It is quite bizarre how many restaurant websites use flash technology. It was quite clear at Restaurant08 during my panel session on the internet with chef Raymond Capaldi, Mark Armstrong from Google, Julia Topliss from Web Prophets that none of us like it (and Google has trouble finding sites with it). And we’re not the only ones. Social media commentator Laurel Papworth hates it too and finds this quote: “Flash-based web sites are quite possibly one of the most useful […]
Food blogs
Join the debate between mainstream media and bloggers. Or simply check-out the latest food & wine blogs in Australia
13 ways for restaurants to get lucky in Google searches. Or why they must learn to love food blogs
If you haven’t noticed most people find your website or blog through Google. Yes, it may be through Yahoo! But until somebody comes up with something better Google is king. The reason why restaurants or any other small or medium sized business need to take notice of blogs is that very probably a blog will come higher up in search results than you. This is unless the Google search is for your website name alone. In reality, it may be […]
Exclusive: Ferran Adria says blogs are the big food revolution
Thanks to Matt Preston, creative director of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, for sharing his exclusive from El Bulli’s Ferran Adria: I caught up with Mr Adria and a few journos at MadridFusion08 in Jan. His opening response was to a question about what the big changes in food were this year. His answer was translated from Spanish so there may be nuances missed by the translator but the inference was that there has been a explosion in blogs. […]
42 49 reasons why Melbourne is the top food blogging City in the southern hemisphere
Updated 20.3.07 and hopefully all links working. Any missing please let me know. I think this list of 42 is fairly comprehensive but inevitably there are a couple of local food blogs lurking out there that I haven’t found. There are many more local food blogs out there but they haven’t been updated for months or years. When I started blogging in July 2005 there were barely 30 food blogs locally. Now there are about 100 active ones in Australia. […]
Food fight
Yes, there are two good fight stories out there. Cuccina Rebecca in Sydney was asked to stop taking pics of her food “because the owner does like it” as someone once tried to take a picture of the blackboard. Silly restaurant paranoi perhaps. Many chefs do take food photos for ideas but this was a bowl of pasta. But it’s not as paranoid as the restaurants that refuse the critic entry. That’s right in Melbourne they have barred the way […]
My first Pho: Hanoi
Well, not strictly my first but my first in Vietnam and for breakfast. It’s hot and humid and we’re about to be killed by several hundred motocycles bearing down on us at a crossroads. Somehow we make it over and land at the Little Hanoi 1 (25 Pho Ta Hien 926 0168) restaurant, recomended by Lonely Planet. And this is why we are to dump Lonely Planet because it was stuffed full of people – all Wasps – who had […]
Sauce fit for a Bourbon; steak fit for Uncle Monty
Merde! I forgot some links and I’ve opened as can of worms here. Huguenots, Bourbons…religious wars and bad French. Several regional dishes were planned but a late night meant an unexpected demand from J (avec a hangover) for steak au frites avec sauce béarnaise. Actually, she wanted a steak haché or probably a royale with cheese, but I’m a fascist and I’m cooking for IMBB23 over at Cucina Testa Rossa. Although the origins may be obscure they are attributed to […]
This simple life: tomatoes, figs, proscuitto and herbs
Busy writing for money rather than blog kudos and dealing with the new monkey. But still wonderful food isn’t far away, inspired by Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blogging. Over ripe tomatoes are baked in the oven drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with Murray River salt crystals and fresh cracked pepper. Served on toasted sourdough with nothing else but freshly torn leaves of basil and oregano. The simple ripe toms combined with fresh flavours and the crunch of toast can’t be beaten. […]
My food blogging predictions for 2006
Could 2006 be the year that the local foodblog community seriously starts to challenge traditional media? Predictions are a dangerous thing. But I’m prepared to put my neck on the line about the growth of food blogging’s in popularity in Australia. There are currently 49 local food blogs, about 80 per cent of them regularly updated. I reckon by this time next year there will be at least 250 – possibly more – if the current growth rate is continued. […]