Issue Date: January 8, 2006

Food

Please pass the ... blog?

These seven sites dish on everything from cookingdisasters to culinary delights.

By Natalie Ermann Russell

America has an insatiable appetite for all things edible. We love TV shows about food, books about food, classes about food. Why not, then, indulge in a little blogging about food? Blogs are websites created and written by regular people who use their space to rant or wax poetic (depending on your perspective) about an abundance of topics.

Food bloggers opine on eating in, dining out and everything in between -- and many do it with unusual wit, grace and humor. We've compiled a list of our favorites for you to peruse. Don't be surprised if you find yourself getting very hungry as you read on: thefoodsection.com Run by Josh Friedland, this award-winning blog touts itself as "All the News That's Fit to Eat." It's what is referred to as a filter blog, which posts a variety of food-industry information -- from recipes to articles to a calendar of food events (in the New York City area). Gourmet magazine calls it "the consummate gastronomic blog."

accidentalhedonist.com "My approach to writing food blogs is to focus on both cuisines and ingredients," says Kate Hopkins, of Accidental Hedonist. "I also generally have an opinion about everything." Based in the Seattle area, she rants about what she thinks are unethical practices by some food manufacturers and discourages heavy consumption of high-fructose corn syrup. Plus, she posts recipes and essays. In 2004, Hopkins organized and ran the first Food Blog Awards, with winners determined by reader feedback; now it's a yearly affair.

chocolateandzucchini.com Named for host Clotilde Dusoulier's taste for produce and sweets, this website focuses on the foods of the blogger's native France. Chocolate & Zucchini is loved for its gorgeous photos and gentle prose. "This blog is a way for me to share my passion for all things food-related," Dusoulier says. "I love food -- the shopping, the talking, the planning, the cooking, the serving and, of course, the eating."

toomanychefs.com "I'm new to cooking, though I've been an attentive diner for many years," says Chicagoan Barrett Buss, one of a handful of bloggers who post on Too Many Chefs. "People react favorably when they identify with an experience we've had. Either we're cooking a recipe they've had success with or we're reliving a failure that rings true."

obsessionwithfood.com "I spend a lot of time thinking about and learning about food and wine, so I've always got something to talk about," says Oakland-based Derrick Schneider, OWF's founder. "I post wine-tasting notes, but only those worth talking about. I review books, because I think my readers trust my opinion -- or at least they know when to ignore it." He and wife Melissa, who is OWF's photographer, also host and document elaborate dinner parties. "Six courses is the norm," he says.

sliceny.com "A love of pizza and the lack of a site that detailed New York City pizzerias spurred me to start Slice," says founder Adam Kuban, who, along with a small team of editors, reviews pizza joints in (and outside of) the Big Apple, posting those worth visiting -- and the occasional dud. The crew also delivers anything and everything about pizza, including news stories and even personal ads (yes, some people love pizza that much).

orangette.blogspot.com This site reads like fiction, with beautiful prose and passionate, lyrical stories. Says Orangette host Molly Wizenberg, "Some foods come with a whole novel's worth of stories, but often I take a given dish and let it stew, so to speak, for a bit to develop a life of its own."