20 Questions with a Slashfoodie - Alexa Weibel

When new bloggers join the Slashfood team, we like to make sure they get a proper introduction to our readers. Meet the latest addition to our team, assistant editor Alexa Weibel.

Do you have a personal blog?
Not quite yet: I'm trying to narrow down my focus, whether it be cooking, food photography, or restaurant notes. Until then, I post my food photos as Facebook updates, much to the chagrin of my disinterested non-foodie friends.

What is your day job, or rather, what do you do when you're not food blogging?
I'm an editorial assistant at Saveur magazine and freelance writer for Venus Zine.

How long have you been blogging with Slashfood and what's your favorite post?
I just started last week, and my first post is a review of a guacamole cookbook. The book itself was disappointing -- comically so -- but it did make me realize that bacon can be, surprisingly, an amazing guacamole ingredient.


Do you have any non-food-related, non-blogging hobbies?
I also enjoy photography, travel, reading, running and road trips.

Not every foodie does, so we have to ask: Do you cook?
As often as I can handle the challenges of my tiny Brooklyn kitchen! It's a really tight fit. I have about 3-square-feet of counter space and a ton of cooking stuff -- in fact I had to trek to Home Depot to get an industrial rack to hold my spices.

What is your most prized utensil/gadget in the kitchen?
I couldn't narrow it down to one - I treasure my bright orange Le Creuset Dutch oven and my bright red KitchenAid stand mixer equally, but also am partial to my collection of vintage kitchen items (ranging from 1960s Parisian food key chains to Apollo 13 glasses).

List three things in your refrigerator right now.
Crushed galangal, Amora mayonnaise I brought back from Paris and Baconnaise, which I picked up at the Fancy Food Show in June. I love the story behind it -- these two guys won a fortune on "America's Funniest Home Videos" and decided to spend it making everything taste like bacon.

You have to impress a date with a meal. What are you going to make?
Unfortunately for me, my boyfriend seems to prefer cheese sandwiches and pizza over anything I cook. But my favorite dishes to impress would be mushroom-shallot crèpes with crème fraiche and Gruyère; or simple homemade pasta topped with brown butter, zucchini and pepper. I'm also obsessed with two Gourmet dessert recipes lately: a ginger-cream tart that I top with kiwi, as well as the strawberry-mascarpone tart with port wine glaze.

What is the last thing you ate?
Coconut-curry butternut squash soup, homemade.

Confession time -- what do you eat that will get you banned from Slashfood?
I have a weakness for orange junk food -- nachos of all varieties, Kraft macaroni and cheese, even Cheetos. I am not ashamed.

Your Mom makes the best _____.
Pistachio-crusted chicken with avocado cream sauce, Parmesan-onion canapes, chocolate-chip cookies, pasta puttanesca, apple pie. ... Really, everything she cooks is fantastic. I also have to give a nod to my dad, my barbecue hero!

Which chef would you most like to have come into your kitchen and cook you dinner?
Jean-Georges Vongerichten. I love how his dishes burst with such refreshing flavors -- though I guess they'd better, if you've ever peeked at the massive ingredient lists in his recipes.

With whom would you most like to eat dinner?
I could conjure up more historically or culturally significant characters, but truthfully nothing sounds more fantastic than an outdoor dinner with my parents in their lovely Southern California backyard, with fresh tomatoes from the local farmstand.

Your drink of choice?
Truthfully, water -- as heretical as this may be, I prefer not to drink with my meals. But if forced, Orangina would be my favorite nonalcoholic drink. As for alcoholic beverages, I've been experimenting with cocktails lately, my most successful being a rosemary-infused gin drink with Rose's syrup and lemon seltzer.

Where was your best restaurant dining experience?
I still have an awe for the copper pot collection at La Mère Poulard in Mont-St-Michel, France -- I went there as a child with my parents and ate steak, but the pots and pans are what floored me most! But in recent years, I was truly floored at Mario Batali's Del Posto -- I felt like I was eating a good meal for the first time.

The worst?
My credit card was stolen by a busboy at a prominent French restaurant in Manhattan. I haven't returned since.

Do you want fries with that?
Yes please -- and I'll probably request some mayo to go with, and top it with ungodly amounts of salt and pepper.

What foods do you think should be banished from existence?
Absolutely nothing -- I was a vegetarian for nearly eight years and extremely averse to all things meaty. That being said, my two recent foodie loves are prosciutto and bacon, so I'll try anything.

What do you see as the biggest "thing" in food for the coming year?
The organic thing has obviously been a long time coming, but I think more and more people will attempt to grow their own gardens and produce, and take a heavier hand in the production of their meals.