August 2006
Food Blogs
by Celia Cheng
CRAVINGS
Chargrilled Burger
The Spotted Pig
Patatas Bravas
Tia Pol
Jalapeño & Grapefruit Margarita
Barrio Chino
FAVORITE FOOD BLOGS
The Food Section
Diner’s Journal
Eater
Andrea Strong seems to be a controversial name in the food blogosphere. A corporate lawyer turned food writer, Andrea started The Strong Buzz as a portfolio site for editors to see samples of her writing. She loves to eat and share her stories with friends, so she started writing what has become The Strong Buzz e-newsletter, which is published weekly on Mondays. As she has seized upon the freedom to speak in her own voice in her blog — as opposed to when writing for other publications — her pieces touch upon her personal life and opinions more than other food reviews. This has drawn some criticism within the field. Andrea’s a bit baffled by attacks from other journalists and bloggers, but even if she has received some bad publicity, it’s clear that people are reading what she’s delivering.
Andrea doesn’t consider her site a traditional blog. Her writing is based more on stream of consciousness. She writes a full restaurant review per week, not just a snippet of things here and there. Having worked in the industry after leaving her career in law, Andrea has kept close ties with many top restaurateurs in the City. So much like Florence Fabricant’s coverage of Off the Menu in The New York Times, Andrea always starts her newsletters with the latest news. In fact, these days it’s not uncommon that Eater or The Strong Buzz will publish news before The Times.
News, reviews and her writing aside, I think most worthy of mention is that the woman behind The Strong Buzz is also using her network and skills to do good. Dining for Darfur is a vision Andrea has carried out to help raise awareness about the genocide and brutality taking place in Darfur, Sudan. Based on her personal interest in helping those caught in the downward spiraling political situation, she has organized a series of Dining for Darfur events. The first event took place in April this year, with the participation of over 60 restaurants (primarily in New York, but some participants were as far-reaching as Hawaii and beyond). The event raised close to $30,000, which was contributed to the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization giving aid to people affected by the ethnic and political conflict in Darfur. Participating restaurants agreed to donate 5% of their gross sales on the day of the event. Andrea has also reached out to the wine community and organized some upcoming events to further Dining for Darfur.
Andrea’s well aware that in our society it’s easy to become narcissistic. It’s easy to lose sight of things and only focus on one’s self, one’s writing, one’s blog. So it’s important to keep things in perspective and remember generosity of spirit. Her advocacy for Darfur was the missing piece of the puzzle and she’s glad that she can do something to benefit someone else. At the end of the day, personal attacks may be hard to take, but in the bigger scheme of things, it must feel pretty good to know that you are doing something above and beyond just writing about dining at restaurants in New York City.
