You've been reading our ramblings here at Slashfood for months now, so isn't it about time you get to know us? Over the next few weeks, we'll be playing 20 questions with our Slashfood bloggers, just so you can see what kind of insanity is cooking in our brains. And kitchens. We've already met Nick, Stefania, and Andrew. This week, it's Joe DiStefano, our man on the street in NYC.

Do you have a personal blog?
Um, kind of, I started one about barbecue a while back called JoeyDeckle.com. My Web guru is gonna kill me when he reads this, since the site's on a long-term hiatus.

What is your day job, or rather, what do you do when you're not food blogging?
Day job!? What's a day job? For a long time I worked as a production editor at a trade magazine about shopping centers. Now I troll the mean streets of NYC's outer boroughs in search of culinary adventure.

How long have you been blogging with Slashfood and what is your favorite post?
I've been with Slashfood since February. Favorite post: Soon doo-boo jji-gae...oh my! And, no, I didn't pick that one just because it was my first post, I also really dig the picture.

Do you have any non-food-related, non-blogging hobbies?
Sure. Hiking, crossword puzzles, listening to jazz, collecting Sinatra records and vintage watches.

Not every foodie does, but do you cook?
I seem to remember something about roasting a duck a few years ago and braising some short ribs a few months back. Bottom line: I do, but not nearly often enough.

What is your most prized utensil/gadget in the kitchen?
Tough choice, as far as gadgets go, I'm really into my Bodum French press. As for prized kitchen tools, I have a wooden mortar and pestle that belonged to my folks; it's at least 50 years old. We used to mash garlic with it when I was a kid.

List three things in your refrigerator right now.
A container of Greek olives, a squeeze tube of Red Gold Hot Paprika Cream. Oh, and, of course the requisite Slashfood staffer's bottle of Sriracha sauce.

You have to impress a date with a home-cooked meal. What are you going to make?
I'd look up Daniel Boulud's famed short rib recipe and pair it with some sort of high-falutin' warm goat cheese salad and maybe caramelized Brussels sprouts with a little balsamic vinegar.

What is the last thing you ate?
Four slices of white cheese Turkish pizza. Cold, no less!

Confession time – what do you eat that will get you banned from Slashfood?
See above. Just kidding. Go-go taquitos. But only when Josh Ozersky drags me to 7-Eleven.

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Hey, that's a loaded question. I've got way eclectic tastes! But I'll narrow it down to Vietnamese sandwiches and DiFara's pizza.

Your Mom makes the best _____.
Mom made the best homemade pizza, manicotti, ravioli, zeppole.

Which chef would you most like to have come into your kitchen and cook you dinner?
Masayoshi Takayama or Daniel Boulud.

Who would you most like to eat dinner with?
President Bush and Anthony Bourdain. That way Tony B. and I could stomp W.

Your drink of choice?
Depends. I love a good small-batch bourbon, like Blanton's. Then again a really salty margarita rocks hits the spot. And there's always premium cold sake. Hell, I'm a lush, but a high-end one.

Where was your best restaurant dining experience?
Las Vegas: a company dinner at a ranch-themed chophouse called Star Canyon, that sadly is no longer open.

The worst?
A friend dragged me and another victim to a Chino-Latino place that he'd been raving about. Normally I can get into this sort of thing, but this was absolute slop.

Do you want fries with that?
Bien sur. But only if they're the frites from DB Bistro Moderne. False airs aside, I do like the twice-fried ones better.

What foods do you think should be banished from existence?
Steamed barbecue ribs, decaf coffee, and squid guts.

What do you see as the biggest "thing" in food for the coming year?
My crystal ball's on the blink, but here's a wish list. As a New Yorker I sure as hell hope it's not more big, overblown megachef productions (i.e., Del Posto, Morimoto). I'd like to see more barbecue spots, and I've love to see someone combine Asian flavors with slow-and-low cooking. As for trends, I see more ethnic fast-food operations like Pollo Campero on the horizon.