Interview with Dr Leslie Tay from www.ieatishootipost.sg

 

Dr Leslie Tay

Family Doctor & Food Blogger (http://ieatishootipost.sg/)

1) Why did you start the food blog ieatishootipost.sg and how do you take such good photographs?

I wanted to share about the best hawker food in Singapore, with well-taken photographs and honest reviews. My aim is also to help good hawkers get more business. It is not to put anyone down or to drive anyone out of business with reviews of food that isn’t good. If the food is good, I’ll write about it. If it’s not, I’ll not write about it or I’ll write about the good stuff and include “but…”. Readers can then choose to eat what I have recommended is good, but they can also choose to try what I’ve said is not so good. If I find a particular stall good, chances are 80% of my readers will agree with me, as a certain standard has been established already.

You know what professional photographers are like. They’ll take hundreds or thousands of photographs and show you only the best 1 or 2, so you’ll think they’re really good. I usually take between 30 and 50 pictures and a few make it onto my blog. Yes, I have to take pictures fast so the food doesn’t turn cold. I still want to eat the food after phototaking!

2) Did you ever expect your blog would become such a mega success?

No. I just wanted to provide good photos and reviews so people know where to find good food in Singapore. You can never tell with such things. I’m glad that it’s doing well, and we even have a forum where the community is very civilised – no foul language and such.

3) Why do you not do paid reviews? Then how do you persuade hawkers to be interviewed by you?

Like I said, my aim is to provide an objective viewpoint. And readers know this is what to expect. I want to help hawkers who are really good to get more business. For example, there’s this old couple who make soya sauce the good old, traditional way and pretty much refuse to have it done the commercial way. After my blog post about them, they got more business and gave me a phone call to thank me.

Just be polite and smile. For example, if you’re interviewing the char kway teow hawker at Hill Street, and you can speak some Teochew, you’ll make the old uncle very happy. You’ll have to queue up like everyone else, eat the food and then compliment them and ask them nicely for the reasons why their food tastes so good. Most of the time they are willing to share.

4) From Charlene (missuschewy.com) – What is it about food blogging that motivates you to keep on doing what you do?

I love discovering new things about food.  Each hawker stall, each dish is a chance to discover something new. Like when I spoke to the Chwee Kueh uncle and found out the reason Chwee Kueh is called Chwee Kueh.  It was a moment of revelation for me which I knew would have the same effect with my readers.  That makes me feel good!

5) From Jacob (cooksnapeatlove.com) – How do you balance blogging/tasting sessions with work and family life?

I bring them along when I can.  My kids are slowly becoming food critics themselves and it’s quite fun to watch.  But at the end of the day, we need to always keep in mind that life is not about food.  It is about love and relationships, family and friends, so blogging and tasting must never take precedence over them.

Grace says: Dr Tay was one of the most intriguing interviewees so far. I was dying to find out how a busy doctor found time to eat, shoot and post. (Blogging is not an easy task, I can assure you!) Turns out he takes afternoons off to go scour the island for the best food places! Mystery solved.

He also gave me an impromptu photography lesson. The picture you see above was taken by me. (And cropped with *ahem* Paint *ahem*)

For more amazing food pictures & hawker recommendations, check out http://ieatishootipost.sg/ :)

Come back this Friday – for the interview with the boss of Pine Garden’s Cake

Interview with Charlene

Charlene & fiance

Food Blogger (missuschewy.com)

1) Why did you choose to become a food blogger and what do you love most about it?

Hello! I suppose I should do a little self-introduction here. My name is Charlene and I do food reviews on a regular basis at www.missuschewy.com

I wouldn’t really say that I ‘chose’ to become a food blogger. I really like taking photos everywhere I go and food is one of my favorite subjects. It all began before I started blogging. My friends would give positive comments whenever I posted photos on Facebook, and these compliments spurred me on to start a food blog so that I can have a proper virtual space to ‘archive’ my food photos. I figured that it would be interesting if I talked about how the food tasted like and all and that’s how my food blog came about!

