I'll Bite - Will You?

Welcome to my new food blog. Why are we calling it I'll Bite?

If you're familiar with my writing in The Observer, you know that I have a sense of humor. So yes, I do sometimes say things with a little bite.

But really, it's because this blog is about all things surrounding food, cooking and eating. I'm a food writer, not a restaurant reviewer (my colleague Helen Schwab has that job), so I lean toward cooking and food shopping. But I eat in restaurants, too, so sometimes I'll share observerations about that as well.

There isn't much I'm not willing to try, either in the kitchen or on a menu. (Although I reserve the right to refuse chicken livers, livermush, lemon meringue pie and Peeps. I've tried 'em, and I still don't like 'em.)

There also isn't much about the subject of food that doesn't interest me. Almost 20 years, after a decade in journalism that had taken me all around the newsroom and through a half-dozen news beats, I turned to food writing because I realized it was the most interesting beat of all.

Food is history, it's sociology, it's economics, it's health. Everybody eats, whether they pay much attention to it or not. And everybody can relate to food.

If you're looking for articles we printed in the Observer food section, you'll find those at www.charlotteobserver.com/food.

Look here for recent news, events in Charlotte, and interesting developments in the food world.

For the next few days, I'll be in New Orleans attending the annual conference of the Association of Food Journalists. I'll try to at least post a few things on Twitter; search for #obsfood. (And I promise to put down the Blackberry if I pick up a Sazerac.)