Foodblogger Seattlebonvivant returns!

Back in 2004, a mere five years ago when food blogging was a relatively new phenomenon, there was SeattleBonVivant--an anonymous blogger who chronicled her daily meals in restaurants, her travels abroad, and the small things in life that brought her happiness. I found this blog in 2005, and read it regularly--the quality of the photography on the blog was singular, and the fact that it was updated so often made me think there was more than one person behind the blog all posting under the name of "Viv". (I've since learned this is not true.) In the past five months, I've become good friends with this mysterious woman who goes by this pseudonym online. We had been following one another on Twitter, conversing about food, and chanced to meet back in May. She told me just recently how difficult it was for her to introduce herself, seeing as she has always been a private person, and that meeting people offline was new to her. Those who are familiar with SeattleBonVivant will know that she's largely stopped blogging for the past three years--when she told me she was toying with the idea of starting again, I asked her for an interview. (Really, more like tea and scones at her downtown apartment.)

SeattleBonVivant, for those who are unfamiliar, was Viv's repository of her adventures in food, wine, travel, a tribute to local merchants she trusted, books she's read, dishes she cooked at home, and snippets of her visits to the local farmers market. (Viv's blog was so popular, it was voted "Best Local Food Blog" by readers of Seattle Magazine back in 2007.) It was an outlet for her to express her love for her adopted city of ten years. Viv disappeared from her blog in 2006, when her mother (and several other family members) took ill with cancer. The following three years were, understandably, fraught with emotion, and Viv decided she didn't have the energy to blog anymore when all she wanted to do was spend time with her family. Now that her mother has been in remission, and is in good health, Viv tells me that she wants to go back to blogging because she missed it so much. "There was not one day that I didn't think about my readers and my blog," she says. "I missed the conversation. I've missed writing everyday, and from the emails and feedback I've received, my readers have missed me too."

In November of 2008, Viv signed onto Twitter as a way to dip her toe in the water. She uses her Twitter account to "micro-blog", and posts beautiful, thoughtful photographs of food, and of life. She's decided that SeattleBonVivant will continue in the same direction: a celebration of all the lovely things Seattle has to offer. In the three years she's spent away from her blog, Viv notes that the food blogging world has changed. "Years ago, when I first started blogging  there weren't as many blogs as there are now. It was a lot simpler then. Today, there is a real emphasis on monetizing blogs, being ad heavy, revenue streams, things of that sort. I've never been interested in placing ads on my blog or any play for pay. It has never been my motivation to profit from the blog. All I've wanted to do was to have a place to share experiences, places and things that I find delicious, interesting, and fun." Viv plans to continue to keep her blog ad-free and her voice independent.

Some (like myself, back in 2005-2006 when I was reading Viv's blog), might wonder how SeattleBonVivant is able to showcase such a great many restaurants, with only one woman behind the camera and the words. Viv works as a freelance interpreter and translator, so her schedule sends her all over the city--always in proximity of a new-to-her restaurant. Her partner, Mr. C (whom, I might add, is endlessly sweet and charming), travels frequently for work, and Viv often chooses to dine in a restaurant instead of preparing a meal for one. Some might also wonder at Viv's desire to go to lengths to remain anonymous online, given that increasingly few food writers in Seattle can claim the same (our own Dining Editor Allison Scheff is one of a handful). "I’ve always been very private and cherish that privacy. I get to enjoy the food scene around my neighborhood and the city at large while being able to use my real name, pay with own credit card and not be noticed... It keeps the blog honest. My readers appreciate that," she says.

And what can we expect from her first blog post? Her eyes sparkle: "It will most probably be a mishmash. Twitter, the recent changes at Sweet & Savory, Delancey...I'm not really sure where to start, but I think that is the whole point, right? To just do it. I'm ready!"

In the five months that I've known her, Viv has expressed time and time again how grateful she is to have met more of the local food community online, many of whom she now counts as dear, real-life friends. “I have been blogging for over 5 years, yet until this summer with the exception of my close friends Shauna, Molly and Mohini, I had never met any other fellow food bloggers in town face to face, never attended a blog event or attended any media functions. I'm grateful to Twitter for giving me that push to introduce myself to people I trust, to get out there and use social media as a tool to make friends and create community." Those of us who are fortunate enough to know Viv in person realize that she really embodies that rare "bon vivant" quality that so many of us wish to acquire, and few achieve. This is something that comes naturally for Viv, a woman who will invite friends over at the drop of a hat for some pie and conversation, hosts a party nearly every week, and always has a kind word for all on her lips. Spending time with Viv makes the world seem a little brighter, a little more uplifting. I have no doubt her blog will continue to be as popular as it once was, if it captures even a fragment of the joy that Viv brings to our lives everyday.

Follow Viv on twitter @bonnevivante

Check out Viv’s blog at www.seattlebonvivant.typepad.com