A list of #Canberra food blogs
After a brief chat with a few other Canberra food bloggers I thought it would be worthwhile complimenting my Twitter list of #Canberra Foodies (i.e. people in Canberra who share food stories on twitter – I’ve identified over 234! see the list here) with a reasonably current Canberra Food Bloggers list.
When I started tweeting from @CBRFoodie last year I noticed (after a little bit of research and googling) there seemed to be hundreds of Canberra-based food blogs, but most seemed to have died a quick death. I’m guessing this is because a lot of people try and then abandon the idea of blogging when they realise it can be time-consuming, has technical challenges and it involves occasionally interacting with some very strongly opinionated people. (So perhaps a background in politics may help? 🙂
Anyway – back to the topic at hand. Here’s a short list (only 75 at last count!) of my current favourite Canberra-based food bloggers (in alphabetical order). As you can see I’ve discovered most of these via Twitter or Facebook. More recently I also discovered two relevant facebook groups (which are appropriately moderated to keep the content relevant): Canberra Bloggers Collective and Canberra Food Bloggers. Both are closed groups just for bloggers and both are moderated to keep posts on topic. Even more recently a friend Anna (@eatnik) pointed me in the direction of another ten or so additions to the list which I had missed!
If you know of anyone not on this list please let me know and I’ll update it. After a few iterations I was advised that it would be more sensible to try and keep the list in alphabetical order, so it is alphabetised on the basis of the blog name.
Absolutely Jas @absolutelyjas
Adventures in Winterland by Sharon Trauki @Sharon_inez
A Kitchen Cat Natash (aka A Kitchen Cat) was a contestant on the 2014 Master Chef TV series! here’s a link to the story in the Canberra Times including the cheeky tweet from Rachi Perera which revealed the news 🙂
Andrew and Emelia’s Food Adventures @EVimalasiri
Bake Bike Blog @bakebikeblog
You Berra believe it @LindaSoo
Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things @bizzylizzycooks
Blithe Moments @LisaRobey
Brazen’s (mostly) gluten free adventures!
Café Cat @the_cafeCat
Canberra Gastronome @CanGastronome
Canberra Times Food and Wine (Choose your “location=Canberra”) Current and previous Editors: @NatashaRudraCT and @kirstenlawsonCT
Capital Food Journal @capfoodjournal
Capital Gourmand (Tom moved to London last year but his blog is still excellent) @FreeHugsTommy
Cara Phillips @_caraphillips_
CBR Foodie (me! :)) @CBRFoodie
Charinya’s Kitchen @CharinyaR
Dreaming of Almonds (and a nicer world) @Almond_Dreams
Emiko Davies @emikodavies
Feeding the Sonis https://www.facebook.com/pages/Feeding-The-Sonis/595780520501408
Food Porn journal https://www.facebook.com/foodpornjournal
Food Wine Travel @ChristineSalins
Freak Biscuit “gluten-free vegequarian”
Exploring the taste of language
Good Food Week @GoodFoodWeek
Green Foodie @greenfoodie
Her Canberra @HerCanberra
In The Taratory @InTheTaratory
The Intolerant Chef (not active on Twitter)
Karin’s Recipes and Random Musings
Kate Freeman Nutrition @KFNutrition
Kiriels Kitchen Medieval and Renaissance cooking
Le Bon Vivant @Rachiperera
Love at Every Bite @loveateverybite
Makeitbakeitsnapit @kirsty__young (previously known as ‘In the Kitchen with Kirsty’)
Miss K Licious As Anna (@Eatnik) explained, MissKlicious is Sydney-based but reviews many CBR restaurants and deserves an honourable mention 🙂 she’s on twitter too @missklicious
mnfdblog – maybe about food, maybe not @neildoody
Mouthless Mutters @ezzbez
Mumchic @mum_n_chic
My Canberra Table @girl_who_cooks
My Nutritious Journey @KaseyBateup
Netherleigh @netherleighblog
Nilbarcodefood @nilbarcodefoodNilbarcode
Nutrition In Action @Eucale_Stanes
One Hungry Hen Heidi lives in Cooma, just south of Canberra but spends a lot of time here and blogs and tweets regularly about Canberra food and happenings @onehungryhen
Raving Recipes @ravingrecipes60
shenANNAgans @AnnaJ31
