Food journalists smell opportunities

Food journalists should be commended for jumping into this genre, especially since they've dissed it for so long. Most don't get it yet, though. They write the same way they would for print, ignoring opportunities to get involved with their readers.

The queen of online food writers started years ago. Regina Schrambling, a former New York Times food section editor, began writing sarcastic blurbs about New York media and restaurants on her website Gastropeda,before anyone knew what a blog was. She has never made her posts into an official blog.

Alan Richman, a GQ contributing editor, riffs on food and wine on the magazine's blog. There's nothing new here. It reads the same as if it appeared in a column in the magazine.

A few restaurant reviewers blog. Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle launched Between Meals. He was recently accused of never reading it because he didn't respond to posts. Frank Bruni of the New York Times writes Diner's Journal, a harmless backstory about his job reviewing restaurants. The merciless and bizarre blog Bruni Digest parodies and critiques Bruni's print reviews.

The two newspaper reviewers cover such safe topics as bored hostesses, difficult reservations, how full to fill a wine glass, and food trends. Restaurateurs sometimes post comments, as do restaurant-goers. Often the comments are some variety of “you got it wrong," a typical response. The majority of letters to newspapers and magazines are complaints.

Corporations smell the cash

Corporations that sell products in the food industry now respect food blogs for their online audience reach, loyalty and influence. In addition to starting blogs written by company spokespeople, companies also send products to food bloggers, looking for reviews. Book publishers send cookbooks to bloggers for reviews or recipe testing. Marketing plans now include campaigns to get mentions in some of the biggest food blogs.

Corporate interest sometimes benefits food bloggers more directly than free merchandise. Faith Kramer of Blog Appetit found that not only was it easy for her to get into a Fancy Food show as press, but that vendors treated her with the same enthusiasm reserved for traditional media.

Restauranteurs, chefs get into the act

Food professionals, particularly chefs and restaurateurs, have lots to say online, even though it’s hard to imagine when they have time. Chef Chris Cosentino’s blog, Offal Good, for instance, shows him holding handfuls of innards. He decided to create “an education and inspirational tool for those interested in learning and cooking with offal.”

The Food Whore, written by an anonymous restaurateur, is more stream-of-consciousness. Here she is, ranting about holiday parties: “The Season of Sequins and Fake Smiles is upon us, and the last 6 days have been mayhem. This week alone I will be home for approximately 2 hours tomorrow night, just enough time to meet this man living in my house who I think might be The Husband.”