stlbites.com – st. louis food blog of bill burge

Food Blogs and Photos

Sep 10, 2007 general food, restaurants, trips

One thing I can’t quite grasp in the world of food blogging is all these people taking pictures of food in restaurants. For the most part, I can’t bring myself to do it. Not only do I feel silly, but it makes me feel like it has the potential to interfere with another diners enjoyment, and I think it’s a bit strange on a philosophical level. It’s somewhat like cheating on a test for lack of a more thought out comparison.

Although I’m only 30, I’ve eaten at a lot of great restaurants all over the US. Anywhere I happen to go, even if it’s on business, food is utmost on my agenda whether it be a mecca of dining like New York or someplace that requires a little more digging like Traverse City, MI.

These are both actual trips I took in the last twelve months, and because I make food such an important part of my life, on both of them my wife and I ate things over the course of the week long vacations I can vividly describe.

Would I have remembered this Michigan Cherry Crumb cake at Stone House Bread any less if I didn’t have the picture?

I know I can’t tell you all the things we ate, but in a way, does that not somehow make the things I do remember more special? Shouldn’t it be that the best things you’ve ever eaten are the ones you remember most vividly without pictures?

Whether it’s a 9 course meal at WD-50, or a Sour Cherry Crumb Pie at the Grand Traverse Pie Company, to me, the foods you most remember are the true best things you’ve ever eaten because they touched you in some way emotionally.

So, is a food blog without pictures useless? Where do you stand on taking pictures in restaurants, and if you do so, how do you keep from feeling like an idiot?

-Bill

Tags: blogging, cherry crumb cake, food blogging, grand traverse pie company, traverse city, wd 50