Monday, February 6, 2012

The anti food blogger...

In this age of smart phones, we've all probably done it at some point. Taken a photo of our food, that is. I'm guilty of it, aren't you?

Sure, when I'm writing a restaurant review, I often need to sneak a photo or two of my food. Yet other times, when I'm eating out purely for pleasure's sake, I find myself not wanting to photograph my food. See, I don't want to be like those other food bloggers that snap snots of everything they eat. I mean, I can't help but wonder... if I'm so busy trying to photograph my food, am I really enjoying it to the fullest? If I'm busy playing with my phone, can I really be appreciating my company? If I'm so consumed with where I'm going to post the photo of my dinner, and how to present myself in that post, doesn't that take away from the whole experience of going out?

So, here are a few of the things I didn't photograph this week: the delicious blackberry cobbler I made (doing it just the way my mother used to), the perfectly simple, juicy cheeseburger I ate at Mel's Drive In in LA last weekend, and the loaf of apple bread I made with my son on Saturday.

So, last night, when we went to dinner at Tutti's Off Main, I found myself resisting the urge to photograph my food. This was our first real date since the baby was born, so why would I waste even a second of it trying to document it. So, I didn't photograph the delicious tastes of an unusual Merlot the bartender offered us at the bar. I didn't photograph the doughy focaccia fresh out of the brick oven, or the broccoli soup smooth with the flavor of olive oil. I didn't photograph the mussels and clams in a garlic white wine sauce, or the quail stuffed with figs and prosciutto. I didn't take a picture of the pinot noir we enjoyed, or the potato torta on puff pastry. But when Chef Susan (I know her from my food tours) sent us a special dessert from the kitchen...it was too pretty and I couldn't resist snapping a quick photo. Isn't it a looker?

4 comments:

VenturaMojo said...

I've scaled back on photographing all my food too. It used to annoy my partner because I would not just take pics of my food, but his too before we could start eating. I really like seeing photos of the food on Yelp when I try to decide about where to eat, but I've noticed it's hit a saturation point for popular restaurants and I've started seeing pics of the same entree over and over. So I've stopped looking at the pics so much and stopped taking my own. Yelp, et al, should find a way to just highlight the one best pic per entree, and maybe create a visual menu.

Ventura Food Happenings said...

Thanks for posting...yes, the camera can sometimes take away from a meal. And, I find, if I see tons of food pictures before I go somewhere some of the element of surprise and the fun of going somewhere new is missing if I've spent hours studying photos of it beforehand. Happy eating!

Unknown said...

I am pretty sure you can call Antique Sweets and they will ship their chocolate covered praline and bulldog bites, too!
English Bulldog Puppies

Carlos said...


Para aquellos que sufren de ansiedad y depresión, los animales suelen ser de gran ayuda para afrontar el día y las dificultades que se encuentran a diario, en especial los perros de servicio. Esto es cierto tanto para adultos como para niños.