A brief interruption to our regular programming, if you will allow me the floor for 60 seconds. This plaque here doth commemorate sixteen years of eating more than my fair share of the best that Utah has to offer, and then verbosely telling you all about it; not least with an excessive amount of alliteration and onomatopoeia in the mix too.
Here I am receiving an award from the Utah Restaurant Association’s Katy Sine. I am honored, humbled, and proud as punch. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the grand gala event event in person this year as I was – you guessed it – already somewhere (Austin) eating.
While we’re on the subject of shiny things, Gastronomic SLC also picked up a couple more for the mantle this year. Let’s bid farewell to this list of dining don’ts garnered a nod from the Utah Society of Professional Journalists (humor category), while The Pearl – upping the ante for Utah bar food also got a hat tip from 2023 Top Of The Rockies Excellence In Journalism (criticism category).
As blushingly-giddy as I am, I’m really here for the food and the words. And most importantly, to hopefully bring you actionable news that keeps your plate full of only the best in town. To anyone who has read the website over the years, enjoyed it, hated it, been worried about my general well-being. Cheers. Thanks for reading along.
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Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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Congratulations on a well-deserved honor!
Thanks Val 🙂
Congratulations, Stuart. You are a role model for those of us aspiring to prove Jonathan Gold wrong. You’re the best proof I know that blogs are not dead. Keep up your outstanding work!
Thanks Gil, you’re very kind! I’ve just added your blog to my RSS reader and look forward to reading along with your NM adventures. I love reading well written food writing from all over the country and the world 🙂 That’s kinda why I do what I do, I write what I would personally love to read. That sometimes means going off on weird tangents 😉 I’ve always strongly believed there are people who like to sit down and read, and always will be, despite some writers reckoning social media has reduced everyone’s attention to four seconds and a swipe. I do both, I am sure others do too.
Ooh do tell on Jonathan Gold, I am not sure what you’re referencing there? I do know that Tony Bourdain once had a swipe at food bloggers as a useless bunch though 🙂
Forgive me for not getting back to you more quickly. On July 22, 2018, Jonathan Gold wrote a piece on Foodaism in which he declared “Well, food blogs are dead. There are still some people doing them, and there are still a bunch of cookery blogs where people are ..” Sadly, Foodaism no longer exists and I haven’t been able to find the remainder of the post.
Your site is proof that well-written blogs continue to thrive. Thank you for continuing to serve Salt Lake City (and those of us who love to visit) so well.