Restaurant Widow: Some Things About Restaurant Widow

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Thursday, March 15, 2007

Some Things About Restaurant Widow

I've always had a brief "about" page, and I thought I might expand on that. Recently I read some rather harsh criticism about my site and my writing, which got me thinking. This was my first negative "review," and at first I took it pretty hard, but I suppose everybody is entitled to their own opinion. My visitorship grows exponentially, so you can't all hate me! You can read the critique here, if you choose. So here's a little Q&A with self. In my characteristically stilted writing style.

Why did you start Restaurant Widow? I have always been interested in food; a few years ago I became very interested in the idea of sustainable agriculture and began to seriously investigate it and learn to support local products. I knew I wanted to write about food, especially local food, but I didn't really have an outlet for it at that time. I have always wanted to be a restaurant critic, as I think everyone does at some point. One day, in the middle of the long, malaise-filled late winter of 2005, it suddenly occurred to me to Google "food blog," thinking such a thing might exist. I knew I had found my medium, and Restaurant Widow was born. Actually, it was Frumpy Foodie then, but it was a work in progress for a few months.
Why did you call your site Restaurant Widow? It was actually Husband's idea. During that time, I spent a lot of time waiting for him to get off work and going out to dinner by myself. I used to call myself a Restaurant Widow, and he suggested I call the website that. Since my Frumpy Foodie logo was going to be a girl in a cardigan with tomato sauce on it, this seemed like a good alternative.
Why do you call Husband Husband? This was a criticism of my hater on StumbleUpon.com - is Husband an automaton? Of course not. He has as much personality as I do. If you are tired of reading "Husband," I can't apologize. But here's why I call him Husband and also a few things about him, so you can put a personality to the title: When Husband was a bar manager and I would go to his bar, my tab was always under the name "Wife," or even worse, "Wifey." "Don't your employees know my name?!" I would say. It bothered me at first, but I began to refer to him as Husband. I still do. When I can't reach something, I say "Tall Husband, can you come here and fetch me the le Creuset tomato pot on top of the cupboard?" Also, because we lived in the neighborhood where he worked, everywhere we went, we met people who wanted to talk to Husband about his job. Sometimes we would be on a date or out to dinner (at that point, we only had a day off together every 2 weeks or so), and people would try to sell him things, or even put themselves physically between us, back to me, to discuss industry-related nonsense. You can imagine how irritating this might be. When I began this blog, I wanted to have a separate identity. It seemed like a good time for turnabout. Many writers choose to keep their and their significant other's identities private; a lot of them refer to them significant others by their initials, but I like to have a name attached. I have always had a habit of referring to people by their title - when I refer to Chef, for example, that's what I call Chef to his face. It's natural in the restaurant business. Of course Husband has a personality, and he is not an automaton. He's very smart and good at what he does and has all sorts of wonderful qualities. He is tall and has a full head of hair, which he flaunts in the face of balding friends by shaving his entire head on a regular basis. He studied bugs in college and remembers everything he reads unless I wrote it (as in "Babe - take the trash out please"). He can list the qualities of almost any wine you would throw in his face and can probably pair it with anything you can think of. He is a more adventurous eater than even I am, and loves all sorts of offal. Husband looks especially good in blue, and is the funniest person I have ever known. He loves to throw in bizarre references that 1 in 50 people understand and thinks it's funny when he has to explain himself. He makes very tasty limoncello and is a champion litter-box cleaner. He even laughs at the songs I make up for the kitties. Or maybe he's laughing at me. Husband thinks I am a hypochondriac and loves to roll his eyes at me when I suggest I might have bone cancer. There, happy now?
