Gastronomy Gal

Gastronomy Gal is a Brisbane blogger who shares her love of food with avid readers with an equal passion for all things food. in her own words:

“I am not a food expert- I am just a food lover, and so want to share my love of food with you.”

Who are you? Give a complete stranger a brief snapshot into your world…

I’m a 23 year old girl living in Qld, my adoptive State. I’ve been in BrisVegas for 5 years after moving here from my cute country hometown in NSW. I work in Communications/PR and write my own food blog. I also write columns for an online magazine.  I’m pretty infactuated with all things food (hence the food blog) and spend much of my time trawling around restaurants/providores/food festivals/wine & cocktail bars in Brisbane looking for awesome food and wine to blog about. I also blog about the occasional horrible experience too! Whilst I love eating out, I love cooking in my tiny kitchen with one of my many cooking appliances, re-planting my herb garden after it is inevitably eaten by possums, and reading one of my new books or old vogue, delicious or gourmet traveller magazines.

What are you working on right now?
Always, always, always working on my blog! Seriously, blogs are like a pet- really high maintenance! They never stop needing to be updated! I’ve just finished healthy eating month and now I’m attempting to visit at least one or two new restaurants every fortnight, as well as continuing on with Global Gastronomy Gal segments- where I take a snapshot into food from different countries. I’m also in the process of redesigning my blog, so that is taking up some of my energy!

When do you feel at your best and when you feel at your worst how do you get through it?
I feel at my best when I’m relaxing, eating and drinking with family and friends. Long lazy lunches, bustling through markets and just hanging out and reminiscing. It sounds lazy, but I love it when I have ‘nothing to do’ meaning nothing urgent because I never have ‘nothing to do.’

Obviously, there’s often times when I get sick of blogging and lose motivation, but generally all I have to do is make a conscious decision to take a week or so off and not focus on the problem. Writers block is a killer. Usually the drought is broken when I taste some fabulous food that I want to tell the world about! That, or moan enough to anyone who will listen to me and force them, to force me, to do some work!

Where do you see yourself in five years time?
As much as I love my current job (hello to my boss – who will be reading this!!) someday, I would love to be a full time blogger or working in food PR. There’s also the inner hippie that would love to be living on a farm growing and producing all my own food, pretty much like my grandfather used to do. I won’t be able to be a total hippie though, I need electricity because I imagine I’ll still be blogging!

Why do you do what you do?

I’m passionate about great dining, and especially the emerging scene here. I would love to have a fabulous dining experience every time I eat out. Sadly that just doesn’t happen, so I hope my blog alerts people to really great restaurants, and helps them to avoid the dodgy ones. I’m also an advocate for constructive criticism and do re-visit restaurants I have previously given an unfavourable review to, to see if the sitauation has improved! If it has, my job is done! I love food and as I work in communications/pr and am that way inclined, food blogging is a natural extension of who I am! I really do like dining out, especially as the dining scene in Brisbane has come so far, even since I moved here 5 years ago. I’ve met some really fabulous people through blogging and some cool opportunites are starting to arise! It’s nice to think people actually care enough about your opinion to read it religiously.
How have you been able to do what you love?
The great thing about blogging is, anyone can do it. It does take dedication but you can start a free blog and start writing straight away. Luckily, I have an understanding boyfriend and friends which is important- because I know it is frustrating to have to wait to eat in Restaurants while I try and find the right light to snap the perfect pic. My gene pool probably has something to do with it too. I think my background has sort of forced me to do something in food. Since I was born, our lives have revolved around food- so I think I have some kind of gravitational pull towards food.

Get Visible: if there’s anything else you’d like to add, speak now or forever hold your peace!
It’s great to see that Brisbane is really surging ahead in the food stakes. It’s no secret that we have been about 20 years behind the other states but we are starting to catch up. I’m really happy to report on all the triumphs happening in QLD – be it restaurants, produce, wineries or anything food related. We are now represented by a small but savvy contingent of food bloggers and people are starting to understand the value of good food. It’s also fabulous to see such a young element to the dining/food scene- lots of enthusiasm and vigour which is really shining through.

Check out the Gastronomy Gal blog at http://gastronomy-gal.blogspot.com/