Shrinking Single @shrinkingsingle
Sir and M’Lady Dine Out mainly outside of Canberra but they have a Canberra section to their blog and they’re on Instagram http://instagram.com/restaurantfoodpictures#
Taiwanxifu https://twitter.com/Weekendparent
The Bread and Butter Chef https://www.facebook.com/BreadandButterMum
The Canberran @TheCanberran
The Cinnamon Scrolls @cinnamonscribe https://www.facebook.com/thecinnamonscrolls
The Constance Search For Gluten Free https://www.facebook.com/theconstancesearch4glutenfree
The Food Avenue @thefoodavenue
The Food Marshall https://www.facebook.com/Thefoodmarshall
The Girl Has Sparke @girlhassparke
The Martini Whisperer @martiniwhisper1
The Merrymaker sisters @fithealthymade
The Patient Cook https://www.facebook.com/thepatientcook
The Wooden Spoons https://www.facebook.com/thewoodenspoonsblog
Travel and beyond @TravelnBeyond
Vegeterannean Editor Charlotte is a well-known journalist, publisher and researcher in Canberra writing circles and active in social media on twitter via @vegeterranean and Editia
Woodkitchen by Lucy feihua.cao@gmail.com
Yummy Lummy @garydlum
Also, I have to mention there are few Canberra people who may not be trying to be food bloggers but who share plenty of food stories and Canberra stories and who follow these sorts of conversations very closely on twitter to the point where I think of them as fellow-Canberra foodies (I’ll explain why in some detail in a future blog).
@RichardTuffin … https://www.facebook.com/atrtphotos
@TweetCanberra (aka @JamesTew) … www.raising3daughters.com
@PaulJurak … www.kayakcameraman.com
@martin_o (aka Martin Ollman) … techosapien.com
@gcnelson (aka Greg Nelson) … gcnelson on vimeo
@Honey_Delight (aka Carmen) …honeydelight.com.au
@jaysullivan2 (aka Comedian Jay Sullivan) has a regular blog which I like reading called Dear Weetbix
I’ve also decided to list recently inactive Canberra food blogs (for two reasons, in case I stumble across them and wonder if they’re on my list or not, and also in case they are reactivated and I want to add them again to the master list).
The Canberra Cook Cath hasn’t blogged since 2013 but she’s on twitter at @CathCanCook
Canberra Vegan (last post December 2013)
Fooodgasm (last Canberra-related review January 2013)
Happy Bites (last post November 2013)
Honey and Soy @honeyandsoy (blog inactive since 2013)
Progressive Dinner Party (the last blog entry to this awesome Canberra food blog seems to have been in May 2012 but the author Zoe is still active on twitter at @crazyBrave )
The Papillon Pantry (last post March 2013)
Meet a #Canberra Foodie: Liz Posmyk (@bizzylizzycooks )
Liz Posmyk, standing proudly in front of her extensive library of cooking and food books.
No one who is interested in food and social media in the Canberra region could say they haven’t been in touch with Liz Posmyk, either through her famous blog http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/ Twitter, Facebook, mainstream media, food event or other channel. Liz has been a prolific poster of “Canberra Foodie” news for many years. When our local journal of record The Canberra Times (which has 74 staff on twitter, I think, here’s my latest list: https://twitter.com/Elias_Hallaj/lists/canberra-times-staff-etc) was looking for local cooks who also blogged they turned to Liz, who promptly gave them the names and details of capable cooks/bloggers to interview http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-blogs-finest-20140307-34bgv.html
Let me begin by stating I love Liz’s blog (www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com) . When I started blogging three short months ago I thought “if I do this for ten years I’d be happy to be as half as good as Liz” in terms of content, credibility and sheer aesthetics. If I had more time for food photography I would simply try and copy her best shots. I was surprised to learn recently that she isn’t a Canon or Nikon aficionado (like most professional photographers) but happily snaps away with a Olympus OM-D EM5 (Eileen (@TheFoodAvenue) also uses an Olympus camera for her great photos).