Why do you put up pictures of your cats when you have a food site? I think I have admitted openly that I will one day be the old lady who dies alone and is half eaten by her cats. It's not a depressing thing, I like to think of it as giving back, a fulfillment of the circle of life. I eat animals, and one day, they will eat me. Also, most people like the cat pictures. No one has ever complained about the cat pictures, but they have written to complain when there are no cat pictures, so I've decided to keep the cat pictures. Besides, it's fun to go back and see how the Tinies progressed, and now that we have Tinies 2.0 (our last batch unless we foster, I promise), it will be fun to compare and contrast.
Do you have any actual authority to be writing about food and restaurants? Years in the food industry and constant study. I constantly read about food. On Food & Cooking is never far from reach. It's completely fascinating. Also, I like to eat. I don't really think this is a good qualification of a critic, but I know enough about food and the running of a restaurant to know when things are going well.
Who is your favorite chef? I have lots. If I were to ever cook in a restaurant, I would probably most like to be like Judy Rogers (Zuni Cafe), whose food I have eaten, or Patrick O'Connell (The Inn at Little Washington), whose food I haven't eaten. I like comforting, ingredient-focused food. Of course, Thomas Keller is a demigod, but I don't foresee myself attaining anything like that. Ever. See? Stilted. My favorite local chef is probably Mike Kimura, from Kihachi. I love the focus of Japanese cuisine. Last time I went to Kihachi he presented me with roasted sea urchin wrapped in freshly toasted nori. I didn't think I liked sea urchin until I tasted that morsel.
Do you want to be a chef? It's not that I'm lazy, but I don't like chef hours. Chef works more hours in our restaurant than anyone else. That being said, I do plan to own a restaurant some day and I would like to be in the kitchen in some capacity; probably as a baker or garde manger girl.
Do you want to write a cookbook? Some day. A long way off. I have little to offer at this point in my life, but one day.
Why aren't you a vegetarian? Something about me makes everyone assume I am a vegetarian when they meet me. But I'm not. I don't know how I can to be a meat-eater, as I have always been a bit of a natural bleeding-heart animal lover (see cat paragraph, above). When I was young, I read a book called Mother Earth, Father Sky which gave me a unique perspective on eating meat, where the animal about to be eaten is thanked and revered for its sacrifice. I try to eat meat which has been responsibly and kindly raised. I think everyone should be aware of where their food comes from, and how it gets to the market. I think everyone should watch an animal being slaughtered at least once in their life. That being said, I'm glad I did so enough slaughtering in my childhood to vindicate my guilt.
Why do you write about Central Ohio when it's so boring (in the opinion of the critic)? This is where I have decided to live, for better or worse. There are many great things about Columbus, and many things which can be improved. I like to highlight the good things, in hopes of keeping them. As for my critic saying I am a "unrefined native," well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion, but I will challenge her to a natto-covered sea cucumber eating contest any day of the week.

