Why Blog? Frankly, because I can. From the time I was 14, I wanted to write. So I did, I wrote poems, song lyrics and short stories. I even have 2 unfinished novels sitting in my desk drawer. One about a maniacal, crazed killing machine (the villain) and a guy (the hero) who is just in the wrong place at the wrong time, sound familiar? The other, a science fiction fantasy novel about swords and magic and faraway lands that I know I will never finish. Why you ask? Because I don’t love those things, nor am I as intimate with those subjects as I am with food.
I started in restaurants 23 years ago as a dishwasher when I was 15. I’ve been to culinary school, I’ve worked all over the country and spent almost a year living and breathing food in Switzerland. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done. If the ‘replicators’ seen on Star Trek became a household item, I’d be seriously screwed. I don’t know how to do anything else. Yeah, I like to take pictures, but I’m a long way away from that providing any kind of income. I know a little about computers, but no more than the average 11 year old who will work for a PB&J. So food and its preparation has been, is and will always be my life.
Does writing a blog make you a blogger? Do people have to read your blog for you to be considered a blogger? What if it is just one person? That one person who googled Star Trek and found me on the 71st page of his search? Well, I don’t care (although a business card with the title ‘Food Blogger’ under my name sounds kind of Geexy (Geek + Sexy = Geexy)). I have something to say. So this is more for me to get stuff off my chest and out of my head so I can actually sleep at night without every bloody thought in my head crashing around like a drunk guy looking for a toilet in the closet.
When I originally set up this blog, I named it Ask the Expo. After noticing that my own personal site had been sitting there, ignored for months, I decided to combine my blog and my personal site into one (hopefully) content rich site. Since then, I’ve gone back to the christophercina.com moniker
“Ask the Expo. Why did I want to call it Ask the Expo? The expeditor (or Expo) orchestrates the flow and rhythm of the kitchen during service as a conductor does with his orchestra. This position is usually helmed by someone high up the food chain in the restaurant, the owner, the general manager or even the Chef himself. Everything that happens during the service flows through this key position. It is the one position that can singlehandedly bring a service to a crushing halt. Each player in the restaurant, line cooks, servers, bartenders and even dishwashers fill a role and perform a specific function. The Expo, generally has to have detailed knowledge of each person’s responsibility and each individual strength and weakness in the execution of a service This is not to say that I know everything, there are many that know infinitely more than I, but hopefully this website can be a place to come with any questions you may have.”
What will you find here? I’m not doing restaurant reviews; I prefer to leave that up the vast majority of writers and bloggers who couldn’t tell the difference between a buerre rouge and a buerre mixer. It’s troublesome to think these people have sway, although a wise chef of mine once said, “Bad press is still press, no?” What I envision for this site is a place for myself and likeminded individuals to have discussions on a variety of topics from latest trends, cool gadgets, recipes, beverages and photos. This is also a place for me to vent when I feel the need and for those same people to call me out when I’m wrong, which will probably be often.
Thanks for checking out my site.
@ccina
The smell of fish clings to me like cheap cologne.