2) I suppose being a food blogger would involve certain occupational hazards, such as having to battle the bulge. How do you overcome these?

Oh yes. On most days, I give in to my craving but occasionally, I would make a conscious effort to pick a healthier option. If I’m going to have a dinner appointment with my friends, I will eat less at lunch. On normal days, I eat more during lunch and very little for dinner. I drag myself out for a run occasionally and I play tennis every Sunday

3) Some food bloggers start such blogs in the hope of getting free meals. What’s your take on this?

I think that people who blog just so that they can get invited to tasting sessions are clearly very foolish. Ultimately, readers are able to determine if such reviews are biased and these bloggers will not be deemed as credible.

4) Which is your most memorable meal ever?

My most memorable meal was dinner on 9 May 2011 at Boomarang (Robertson Quay). My date (now fiance) and I shared a kangaroo pizza. Dinner was followed by desserts at Laurent Bernard.  It was memorable because while we were very happy to have each other’s company, he had to fly to Japan the next morning for his 10 week long internship.

5) Your top 3 must-try food outlets in Singapore?

Chiharu, The Ship, Pamplemousse, Al Forno and Royal China. Sorry I listed 5 because it’s really difficult to just pick 3!

Grace says: This happy couple has recently got engaged and you can read about the awesome proposal (with vid!) on Charlene’s website. Congratulations, you two!!!

These two inspire me with their love story and their love for food.

Friends have asked me whether I think I’ll ever become a food blogger. Hmm… I’m the kind who will be ravenously hungry at mealtimes, tuck into a delicious meal and only much later *burp* decide that I SHOULD have taken a photo before I started eating. So… sad to say, no. Hahaha!

Come back next Tuesday for Readers Q&A with Patrick Liew, CEO of HSR! See ya!~  Remember to enter your email address in the Subscription field (SIGN ME UP) on your right, so you can join in the next Q&A!

Interview with Jacob Leong from cooksnapeatlove.com

Jacob Leong

Creator of cooksnapeatlove.com

1) You went through 6 months of culinary school and worked for 2 months at a French restaurant. What were those experiences like? Given a chance, would you do that again?

The time I spent in the F&B industry held the best and worst experiences in my life. In school, it was a dream come true, I was passionate about food for as long as I can remember, and studying there was not only exciting but also a great learning experience. When I got to my apprenticeship, it was a different world altogether. I got a culture shock even though I knew what was coming. Physically it was tiring, but not as much as it was mentally. It was a road of hardships, and I had many doubts, but in the end I decided that even if I did love cooking, I did not want to spend the rest of my life this way. I could pursue my passion through different means.

I am still looking towards a career in this industry, even if I did give up the idea of being a restaurant/hotel chef, maybe one day I could own my own bakery/patisserie.

2) Which is your favourite restaurant in Singapore? And your favourite recipe for cooking at home?

My favourite restaurant would be Restaurant Andre by Chef Andre Chiang. I haven’t been there before to be honest, but I am a big fan of Chef Andre. I see him not only as a Chef but as an artist, his philosophy in cuisine impresses me greatly. And I look forward to when I get the chance to visit. If not, the next on my list would be Nantsuttei at Parco Millennia Walk. The ramen there is superb, and if I’m having a really bad week, a bowl there would never fail to cheer me up.

I don’t have a favourite recipe really, more like a favourite ingredient and that would be pasta. There are so many variations and possibilities you can achieve with it. It is like a blank canvas that you can try different things with, I would say pasta is another of my comfort foods.

3) Would you do paid reviews for restaurants? Why or why not?

