphere, tipping, etc. Some responses are pretty spirited and I always look forward to who has written what…
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 am
I agree - the blog is great & I think it benefits from having both Fredric & Jennifer as contributing editors. I agree it’s not an ideal forum for recipes unless someone specifically asks (as in Thanksgiving recipes). But I do love the info about sources, techniques, restaurants, & nostalgia/wishes for certain things to change. I check the blog daily - sometimes more than once - so I don’t miss anything for long. Keep it up - there are obviously a lot of foodies who enjoy participating, & that’s what makes it fun.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I enjoy the blog as it’s been the last few months, with an emphasis on dining out in Memphis but a fair smattering of home cooking tips, recipes, grocery recommendations, and general food chatter. The more eclectic approach seems to enrich the little mini-community we have going and ensure that there’s something of interest to everyone in a given month.
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 pm
I also concur. Granted, I am a new commenter on this blog but I love the dynamic and respect between the posters. Please keep up the local restaurant entries, we live here, and that’s what we want to read and write about. As far a recipes, just buy a Tsunami cookbook, it’s all you’ll ever need.
I would like to see more snippets of random food and drink tastings. For instance, I went to a wine/big beer/scotch tasting this past weekend. The scotch portion alone featured 12, 17, 18, and 22 year old pours. The deal was insane and I only found out about it through close friends that were on a mailing list for a local liquor store. There are, without a doubt, some incredibly deals on sampling local food and drink that are not widely publicized.
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Gary, I believe you’re talking about the Saturday event at Great Wine & Spirits, which was (Gary Burhop is great about letting us know what’s going on at his store) listed in the A la Carte column in Wednesday’s Food section. So if you want to stay really informed, keep up with the blog AND read the Food section. I have a weekly column that features news that might or might not make the blog, plus you get a listing of every event people send to me in A la Carte. You can access it online from the CA Food page, too.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Although I am more of a “reader” than a “commenter”, I thoroughly enjoy W&D as it is … a hodge-podge of information and camaraderie.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Gottcha. I thought that I hadn’t seen the A la Carte entries online in a while…I guess I’ll begin reading the Wednesday paper.
October 26th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Well, thanks, readers and posters. I guess Jennifer and I will just keep on with what we’re doing.
13 comment.