[By Kim Davis: May 1, 2017]
The ten year anniversary came and went on April 27, 2017. A decade of "At the Sign of the Pink Pig." Here's the first post.
Ten years has seen--as you'd expect--a lot of changes. I started out with that randomly chosen handle, "Wilfrid" (I'd already been using it on eGullet.com), because I was working in a corporate legal environment, and didn't need everyone in my business. Ten years later, I'm a jobbing journalist again, an executive editor and writer, and--guess what?--doing journalism as a hobby (or blogging as it's known) holds less appeal when journalism is your day job.
That's one reason Pink Pig posting has slowed over the last year: I can hardly believe I was publishing two reviews per week in the site's heyday. Other reasons? I'm ten years older; my post-toddler has turned into a teenager almost as tall as me; there seems to be less time available to do all the things I want to do which aren't related to food and restaurants. Also--and this is a big change--becoming a permanent resident about ten years ago freed me from the H1B grind of being tied to one source of income; I simply wasn't allowed to work as a professional journalist while in the H1B program.
And a decade is a long time to be writing restaurant reviews. Sure, Craig Claiborne lasted longer, but he's an exception.
Have restaurants changed? Yes, unquestionably they have; in some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. Rather than a steady progress towards better eating out, dining in New York City has been a roller-coaster, affected by changing demographics, a chaotic economy, and broader social changes. The pressure on chefs, from investors and the digital food media, means that every new restaurant must offer at least some signature dishes; preferably a startling innovative cuisine from soup to metaphorical nuts. There's no reward for spending years perfecting established dishes. Indeed, there's little reward for simply feeding people well; rewards come from giving people something to talk about--or Instagram about.
Speaking of images, that's where the action is now. Food boards are museum pieces. There may be more food blogs than ever, but who reads them? I get more attention posting a photo of a bloody steak or a greasy hamburger on Instagram than I do from writing a 300 word review. It's a disappointment to me because--as regular readers will have surmised--I don't care about pictures; I care about words. I wanted to be a food writer; not a food photographer--and I certainly achieved the latter ambition.
The thing is, I also want to (and I do) write about things other than food and restaurants. I used to publish a lot of art reviews here, and some pieces on books and writers. Maybe there's more of that in my future? Maybe the expanding responsibilities of professional journalism will mean that the last thing I want to see after work or at the weekend is a keyboard.
But to answer the question: Quo Vadis? I did envisage the Pink Pig coming to an end after ten years. I knew the diary entries ("Ten Years Ago") would run out. I knew I didn't want to do this forever. At the same time, I don't feel a need to hang out a "Closed" sign and ride off into the sunset. (Especially when I have a very positive review of Otway up my sleeve.)
For the time being, at least, the Pink Pig will remain available--with literally hundreds of restaurant reviews in the archives--and I'll post when I have something worth posting about. The end of the diary column relieves me of a weekly deadline; and that's a good thing.
Maybe we'll have some interesting things to chew over in the future. In the mean-time, and to know when the site is updated, you are welcome to follow my Twitter feed: @WilfridPinkPig.
À bientôt, and thanks for all the clicks.
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