Blogging has, in it’s own right become a phenomenon.
Blogs by definition are web journals and are mainly ran by one individual or a small group. They offer opinions and outlooks on a wide variety of things.
Some blogs are based around wedding planning, travel, fashion and the most common – food.
Foods blogs offer the readers/subscribers a solid opinion and a more knowledgeable vantage point on certain restaurants and their offerings in the form of ratings.
The best blogs are interactive and include some kind of feed via Twitter or Facebook. Other blogs allow comments and emails to be sent as feedback. Most people blog as a hobby. Some people get lucky enough to blog as a career.
Some people like Chef Richard Chudy of the Boston Burger Blog have been able to use their blog as an avenue for other career opportunities.
A native to Boston, Chudy has always loved burgers. “Even as a kid, it’s what I always ordered in restaurants,” he said. “Some people love pizza, I always go for the burger.”
As an undergraduate, Chudy went to Keene State College in New Hampshire and then to culinary school at The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Chudy explained how it all started.
“I took a road trip with [a] friend went to Louis’ Lunch in Connecticut to see the place that claims to have invented the hamburger. The burgers were okay, but the experience was a blast. I then decided it would be a fun idea to sample all the burgers in Boston and find out who really makes the best one. I had no idea what I was in for…”
A lot of restaurants around Boston get a hold of Chudy to ask him to come in and try/review their burger.
He let me know that “it’s a slippery slope, it’s tough to write fairly about a meal after it’s been comped, so if I do end up getting different treatment, I always re-turn multiple times incognito, to make sure it’s consistent.”
Chudy said “I think having integrity is key; I’m generalizing, but a lot of bloggers are just in it for the free food and the alcohol. Most blogger events are built around that, and I don’t know how anyone can write a fair review after they’ve been pampered with delicious food and drinks all night and [not] pay for a cent of it.”
When I asked Chudy what he does for a living he said, “My job is as a personal chef and caterer, my girlfriend and I both run the company, The Skinny Beet. But I have had my fair share of referrals from the burger blog and from my other writing. (I also write the column, Man Food for Boston Magazine) Just getting paid to write is tricky but doable. Either way I’m involved with food every day, my hobby is my career and I’m very fortunate.”
The blog is going on four years in May and he has been writing for the Boston Magazine for about four months – he attributes his column directly to his blog.
“I definitely want to find ‘the perfect burger,’ whether or not it actually exists remains to be seen. But yea, it’s more about knowing the best and worst burgers and having an opinion on all of them, I just want to be the burger source in Boston and (someday) beyond. I don’t think I’ll ever stop, practically every restaurant has a burger on the menu, it’s never ending.”