My favourite Bizzy Lizzy posts include: “Canberra Show Postcards and Morsels” http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2014/03/postcards-and-morsels-2014-royal-canberra-show.html and http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2013/02/postcards-and-morsels-2013-royal-canberra-show.html and numerous local festivals and winery celebrations such as this one: http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2013/11/postcards-and-morsels-wine-roses-and-all-that-jazz-festival.html\ Liz also has a great synopsis of food and wine festivals across Australia here http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/events.html which of course also links to the great list of local festivals in the Canberra region via the Visit Canberra website here http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/find/event/food-wine .
You can see from Liz’s blog that she understands how to communicate using great pictures and images (supporting the truism that a good picture is worth a thousand words). I also like the fact that Liz’s passionate advocacy for local food and produce extends beyond cuisine and conveys a deeper cultural experience. Perhaps subconsciously sometimes, she highlights the personal passion for food and culture that many Canberrans share and she herself is a great advocate for our sense of community and ability to share and care for each other.
So Liz, who are you? I’m an old school food writer based in Canberra and was part of the committee instrumental in the establishment of the ACT Writers Centre (no apostrophe).
From 1993-2002, I wrote a popular weekly cookery column in a Canberra newspaper. I earned the nickname ‘Bizzy Lizzy’ when I juggled the role of promotions manager of a 30-store produce market with co-ownership of a leading cooking school, and marketing a line of organic foods (I was headhunted for this role). Working my proverbial off, across a decade I managed a hugely successful program of events that welcomed some of the world’s leading cookery writers and celebrity chefs to Canberra. For four years I also featured as the voice behind The Ten Dollar Dinner on 666 ABC radio with James Valentine and Rod Quinn.
My career has included stints in both the Federal and ACT public service, most recently with DesignGov. In 2012, I received an Australia Day Achievement Award for leadership, innovation and service to the Australian Public Service Federal Department of Industry.
In 2013, I was selected as the winner of the Food Narrative Category of the Best Australian Food Blog Food Writing Competition 2013 run by the SA Writer’s Centre Inc/Food Bloggers Australia. Professor Barbara Santich was one of the esteemed judges, so this was quite an honour for me.
In January 2014, I retired from the APS to concentrate on Good Things, my online journal (or blog), which I founded in 2011. This new-found free time gives me the opportunity to cook to my heart’s content and share my favourite recipes and photographs. It also gives Peter and myself the opportunity to relax and rejuvenate after a lifetime of working hard; and also to travel and explore Australia and its food regions.
Age? 55 and loving it!
Where do you live? In Harrison with my life partner, Peter. I was born in Canberra and have lived here all of my life.
How long have you been blogging? Blogging since 2011, writing about food and cooking since 1993. Honestly, though, I’ve been a writer since early childhood and creative writing was my favourite subject from grade one in Infants School.
Other hobbies? Photography (love snapping macro shots of bees and flowers); cooking (obviously); travel; meeting like-minded people; reading; going to the cinema; gardening; swimming; walking; oh, and playing Call of Duty 2 (I’m a crack sniper, true!).
Apple or Android? Apple imac (27 inch) which is great for publishing.
Car/bus/bike? Car to get from A to B, and bicycle for pleasure.
Favourite TV show? There isn’t one in particular, though I do enjoy a variety of documentaries on SBS and the ABC (including cooking and travel shows). I also love dramas produced by the BBC, such as Broadchurch and The Escape Artist (recently), as well as Dr Who, Grand Designs, etc.
Favourite devices? As in phone, plaything? My phone, for making phone calls.
Can we take a peek at your home screen? No, sorry, it’s way too cluttered : ) … <wow, no one else has said no to any of my questions so far! 🙂 >
Most-used app? On my phone? The keypad for making phone calls : )
Favourite social media? Twitter (I enjoy the networking aspect of it and love connecting with people through food).
What’s the first thing online you check each morning? The IN box on my email account.
What do you worry about at night? That’s a very personal question. When I do worry, it’s about things I’d rather not discuss.
Most exciting recent news? An invitation to attend a MasterClass at Red Lantern with Luke Nguyen ahead of his new series Luke Nguyen’s France!
