{This was a guest post by Don, FoodiePrints}

When Ian (@iancapstick) of MediaStyle asked me to come up with a list of my favourite local food blogs, I found myself with an abundance of choice. As a certain food editor of a local newspaper (the Ottawa Citizen) once exclaimed on his blog, "Ottawa sure has a lot of food bloggers for some reason." And indeed the illustrious Ron Eade is right.

Ever since I compiled the lists of local food blogs from the Ottawa Start website (an excellent Ottawa resource) and Ottawa Foodies wiki (we've a lot of foodies too), I found myself updating the list with new blogs monthly. At last count, there are 52 blogs on foodiePrints' list and I am certain it is not definitive. At the very least, the list does not include multi-subject blogs that have food sections like Cheryl Gain and Susan Murphy's Ottawa Tonite (an excellent Ottawa resource for entertainment).

I have my favoured food blogs, usual suspects I go to for insight or information, sites I trust. However, it was only after the holidays that I figured out why I favour them. Don't get me wrong. Ottawa has many great food blogs. The three I chose just happen to stand out based on the following criteria, which I think make a food blog noteworthy.

Enthusiasm and Tenacity: A keen interest or passion, for all things culinary, which is readily apparent in the depth and breadth of writing on the blog. Blog entries have substance. They are informative and insightful.

Eye for Food: While we at foodiePrints are, at best beginners with food photography, many good food blogs, but not all (e.g. Cooking School Confidential), feature far better photography that show off great dishes. They demonstrate a balance between bloggers' respect for the art that is preparing and plating food and drool-worthiness (aka: food porn aspect).

Time Spent Playing in the Kitchen: As a foodie myself, I feel that to appreciate food, one must learn some culinary basics and develop the physical memory that goes with cooking. Why? It is far easier to appreciate the craft honed by the professionals when you have some idea what they do in their kitchens.

Ethics: This last criteria is most important. What chefs most hate about food bloggers who review restaurants is what they describe as an almost compulsion to ruin their businesses. Bad reviews, exaggerated or otherwise, are more memorable than good ones. This is why the Food Blogger Code of Ethics was created. As summarized (and somewhat censored) by vlogger (video blogger) Chef John Mitzewich of Food Wishes, there are 4 tenets:

1. Don't be a jerk
2. Don't make stuff up
3. Ask before you use someone else's stuff
4. Dude, karma

The following three blogs meet all of the criteria for good food blogs. The respective bloggers are genuine in their intention to share ideas and encourage discussion. They also have adventurous palettes.
Whisk: A Food Blog

At first glance, Whisk resembles a similar concept to Julie Powell's blog that earned Powell a book deal and a movie (Julie and Julia). However, after reading just a handful of entries, you will find that its writer, Shari (@Whisk_food_blog), did not put Whisk together as some sort of introspective therapy with a side of cookery. She, an accomplished photographer, initially worked together with a group of other food bloggers to cook through the curriculum from the Cordon Bleu culinary school in their respective home kitchens.

In the process, she diversified her content, attempting many more dishes, and began sharing some of her thoughts on her visits to restaurants in Ottawa. Later on, she would become the Ottawa Metro's Urban Foodie, reviewing restaurants once a week for the Thursday edition of the commuter newspaper. Recently, she enrolled at Cordon Bleu to follow her dream of becoming a chef. She has earned quite the following and well deserved respect in the blogosphere.

If you want an example of the quality of food blog Shari writes, take a look at the piece she wrote for this past summer's Feast of Fields, a celebration of locally-grown organic food. Besides comprehensive images, hers was the only coverage of the event that featured a recipe from one of the event's winning chefs. While not a member of the media, only she thought to ask for her readers.

Rachelle Eats Food

Rachelle is one of two major contributors of local restaurant reviews in the Urban Spoon and Ottawa Foodies online communities. Through Rachelle Eats Food, she works to shine much needed light on the ever developing restaurant industry in Ottawa.

We have come a long way in recent decades. Once, Ottawa residents had to travel to Montreal to eat a decent meal. Now, such is no longer necessary and Rachelle's brief, but informative reviews, featuring some drool-worthy pictures, prove it.

Imagine my surprise, when I met this blogger at an Urban Element event recently and discovered she does not use digital-slr. Her pictures are taken with a pocket point and shoot (p&s) camera from Fuji, proving that an eye for good composition can trump technology when it comes to food blogging.

Besides reviews, Rachelle writes entries about dishes or meals her talented husband prepares, she admitting she has limited skills in the kitchen. Nevertheless, reading any of these blog entries demonstrates that she more than likely keeps her husband company in the kitchen, perhaps as his sous.

Nooschi

Last but not least, there is Jesssica (@nooschi) of Nooschi. Jessica is the second major contributor of local restaurant reviews in the Urban Spoon and Ottawa Foodies online communities. Like Shari, she is also an accomplished photographer, capturing images that challenge those in local newspapers when it comes to the culinary events she attends. Her restaurant reviews are also brief, but informative. The wrinkle, she travels and includes her accounts eating around the world in her blog. This additional perspective allows her to compare Ottawa's restaurants with those in other cities. She also cooks, delving into many ethnic cuisines.

What I particularly enjoy are the monthly "Spotted Interviews" she writes with random patrons in restaurants, restaurateurs, chefs, and, recently, her husband. These interviews are short and include only a handful of questions that reveal a surprising amount about interviewees. For instance, she often asks "What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?" What would your last meal be? And, what is your signature dish? Answers can be very amusing, especially if you happen to be the talented pastry chef at a certain avant-garde restaurant.

Very honourable mention goes to the Ottawa Citizen's Anne DesBrisay and her Capital Dining website. For over a decade now, she has been Ottawa's foremost restaurant critic and she has served the city well. With having completed culinary school (Paris' La Varenne no less), her reviews are lush with information about how well a professional kitchen works and the quality of dishes it produces. The reason I do not include Capital Dining as a fourth favourite food blog, despite the fact that I follow and trust DesBrisay's reviews, is because she is a professional food writer and staff at a major newspaper. As such, she is already bound by the standards of good journalism that the Food Blogger Code of Ethics applies to bloggers.

Favouring food blogs like many foods can be subjective. These are my favourites. They appeal to my palette. With 52 known choices and counting, I encourage you to find yours.

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