“To claim that wines should not be changed is a heresy; the palate becomes saturated and after the third glass the best of wines arouses nothing but an obscure sensation.”
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)

As I enter what might be my “third glass” phase of food blogging, I’m trying something new to avoid the above mentioned obscurity. But before heading face first into number three, let me toss around the first two.

 

Glass number one was intoxicating. Starting Tableau Vivante was a personal experiment. My personal blog was choking with recipes and pictures that couldn’t be seen by the wider world and worse (in my mind anyway), the man who sparked my interest in food, my dad, couldn’t read about the food exploration I was doing because it was locked up behind passwords and members-only access. Locking up a recipe box feels highly unnatural to me – but I also didn’t really want my dad reading about the nooks and crannies of my personal life (and I’m not sure he would really dig that either). The solution was to make a separate food blog, fully available to the public (and thusly my dad), that would have all my recipes and photos in one neat and tidy location.

 

It was a mess. Unorganized. Random. Poorly edited (still working on that part actually). Somewhere along the line I started getting new readers (from lord knows where…I did no marketing whatsoever) and became more keenly aware of the quality of what I was sticking out there. The recipes started to fade a bit (I still post them, just rarely) and the trips to the local market started being the main focus. Thus began Glass Number Two: The Focusing.

 

I’ve been going to farmers’ markets for decades. I love everything about them (well, maybe except the parking). I love it when the fresh greens come out in spring. I love it when stone fruits perfume the air in summer. I talk with everyone. I ask a ton of questions. I take hundreds of pictures. I meet really interesting people. I make friends. The farmers’ market is a weekly food event that’s open to the public and fosters a neighborly vibe that keeps us from staying strangers in this modern wacky world. It was a fluid shift for the blog. It was still about food. But it had more direction. And in a world of food blogs (we have easily over 50 of them here in LA), no one was really making the markets, the center point of so much California cuisine, their focus. It became a natural fit. I got into a groove. I got noticed. And the readership took off. I went from having a handful of friends and family reading to hundreds of readers worldwide. Hundreds. It’s funny to say that and remember feeling so overwhelmed by it. I really had no idea what was coming.

 

Late last year, the groove became a rut. The camera was in tow with me everywhere and it began feeling a bit noose-like. I posted less regularly. I took less pleasure from it. I decided it was time for some balancing. Because let’s face facts – I don’t get any payback from doing this except that I enjoy doing it. I’m not making any money off of it. There’s no red carpet treatment or name recognition (because I’m generally anonymous). My sole purpose was withering into Brillat-Savarin’s third-glass obscurity and I hadn’t even hit the dregs of number two yet.

And then I went to Paris.

 

Everything stopped for that trip – the blogging, the cooking, even the markets. I was busy researching and planning and hording my euros. The city itself was a gastronomic balm (more on that in other posts). But even better, Paris taught me to enjoy it all again. I came back from France renewed and alive and ready for my third glass. It all tasted rich again. When I showed up at the market after being gone for almost a month, I was greeted with warmth and remembrance. There was that neighborly vibe again, bringing me back in for a big cozy hug.

 

I had started Tableau Vivante on Livejournal two years ago because it was a known quantity for me. I’ve actually been blogging since 2000 and a decent chunk of that time has been spent at good ole LJ. This “third glass” stage has a bit more complexity than the first two. And I brought more than contentment back from Paris. I have things I want to do and ideas I want to fly that LJ can’t accommodate. Sometimes last year’s shoes just don’t fit as well as they used to, you know?

The tricky part is the URL. Most of my readers have the old one solidly bookmarked and RSS’d. For the time being, I’ll probably mirror the two sites. But eventually, this will be home and LJ and I will part ways.

Things to look forward to? Lordy. Lots.

I have ideas. I have plans. I’m not being ambitious so much as improving the overall experience for both myself and y’all. There may even be contests. With prizes. Guest bloggers. Hay rides. Cruises. Whatever. Things already feel better and all I’ve done is make the new blog. If you’re here from Livejournal – fret not. The RSS is up and running and can be parked neatly on your friends page. I’ll figure out the rest as it comes up.

 

I’ve changed it up on the third glass. Come enjoy a new vintage with me. The best is yet to be.