Victoria Cheng: Freelance Journalist, Food Writer (magazine), Editor, Presenter, TV Host. Here's the blog about it.
One early autumn evening in 2009, Victoria started a blog from her midtown Manhattan apartment. Here's the short version on how it went down.
Related links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | about.me
The Humble Brag | Press Coverage
One early autumn evening in 2009, Victoria started a blog from her midtown Manhattan apartment. Here's the short version on how it went down.
Related links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | about.me
The Humble Brag | Press Coverage
I'm pretty terrible at keeping track of media clippings and coverage when it happens to be about me rather than written by me. Here are some clippings I managed to keep, since it's supposed to be important and stuff: Gastronommy in the Press
Past and present sponsors, clients, and partners include: Remy Cointreau, Lululemon, Shiseido Professional, Clé de Peau Beaute, Optimum Nutrition, SK-II, Tunglok Group, Yahoo, Lifestyle Fitness, NTUC Fairprice Finest, Diageo Reserve World Class 50, UOB, Electrolux, Heineken, Ukon no Chikara, World Street Food Congress, Büro24/7, Tools of the Trade (ToTT), World Street Food Congress, Night Owl Cinematics, Sony Pictures, Cocoloco, Antidote SG, Food for Life TV, Brand New Media, and others.
Past and present sponsors, clients, and partners include: Remy Cointreau, Lululemon, Shiseido Professional, Clé de Peau Beaute, Optimum Nutrition, SK-II, Tunglok Group, Yahoo, Lifestyle Fitness, NTUC Fairprice Finest, Diageo Reserve World Class 50, UOB, Electrolux, Heineken, Ukon no Chikara, World Street Food Congress, Büro24/7, Tools of the Trade (ToTT), World Street Food Congress, Night Owl Cinematics, Sony Pictures, Cocoloco, Antidote SG, Food for Life TV, Brand New Media, and others.
The Story Starts Like This | About Victoria Cheng
I grew up in New York, but my career began in the Food & Beverage industry in Hong Kong. Despite having the good fortune to be involved with award winning restaurant conceptualizations and developments in Asia, I was still young and sought to expand my knowledge. (related: Press Coverage Hong Kong). Eventually moving onto my next calling in 2010, I brushed off my dusty and rather overly priced degree in Journalism, and found myself choosing between writing for one of my favorite New York publications or pursuing an opportunity in Singapore. It was also during this time I started Gastronommy.com on a whim to document my nomadic ways.
I opted for the Red Dot adventure, joining one of the city-state's best food titles with an unforgettably wonderful editorial team at Appetite Magazine. My Southeast Asia hardships included maintaining a healthy waistline and adapting to the magazine's in-house British styling versus a natural inclination towards American-spelling. I failed on both counts, by the way. (related: My First Restaurant Guide in Print)
Fast forward to today, where I find myself hopping from city to city, working on personal food related projects. The work over the years have come to include guidebooks, food television, and feature articles for numerous publications in the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong. (related: Professional Background, Articles)
I opted for the Red Dot adventure, joining one of the city-state's best food titles with an unforgettably wonderful editorial team at Appetite Magazine. My Southeast Asia hardships included maintaining a healthy waistline and adapting to the magazine's in-house British styling versus a natural inclination towards American-spelling. I failed on both counts, by the way. (related: My First Restaurant Guide in Print)
Fast forward to today, where I find myself hopping from city to city, working on personal food related projects. The work over the years have come to include guidebooks, food television, and feature articles for numerous publications in the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong. (related: Professional Background, Articles)
Gastronommy.com was simply a personal hobby blog with a focus on food, travel and culture. It does not have any real agenda other than sharing thoughts and cool factoids I learn along the way. It does not exist as your average restaurant-review site, nor do I have any interest in announcing myself as a self-proclaimed one-true-food-blogger-to-rule-them-all (disturbingly, it has become an increasingly trendy self label).
With all that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised to observe a steady growth of visitors over time. This site's true purpose exists to simply record a journey in the world of food, sometimes tongue in cheek, and at other times serious business. Like most things, there is always more to learn and share. Thus, what I'd really like this site to be is a place for conversation. (related: A little about me, a story how this all came to be)
Currently on Gastronommy...
I blog whatever the hell I feel like blogging about.
Candor should be the point of a personal blog. Since my career consists of critiquing for publications, I don't often "review" things, venues, or people on a blog, unless inspiration hits... usually positive. But when necessary, there are negative experiences that should be shared too. I can assure you that giving a negative review always weighs heavily on writers, since people's livelihoods are often involved. But ultimately, I consider it a responsibility and point of pride to the growing number of Gastronommy readers to offer an honest perspective.
About The Food Diary | How is this different than the rest of the posts?
It basically answers: What am I eating right now? There are times when I have an unusual meal--for better or for worse--and would like to share it on this blog without going into a full-fledged review (reviews can take a lot of time: visiting, fact checking, chef interviews, etc). The Food Diary will consist of casual blurbs and photos of the week's eats. Some will eventually evolve into more detailed articles outside the Diary if it happens to inspire my pen as such.
Hey, that's not food related | The occasional post about life beyond the kitchen.
Christian Bale said in a 2013 Esquire Malaysia interview, "Robert Duvall once told me not to have my life revolve around movies and acting. To live life properly and to have friends who have nothing to do with it. Not to drift into this circle of competitiveness and just associate with other actors. That's when life becomes dull, and nobody wants to see actors who only know about the world of acting." I feel the same way about my work in food. I have many other interests in addition to culinary on goings, and I pursue them as well.
Suitably defined by UrbanDictionary.com: "Om nom nom" is the sound of ravenous eating. Popularized by the character Cookie Monster on Sesame street, it is now used commonly in speech, especially among younger people. Cookie Monster exclaims "OM NOM NOM NOM" when gobbling down cookies. (related: How does one omnomnomnom?)
First Impressions | Who designed this?
The site is currently undergoing a redesign. If you were led here via my business cards, my rather cool namecard (admit it!) was created by a local Hong Kong graphic and package designer, Ivan Cheung. Thanks Ivan, Patrick Bateman would approve.