Ideal career? Full time food, cookery and travel writer and consultant. I’m currently living the dream. : D
Recent book you recommend? Wow, there are several, but how about Horrie the War Dog by Roland Perry (Allen & Unwin). It’s the story of Australia’s most famous dog. Oh, and The Dirty Chef by Matthew Evans, the gourmet farmer (Allen & Unwin); and Rick Stein’s memoir Under a Mackerel Sky (Ebury Press).
Recent online video you laughed at? A clip produced by The Checkout team on the ABC. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/thecheckout/ They’re very clever, and so informative! here is one of the interesting and fun snippets from The Checkout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1SlTy2RAMw&feature=youtu.be It’s not what I call hilarious, but it is interesting and humorous
Favourite food? I love a diverse range of foods, including Hungarian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Persian, Greek, Thai, modern Australian and Italian. Among those cuisines, there are lots of favourite dishes that I cook regularly.
If you want learn more about Liz Posmyk, one of Canberra’s very own Award Winning Food Writers
Follow her on Twitter: @bizzylizzycooks
Follow her blog: http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com
She’s also on Linkedin: au.linkedin.com/pub/liz-posmyk/58/b23/689
Meet a #Canberra foodie – James Tew (@TweetCanberra)
If you just read my previous re-post from James Tew’s blog http://raising3daughters.com/haha-bar/ you will know that as well as being a social media gun he’s an unfulfilled foodie! (which gives me an idea for another post – “what is a foodie?” – stay tuned for that one). James has recently burst onto the #CBR twitter scene after being sent to Canberra by the Navy from Perth. And Perth’s loss is our gain. Last Sunday I had the pleasure of enjoying a great brunch with him and his lovely family (wife Christine and three delightful daughters) at the Ha Ha Bar in Belconnen, where Christine works. We had a lot to talk about.
Who are you James? Well where do I start? I’m a Dad to three daughters, a husband to a function manager, an Australian Defence Force Officer, an online content manager at Tweet Canberra, social media coach, blogger, university student and an amateur bbq’er. I love social media, I love how I can connect to anyone and everyone at the same time. I specialise in Twitter and blogging and have been known to run a few workshops on those topics here in Canberra. I started Tweet Canberra on the 18th of Jan 2014 and I’ve taken it close to 1,000 followers (as of the beginning of March). It’s going from strength to strength but the general idea is that it connects the Canberra community on Twitter. I’ve seen a lot of support for Tweet Canberra, it’s solved lots of problems for people and has created a lot of value in this short period of time.
Age? 25 (26 next week)
Where do you live? Dunlop, Canberra.
How long have you been blogging? 2 years. My primary blog (raising3daughters.com) is coming up on 1 year but my personal blog (jamestew.me) where I talk about social media is going on two years. It’s under going some re-development at the moment, to make it mobile friendly and content rich.
Other hobbies? I’ve got three kids, they are fair non existent. I like reading, golf and barbecuing
Apple or Android? Real men have android. I was a Apple fan boy for many year, I still use a MacBook Pro but my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 runs my busy life.
Car/Bus/Bike? My bike has a flat tire and I haven’t fixed it so car. Plus I can’t put three girls on the handlebars.
Favourite TV show? At the moment I have a couple: Last man Standing (I see myself as Tim Allen in 20 years), House of Cards, Arrow, The Crazy ones, The Tomorrow People and I’ve just started watching Q and A
Favourite Device? My new MacBook Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Can we take a peek at your home screen? I like to keep it clean and minimal.
Most used app? Hootsuite followed closely by Gmail
Favourite Social Media? Twitter hands down. They don’t use an algorithm to tell me what I like to see (cough Facebook cough)
What’s the first thing online you check each morning? I open three tabs in chrome (they stay open all day) Gmail, Calendar and Hootsuite.
What do you worry about at night? I wonder what ungodly time my kids will wake up tomorrow…
Most exciting recent news? The Rum Bar is doing buy 1 get 1 free drinks for Tweet Canberra followers
Ideal Career? Social Media adviser/social media coach/blogger/public speaker/stay at home dad so I can all of them whilst spending more time with my girls.
