Teach me how to eat, please...
There are two kinds of food bloggers. Good ones. And me.
I got a last minute invite to a sold-out dinner at L.A.’s Test Kitchen, courtesy of Maggie Nemser of BlackboardEats.com. Chef Neal Fraser was in the kitchen, serving up a prix-fixe of decidedly not vegetarian fare. After hearing and reading about the ultra-hip Test Kitchen, how could I refuse? And on a Tuesday night!
Here’s where the Bad Home cook realized that she is the Bad Food Blogger.
Pounding up the 405 toward the West Side, I realized I’d forgotten the bad ass Canon Rebel T1i camera I got for my birthday. I still need to procure my “nifty-50” 50-mm lense, but it’s still multitudes better than the cellphone camera, which is what you all have been putting up with lo these many years.
No matter, the camera phone would have to do. And it might have, but the atmospheric lighting made the task impossible. Even my table-mate, the amazing REAL food blogger known as Shauna (aka: the Minty) was having a hard time photographing the scene by candlelight. Not that this stopped her. In fact, I was surrounded by men and women carefully hunched over the rotation of astounding dishes put before us, looking for the best angle.
But hell, I’m a writer. I’d just use my vocabulary to describe things. Paint a picture for you in words. Alas. More bad blogger behavior: I didn’t have anything to write down my thoughts on the dinner with. No, not even a lipstick. D’oh!
To top it all off, I forgot the bring the menu home with me, after clutching it in my hand while saying my goodbyes and posing for pictures with Mag and her posse of foodies. Oh the names I called myself when I got home and realized I’d walked out without the damn prix-fixe list.
But while the evening was a wash in terms of a decent blog post, it was hugely enjoyable for me personally, as I couldn’t believe my good fortune in even being there in the first place. I spent most of the evening gawping at the knee of The Minty and her charming partner. My other table-mate, the deliciously snarky infomercial beauty Jane Grosvenor, quipped about the food all night (she’s also a graduate of CCA, so she can claim some street cred), and generally kept us snorting wine out our noses. I was introduced to Nguyen and Thi Tran, of Starry Kitchen fame (Ngyuen stood out just a tad in his giant top hat). I met Joshua Luri from the mighty FoodGPS.com. I got personally introduced to the whole BlackboardEats editorial gang. Surrounded by food people and such L.A. blogging royalty, I felt like a 6-year-old who somehow got lucky and got to sit at the grown-up table all night.
So much to learn. So much to eat. Such a small stomach. And a smaller surplus of free time in which to learn and eat than anyone else there. Fortunately for me, there was wine available, which made everything seem more optimistic.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
you are the royalty Julie.
Thanks for making the night a blast.
Denied the tools to describe the great food, you captured the good vibes of a room full of foodies enjoying great food. Way to make lemonade!