A “Friendly” Recap of Eat Write Retreat

You know you're among friends when there is no judging when the cameras come out. Photograph by Isabelle at www.messycook.blogspot.com/

With my freshly printed food blog business cards, an empty gym bag strictly for swag and a nervous giddiness of what to expect, I set off this past weekend to my first ever food blogger conference in Washington, D.C. called Eat Write Retreat.

I’m happy to report I had a great time, experienced some terrific food, learned tons of applicable lessons that I can apply immediately and long-term to my blog and life. However, most importantly, I met some incredibly passionate people that make the food blogging world (and the world itself) a better place.

For starters, simply put, thank you to the Eat Write Retreat founders Casey and Robyn. You rocked it all. The planning, the execution, the sponsors and just putting yourselves out there.

So with that said, I’d like to introduce you to a few of people I met this weekend that I’m now happy to call my friends. Warning, prepare yourselves for many links.

Of everyone I knew from Twitter that was going to be at the conference, I probably chat/tweet the most with Kimmy of Lighter and Local so I was excited to see if she’s as bubbly and kind in person as she is online. Well, she’s exactly as advertised but it’s even better because you get to see the smile in person.

I forget exactly how it came about, but among the tweets leading up to Eat Write Treat, Amanda of Maroc Mama said a “must-do” in D.C. was to enjoy freshly steamed crabs at Captain White’s Seafood City. Although it was hard work to get the meat out, it was absolutely worth it. It was such a fun experience to see locals, police officers, tourists and the fishmongers all coming together at the marina. Thanks again for a great recommendation!

So it’s one thing to meet someone for the first time at a conference and talk about this and that and be able to walk away if you’re just not compatible. It’s a whole other thing to meet someone for the first time and also have to call them your roommate for the weekend. But thankfully, Dan who writes at Dan’s Good Side was a great roommate. He is one of those people trying to make the world a better place on a day to day basis. He’s launching a program called Start From Scratch. His goal is to help students be bettter equipped to eat fresh and healthy by not having to rely on a diet of ramen noodles and take-out.

On Friday night, I was assigned to the Apple table for dinner. I set my glass of wine and bottle of beer down (don’t judge) at the table and ran upstairs to get my camera. As I sat back down, the seat to the right of me had been occupied by none other than the keynote speaker of the evening, Fran Brennan, co-founder of the Food News Journal. I think what struck me the most about Fran’s talk was her honesty, the importance of sometimes having to make your own breaks and thankfully not judging when I went for a second plate of food!

Any successful event hinges on volunteers and this event was no different. From the moment I checked in, I was greeted with a bunch of smiles which told me I was among friends. I had the pleasure of being seated at the same table as one of the volunteers. Nikki Rappaport who blogs at Cupcakes For Breakfast masterfully got up and down from her chair about two dozens times running around, serving us desserts that were drinks and drinks that were desserts from PS7 and yet was still in on all the conversations. That’s talent.

Photograph by Olga at www.mangotomato.com/

So with any conference, you’re going to meet people that you never even knew existed. I was lucky enough to meet Maisha of Girl Born Hungry. She is from D.C. and played tour guide for a group of us on Saturday while we explored the monuments at night. Walking an unfamiliar city without having to worry about getting lost is a pretty great feeling, so thank you! Simply put, Maisha is fun and I can’t wait to start reading her blog.

Photograph by Isabelle at www.messycook.blogspot.com/

Melissa shares her adventures from Love Hurts. Bacon Heals, which is true, isn’t it? She was a total treat to meet during the walking tour of Capital Hill that involved a stop at a great little spot called Levi’s Port Cafe. I filled my Southern craving with a big ole plate of Carolina pulled pork, collard greens, mac n’ cheese and sweet tea to wash it down. And I think I was able to convince her to buy a copy of The Nudie Foodies book! Oh yea, and go tell her to get on Twitter.

I was nervous to meet Lara who writes Good Cook Doris. I thought for sure I’d call her Doris, but I didn’t! Like Kimmy, she was a blast to hang out with and that smile on her website header is a true indication of who Lara is. And we’ll forever be bonded because the three of us experienced Ben’s Chili Bowl together. The chili dog and chili cheese fries ARE that good!

Photograph by Kimmy at www.lighterandlocal.com

You never know who you’re going to meet that you might see down the road. I met Colleen of Souffle Bombay, who also has a cool children’s cooking book called Picture Me Cooking. She was struggling getting all her swag into the elevator, so of course, I offered a hand. After a few minutes of chatting, we find out we’ll both be at another food blogger conference called Big Summer Potluck in Ottsville, PA this summer. Can’t wait to try those crab cakes Colleen, BIG pressure!

Simply put, I couldn’t wait to meet Jennifer Perillo of In Jennie’s Kitchen. Not only is she a talented recipe developer, but we have a bunch of mutual friends, plus I wanted to see the sunglasses up on the head in person! She didn’t disappoint, the glasses were always present and for a moment, I thought they might even be glued on. She even came bearing gifts. Straight from New York, I have some crazy dark cocoa powder and a tube of Harissa, which is a Tunisian hot chilli sauce that I cannot wait to crack open. I have to be honest though, I was not expecting the Brooklyn accent! It’s great, just didn’t anticipate it.

Domenica, Jennifer and Shauna - All Smiles. Photograph by Kimmy at www.lighterandlocal.com

I truly thought I’d meet everyone in attendance at the conference, but a combination of not being in the same session as others and me still being somewhat shy-ish to just walk up to people made it so I didn’t talk to maybe 5-10 of the attendees. Thankfully, though, Wendy who writes at Celiacs In The House joined a few of us in the hotel lobby on Sunday afternoon as we were charging phones/relaxing/recapping the weekend. The conference may have ended, but the conversations and connections were only beginning.

Nothing bonds people like being slightly lost in DC and running about ten minutes late to the next session of the conference. But Domenica Marchetti and I have just that bond and happy to call her my friend after this weekend. While walking/talking and getting lost, she was totally willing to discuss some of the inner-workings of the publishing world. Of course, I valued the information, but what I truly appreciated was her honesty. Next up on my Amazon wish-list is her new cookbook called the Glorious Pasta of Italy (Amazon US or Amazon Canada). After getting to know Domenica a little bit this weekend, the cover of the book is what she’s all about. One big comforting bowl of pasta. Do your family and friends a favour and cook for them from this book.

And lastly, what is a trip to DC without meeting Mrs. Cathy Wheelbarrow herself?! I stayed in town one extra day to tour the Holocaust Museum and then had a perfect lunch to wrap-up my weekend. After a heavy morning of reflection and thinking about my relatives, lunch at Jose Andres’ Jaleo was exactly what I needed. I could have spotted Cathy’s smile a mile away when she walked into the restaurant. The gluten-free menu had everything we could aso for and as we passed the plates around the table, it occurred to me the weekend had really come full-circle. Seventy-two hours ago, everyone were nothing more than Twitter handles, domains and avatars. Thank you Cathy, Shauna, Danny, Lara, Domenica and Lucie for a wonderful wrap-up to my Eat Write Retreat weekend. And as Lucie would say “Peace out suckaz”.

A final thank you to the kind folks at Canadian Beef. I wrote about my experience of getting tricked into eating beef tongue by my Bubbie and it landed me a ticket to Eat Write Retreat and accommodations. Who knew the power of beef was so powerful!?

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Tagged as: Conferences, Eat Write Retreat, Washington