Paid reviews or any reviews that come with some sort of remuneration are a big question mark for me. When I started cooksnapeatlove.com, I wanted to do a simple recount of my experiences at the restaurants I visit. No ratings, no points and the like. I have never seen myself as a connoisseur and hence I avoid ratings. I’ve seen how it is like when a VIP/Food Blogger arrives in the restaurant - within minutes the entire establishment will know of their arrival, there will be a great improvement in service and quality of food. If I did write such reviews, there would be little value in it, because the readers cannot expect the same when they visit the place. If the restaurant does interest me, I would plan to visit incognito and then do a review.

4) How do you snap such awesome pictures of food? Any photography tips you can share?

Thank you for the compliment! In my free time, I look at food photographs to get recipe/plating/photograph ideas, I guess that helps alot. I visit the other food bloggers’ websites a lot, some of them are really on the professional level, they never cease to inspire me. There are many styles of food photography, some people focus only on the food items, plating, or include the tableware and settings. My advice would be to find the style you like, improvise and try to create your own style. I am still on the learning journey! Technically, any photographer needs to understand the capabilities and functions of their camera, this understanding gives us the control to achieve the shots we envision in our minds.

5) What do you envision yourself doing, 5 years down the road?

Like I previously mentioned, I would like to open a place of my own. It would be nice and cosy, serving great food, giving people a good place to just savour the moment and enjoy each other’s company. That would be a dream come true for me. I am working towards that goal, it may take more than 5 years, but it’s definitely where I want to end up.

Grace says: It was by chance that I happened to spot a link to Jacob’s blog. And I was totally blown away by the awesome photography skills evident there. I assure you, you will feel hungry after a few clicks on his website. I went back to check out his Macaron post and found the one on lessons learnt from failures and successes at Macaron baking. He really does seem quite the expert and Macarons are really REALLY difficult to make. So, if you’re into food and recipes, head over to his website now.

Look Out For: The interview with Ereen Toh, the founder of Stirring Hearts cards, coming your way in a bit.

Interview with Adrian from insanewiches.com

Adrian Fiorino

Founder of Insanewiches.com

1) Why did you start the site insanewiches.com?

Mainly because I love sammiches! But also because I was raised on a steady diet of offbeat humor. I grew up watching famous comedy troupes such as SCTV and The Kids in The Hall. I was also raised in a foodie household. My Father and oldest brother were chefs and my Mom created every family meal from scratch, so she’s pretty much the best cook in the universe! I created the site to simultaneously feed my passion for both food and humor.

And what do you do in real life? (I read there are speculations that you’re a journalist!)

LOL, where did you read that? I do love writing in my free time, but I’m not a journalist. During the day, I’m a mixed martial arts cage fighter… Just kidding! I actually work in advertising.

2) How did your website become so wildly popular?

The initial success came after my Rubix Cubewich creation went viral back in July 2009.

The blogosphere buzzed and the foodie and geek blogs linked back to my site until eventually newsweek.com caught wind and named Insanewiches as one of the LOL Photo Blogs that matter.

And did you expect you’ll be publishing a book?

I never expected it, but it was always a background hope. Not many bloggers get this opportunity. I’m very grateful.

3) What are your plans for the website after the book?

I’m going to keep creating wacky sandwiches for sure. I’m also going to expand the video component of the site with a focus on how-to instructional.

4) How else do you inject fun into your life besides creating and sourcing for wacky sandwiches?

I really enjoy exploring the city I live in and finding those small, out-of-the-way eateries. I’ve recently discovered some great Mexican, Thai, Polish and Vietnamese places in fact. I also love writing, fishing and going to baseball games.

5) Which is your favourite Insanewich? Why?

I have two: The Swine N’ Cheese because I love the name and The Dadwich for its clean lines.

(1) The Swine N’ Cheese

(2) The Dadwich

Grace says: I think Adrian’s blog is really cool, and I got totally blown away by the Rubix Cubewich. One really has to be a creative genius to come up with a sandwich like that! I think Adrian is also a really funny guy… mixed martial arts cage fighter indeed! That got me chuckling.

Do check out his blog and the Insanewiches Cookbook (you can pre-order your copy) now.

Come back soon for the next exciting interview!~