Nosh Pit

Seattle Food Blog Chain: Scott Heimendinger

A geeky cook, a gifted photographer, a man who prefers to write in the nude—that’s Seattlefoodgeek.com, the next link in the food blog chain.

Posted by: Allyson Marrs on Jul 12, 2011 at 02:34PM 0 Comments

“I want to focus on things that are geeky with an emphasis on things that are local,” says Heimendinger.


Photo Courtesy: Victor Estevez

The Seattle Food Blog Chain: Nosh Pit spotlights a Seattle food blogger, then asks that blogger to point us in the direction of another food blogger. Last time we talked to chef Becky Selengut, she passed us on to Scott Heimendinger, AKA Seattle Food Geek.

Selengut on Heimendinger: “He is the sexiest food geek ever, and this is coming from a lesbian, so that means a lot."

About the blogger With only a few cooking classes under his belt, Heimendinger has made a name for himself experimenting with just about everything in the kitchen. “One of the ideas that I’m starting to play with is using Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for food.” On octopi, for instance. “Can I make a dish where part of an octopus changes color on the plate? I think a lot of people would find it gross, I find it kind of cool.”

But his real passion is the food-prep method sous vide, in which vacuum-sealed edibles are submerged in water and cooked slowly at low temperatures. “It’s still pretty new for home cooking," explains the blogger. "I’m fascinated by what we haven’t discovered yet.”

Mini-review of the blog Seattle Food Geek combines high school chemistry class with sophisticated cooking and mouthwatering photos. Heimendinger frequently posts results of his whacky home experiments along with DIY tricks that—fair warning—require some dedication. See, for instance, Shrimp in Cocktail Leather.

Bookmark if You’re a geek too. “I get a lot of the same people who go to Comic-Con,” says Heimendinger. If you’re reading my blog questioning: ‘Why the fuck would anyone ever care about this?’ you’re probably not my audience.”

Level of commitment Despite his fulltime gig as a program manager at Microsoft, Heimendinger spends 20 hours a week maintaining his site. Scientists are such overachievers.

Randomly selected quote “I don’t have a lot of experience shucking—I find it awkward and a little dangerous to go jabbing a blade into an oyster’s crevice. So, it’s a good thing I can use liquid nitrogen to do the work instead.”

What you don’t know “I write most of my articles naked.”

Advice for aspiring food bloggers “If you love Wheat Thins, make your blog about Wheat Thins,” he suggests. “Don’t try to be all things to all people.”

What local blogger did Heimendinger choose to form the next link in the chain? Find out next week on Nosh Pit.

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Tags: DIY cooking, Food Writing, Food Community, Seattle Food Bloggers, Seattle Food Blog Chain

Seattle Food Blog Chain: Becky Selengut

A something-for-everyone site dishing out tips and wit.

Posted by: Allyson Marrs on Jun 28, 2011 at 01:49PM 1 Comments

“I love every kind of food,” says Becky Selengut. “I even love garlic, but it hates me.”

Photo Courtesy: Clare Barboza

Here’s the deal with the Seattle Food Blog Chain: Nosh Pit spotlights a Seattle food blogger, and then asks that blogger to point us in the direction of another food blogger. Last week we talked to snarky Baketard Marc Schermerhorn, he passed us on to local chef and sustainable seafood advocate Becky Selengut. (Schermerhorn on Selengut: “She’s one of my best friends but my nemesis on Twitter. She’s extremely talented.”)

About the blogger Becky Selengut is a chef who’s allergic to garlic. She’s worked in restaurants for more than ten years, including the The Herbfarm and La Medusa, and was less than compassionate for those who made alterations to the menu crying food allergy. “Someone would say they’re allergic to dairy and make a big stink, and then they’re stuffing their pie hole with cheese. Ya right, it’s an allergy,” she says. “But now that I’m on the other side, I really want the cook to take it seriously.”

Garlic notwithstanding, Selengut will eat just about anything. “Food is how I think of the world. My brain is hardwired to see if I can eat that thing. I’m like my Labrador: ‘can I eat that?’ all the time” she says. “I don’t know how food has inspired me; it just is me.”

Mini-review of the blog Tips, tricks, and narratives round out Chef Reinvented. Selengut is a private chef, a cookbook writer, and a cooking class instructor—all of which are reflected in the blog. “It’s about how we all reinvent ourselves all the time to do new things. I want it to be a food/humor blog,” she says. Posts include challenging cooking techniques, there’s a whole sous vide series with a familiar British face, sustainable food lessons, travel narratives complete with hilarious photo captions (check out her trip to Paris), and even event listings.

Level of commitment One hour each week. “I like to think that I go for the quality and not quantity model of blogging,” she says.

Randomly selected quote “The French are skinny and French pigeons are kind of chunky. Americans are kind of chunky (that’s an understatement) and our pigeons are lean. Parisians walk an awful lot and they walk to their favorite boulangeries to pick up their favorite baguettes. They are loyal patrons. They walk all over Paris eating their croissant and baguette, flaky bits of bread cascading from their lips into the mouths of waiting pigeons who fatten themselves on the buttery flakes (not good for a bird’s tender heart) and then croak from heart disease right at my feet.”

Bookmark if Your food interests are more comprehensive than specific. Or, you’re an older gentleman. “Mostly dads [read my blog]. Like my dad,” says Selengut. “It’s my family, my friends, and maybe twenty fans. Or people who like stories and humor.”

What you don’t know At the age of eight, Selengut attempted a sophisticated meal that she saw on TV: mushrooms on toast points. “We didn’t have any mushrooms that were fresh, so I found the canned mushrooms. I dump the mushrooms in the pan with the water. We didn’t have any good bread since it’s like 1978, so I took wonder bread, didn’t toast it, and poured the soggy canned mushrooms over it. It sat for like an hour, then my dad got home from work and I presented the dish.”

Advice for aspiring food bloggers “I’m not a model blogger,” she admits referring to the infrequency with which she posts. “But people do come to expect a certain thing from you. My thing with my blog is inconsistency, so I keep that consistent.”

Next week: a food dork who is also rather dashing. Does it get any better than that?

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Tags: DIY cooking, Cookbooks, Cooking, Food Community, Seattle Food Bloggers, Seattle Food Blog Chain

Attention Foodies who Need Foodies:

A local group of food lovers meets on the first Friday of every month to eat lunch and talk food. You should join them.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 27, 2010 at 10:16AM 0 Comments

A lunch where people will want to talk about your steamed pork buns. Not like that! It’s a foodie lunch.

If you love food, you love to talk about food. And if you love to talk about food, your friends who don’t love food may tire, from time to time, of discussing pickled cauliflower and foie gras bon-bons and how David Chang better watch his dang back because your version of the Momofuku pork bun is totally sick.

Tell it to these people: Seattle Foodies is a local group that meets up to talk and eat food. On the first Friday of every month they convene for lunch: On June 4 they are gathering at Cantinetta. Chef Brian Cartenuto will prepare a special three-course feast, you just show up at 11:30, pay $25, and dig in (tax and tip are not included). RSVP on the website. Previous lunches have taken place at Dahlia, Steelhead, and Mistralkitchen.

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Tags: Lunch, Special Lunches, Food Community