Recent Book you recommend? The war of Art by Steven Pressfield
Recent online video you laughed at? Robin Williams is the star of the Crazy ones and in episode 7 of season one he takes on an advertising account for Australian Tourism. Needless to say he gets frustrated and does this http://youtu.be/v0NTYlR3Fhw
Favourite Food? I am a sucker for tapas but I love slow roast meat on a webber!
James is a great guy to follow if you want to keep up to date with news and happenings in Canberra. @TweetCanberra or if you want to share some daddy blogging or ideas @James_Tew. His blog is very impressive for a blogging newbie like me (it has all the bells and whistles I aspire to understand and utilise) raising3daughters.com
Meet a #Canberra Foodie: Rachi Perera (@rachiperera)
This is my second interview with some of Canberra’s better known foodies and bloggers, inviting them to join me for lunch at their favourite affordable (i.e. very cheap and tasty) eatery/van/café/restaurant/kitchen/etc. I wasn’t sure if anyone has done this sort of thing before with the local foodies? If anyone has links to such interviews please pass them on. My second interview was with the vivacious Rachi Perara, who blogs at www.le-bonvivant.com and I’m hoping to ask each interviewee the same twenty questions that follow. I had the pleasure of Rachi’s company at her favourite southside “cheap eat’ in Kingston: Canberra’s famous Brodburger, located at the Canberra Glassworks.
Who are you? I’m someone whose life revolves around food. I call myself a “self confessed bon vivant” on my blog because I do tend to like the finer things in life, specially when it comes to food and wine. My blog is a lifestyle blog so it’s not just about food although that makes up the bulk of it. I write about restaurant reviews, about food/wine events in Canberra, about my travels, books, interior design, fashion and just general happenings in my life.
How old are you? 31
Where do you live? Narrabundah
How long have you been blogging? About 18 months
Other hobbies? Travelling, gym, Bikram yoga, Cake Club, reading, watching cricket
Apple or Android? Definitely Apple. I’m a bit of an Apple tragic (iphone, ipad, Macbook Air)
Car/bus/bike? Car! I haven’t caught a bus in over 10 years. I keep thinking I need to get myself a bike though. I feel like I can’t call myself a proper Canberran until I own a bike!
Favourite TV show? It was Breaking Bad. Now it’s a toss up between Downton Abbey and Homeland.
Favourite device? My Canon DSLR with 50mm lens. I’m that annoying person who pulls out the DSLR to photograph every meal and event (even non-events sometimes).
Can we take a peak at your home screen?
Most used app? Twitter followed by Calender. I have the worst memory and would forget to eat breakfast if I didn’t put it in my diary (ok, slight exaggeration but you get the idea)
Favourite social media? Twitter
What’s the first thing online you check each morning? It goes in this order: email, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, weather. All before getting out of bed!
What do you worry about at night? If I have a busy day coming up it’s probably something work related. Otherwise it’s probably something food related; not so much worry but as to think/plan where to eat on the weekend etc.
Most exciting recent news? I got my first food related article published in Canberra Times Food & Wine section last week which was very exciting. There will be another piece coming up very soon. I’ve also just started planning a holiday to New York in June/July which I’m ridiculously excited about… the food, the shopping, the food!
Ideal career? A food writer/restaurant reviewer
Recent book you recommend? Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka by Bree Hutchins. It’s a beautiful cookbook/coffee table book.
Recent online video you laughed at? This popped up on Facebook as I was answering these questions. Made me LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWwuebhaQZo
Favourite Food? My mum’s Sri Lankan food: chicken biryani, chicken curry and eggplant Moju to be specific. This blog post should give you an idea on what my mum’s food looks like: all kinds delicious! http://le-bonvivant.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/is-there-anything-better-than-mums.html
Blog: www.le-bonvivant.com
Twitter: @rachiperera Instagram:@rachiperera Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lebonvivantblog
Fire in Sydney Building
Very saddened to hear about the fire in the Sydney Building today.
Lots of photos online via @CanberraTimes and #Canberra peeps on Twitter and Facebook. Early reports say the fire started in the Coo Japanese Restaurant in East Row. Looks like much of the building and opposite shops will be shut down while emergency services mop up and deal with the asbestos in this old building.
CBRfoodie 