10-Year Anniversary

Ten years is a long time. I find it hard to believe that I have been blogging for that long. While my output has decreased every year, I haven’t stopped.

I started blogging for three reasons. First, to let friends and family in New York City know what we were doing in Taipei; the inaugural blog post was about buying a television for my new home in Taipei. Second, to have a place to deposit ideas on design and architecture; I thought eventually I could develop some of them into articles to be published in a magazine. Third, to have an alternative to sharing the news on Facebook; I wanted more control over the graphic and format of the presentation of the information.

In the first few years, the blog contained various observations of Taipei, such as Paper and Plastic and Information Overload. Occasionally these observations were on food and restaurants, for instance the first of several blog posts on L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Taipei. There were articles on design such as the furniture by Maarten van Severen and shirt by Comme des Garçons. There were also articles on my own architectural work including one of my favorites, Repeat. There was a mixture of subjects in the blog. I was once asked what was the theme of my blog? I answered that it was about me.

As the years passed, the subjects of the blog gradually shifted toward food and restaurants and focused less on design and architecture. This is mostly due to two factors. First, articles on design and architecture are hard to write, partly because it is my profession; I cannot pretend to be a dilettante. I feel that any articles that I write need to be good enough to be published in a trade magazine or an academic journal. Second, articles on design and architecture simply don’t receive as much interest from the general public. Google provides some rudimentary data on the number of hits each blog post get, and it is clear that the articles on food far exceed any other subjects.

In my earlier blogs on restaurants I didn’t post any photographs. I was against taking photographs during my meals in the restaurants. My reluctance was partly technical as I wasn’t able to take good photographs with my early iPhones; I certainly didn’t want to carry a large camera to a restaurant. I figured if people really want to see the images of the dishes I described, they could always find them on the Internet anyway.

Eventually I changed my mind. Many friends wanted to see pictures of the food. The camera on the iPhone improved significantly and took better photographs in low-light conditions. I also found that people in the restaurant industry took just as many photographs at restaurants as anyone else. I used to think the chef would be bothered if I take pictures of the food. A few years back some restaurants, such as Momofuku Ko in New York City, even banned the guests from taking photos of the food. Now if I don’t take a picture of the food, I wonder if the chef might be unhappy or thinks there’s something wrong.

While occasionally I still write about design, architecture, and fashion, for better or worse, the blog has become essentially a food blog. As a food blogger I have decided on some directions. In world of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, where images and blurb dominate, I have opted for the long form. Behind every restaurant is a lot of hard work and a significant financial investment. Restaurants and their staff deserve a more nuanced and balanced judgment instead of a snap impression. As much as possible I try to visit a restaurant more than once before writing about it. Judging a restaurant based on a single visit is a bit unfair. Anyone can have a bad day at work. Furthermore, consistency is one of the most important quality at a restaurant, which requires more than one visit to determine.

I try to write criticism instead of just complaint. I try to find the sources of my dissatisfaction or pleasure. I try to be objective and put aside personal taste. I try to be factually correct about ingredients and prices. I try to put the food in context. I try to understand what the chef is looking to accomplish and to judge the results on his or her terms. I try to imbue each article with a theme, a thesis, or a main idea, so it is not just a documentation of a meal. I may not always succeed in all these attempts, but these are my aspirations.

I am never certain who really reads my blog since there is limited feedback; a critic can actually use some criticisms. In this fast digital age, I suspect few people will take the 15 minutes or so to read my articles. I am grateful to the people who enjoy reading my blog. I am not sure how much longer I will keep writing. Will there be another ten years of blogging? I don’t know. But as long as there are a few dedicated readers out there, I will continue.