Posted by Lisa the Waitress on Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 10:07 PM in About Restaurant Widow | Permalink

Why did you start Restaurant Widow? I have always been interested in food; a few years ago I became very interested in the idea of sustainable agriculture and began to seriously investigate it and learn to support local products. I knew I wanted to write about food, especially local food, but I didn't really have an outlet for it at that time. I have always wanted to be a restaurant critic, as I think everyone does at some point. One day, in the middle of the long, malaise-filled late winter of 2005, it suddenly occurred to me to Google "food blog," thinking such a thing might exist. I knew I had found my medium, and Restaurant Widow was born. Actually, it was Frumpy Foodie then, but it was a work in progress for a few months.
Why did you call your site Restaurant Widow? It was actually Husband's idea. During that time, I spent a lot of time waiting for him to get off work and going out to dinner by myself. I used to call myself a Restaurant Widow, and he suggested I call the website that. Since my Frumpy Foodie logo was going to be a girl in a cardigan with tomato sauce on it, this seemed like a good alternative.
Why do you call Husband Husband? This was a criticism of my hater on StumbleUpon.com - is Husband an automaton? Of course not. He has as much personality as I do. If you are tired of reading "Husband," I can't apologize. But here's why I call him Husband and also a few things about him, so you can put a personality to the title: When Husband was a bar manager and I would go to his bar, my tab was always under the name "Wife," or even worse, "Wifey." "Don't your employees know my name?!" I would say. It bothered me at first, but I began to refer to him as Husband. I still do. When I can't reach something, I say "Tall Husband, can you come here and fetch me the le Creuset tomato pot on top of the cupboard?" Also, because we lived in the neighborhood where he worked, everywhere we went, we met people who wanted to talk to Husband about his job. Sometimes we would be on a date or out to dinner (at that point, we only had a day off together every 2 weeks or so), and people would try to sell him things, or even put themselves physically between us, back to me, to discuss industry-related nonsense. You can imagine how irritating this might be. When I began this blog, I wanted to have a separate identity. It seemed like a good time for turnabout. Many writers choose to keep their and their significant other's identities private; a lot of them refer to them significant others by their initials, but I like to have a name attached. I have always had a habit of referring to people by their title - when I refer to Chef, for example, that's what I call Chef to his face. It's natural in the restaurant business. Of course Husband has a personality, and he is not an automaton. He's very smart and good at what he does and has all sorts of wonderful qualities. He is tall and has a full head of hair, which he flaunts in the face of balding friends by shaving his entire head on a regular basis. He studied bugs in college and remembers everything he reads unless I wrote it (as in "Babe - take the trash out please"). He can list the qualities of almost any wine you would throw in his face and can probably pair it with anything you can think of. He is a more adventurous eater than even I am, and loves all sorts of offal. Husband looks especially good in blue, and is the funniest person I have ever known. He loves to throw in bizarre references that 1 in 50 people understand and thinks it's funny when he has to explain himself. He makes very tasty limoncello and is a champion litter-box cleaner. He even laughs at the songs I make up for the kitties. Or maybe he's laughing at me. Husband thinks I am a hypochondriac and loves to roll his eyes at me when I suggest I might have bone cancer. There, happy now?
Why do you put up pictures of your cats when you have a food site? I think I have admitted openly that I will one day be the old lady who dies alone and is half eaten by her cats. It's not a depressing thing, I like to think of it as giving back, a fulfillment of the circle of life. I eat animals, and one day, they will eat me. Also, most people like the cat pictures. No one has ever complained about the cat pictures, but they have written to complain when there are no cat pictures, so I've decided to keep the cat pictures. Besides, it's fun to go back and see how the Tinies progressed, and now that we have Tinies 2.0 (our last batch unless we foster, I promise), it will be fun to compare and contrast.
Do you have any actual authority to be writing about food and restaurants? Years in the food industry and constant study. I constantly read about food. On Food & Cooking is never far from reach. It's completely fascinating. Also, I like to eat. I don't really think this is a good qualification of a critic, but I know enough about food and the running of a restaurant to know when things are going well.
Who is your favorite chef? I have lots. If I were to ever cook in a restaurant, I would probably most like to be like Judy Rogers (Zuni Cafe), whose food I have eaten, or Patrick O'Connell (The Inn at Little Washington), whose food I haven't eaten. I like comforting, ingredient-focused food. Of course, Thomas Keller is a demigod, but I don't foresee myself attaining anything like that. Ever. See? Stilted. My favorite local chef is probably Mike Kimura, from Kihachi. I love the focus of Japanese cuisine. Last time I went to Kihachi he presented me with roasted sea urchin wrapped in freshly toasted nori. I didn't think I liked sea urchin until I tasted that morsel.
Do you want to be a chef? It's not that I'm lazy, but I don't like chef hours. Chef works more hours in our restaurant than anyone else. That being said, I do plan to own a restaurant some day and I would like to be in the kitchen in some capacity; probably as a baker or garde manger girl.
Do you want to write a cookbook? Some day. A long way off. I have little to offer at this point in my life, but one day.
Why aren't you a vegetarian? Something about me makes everyone assume I am a vegetarian when they meet me. But I'm not. I don't know how I can to be a meat-eater, as I have always been a bit of a natural bleeding-heart animal lover (see cat paragraph, above). When I was young, I read a book called Mother Earth, Father Sky which gave me a unique perspective on eating meat, where the animal about to be eaten is thanked and revered for its sacrifice. I try to eat meat which has been responsibly and kindly raised. I think everyone should be aware of where their food comes from, and how it gets to the market. I think everyone should watch an animal being slaughtered at least once in their life. That being said, I'm glad I did so enough slaughtering in my childhood to vindicate my guilt.
Why do you write about Central Ohio when it's so boring (in the opinion of the critic)? This is where I have decided to live, for better or worse. There are many great things about Columbus, and many things which can be improved. I like to highlight the good things, in hopes of keeping them. As for my critic saying I am a "unrefined native," well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion, but I will challenge her to a natto-covered sea cucumber eating contest any day of the week.