Moleskine Passion's Recipe Journal is on the shelves!

Let's get away from the internetseriousbusiness posts and back to the usual lightheartedness that is Gastronommy, shall we?

Geoff and my notebook displays are now out across Asia!  I guess I shouldn't have given them the same profile photo as I'm using on this site.  The low res photo came out all pixelated on the Moleskine posters!  haha!  I hope people don't think it's me trying to cover up my identity again. *ahem*

So here are the posters!

It's kind of funny, they used the same 4 pages I chose to display in a previous post about this.  I should have taken photos of all the pages of my hard work, since I had to give the notebook back :'(  There were also written shoutouts to those of you whom I knew enjoyed a particular recipe of mine.

And here is Geoff of Geoffstwitchen and a sample of his lovely Moleskine journal!

 If you've come across these posters, give us a shout on Gastronommy, Geoffstwitchen, or our twitters @geoffstwitchen/@victoriacheng/@gastronommy!  I myself haven't seen them yet (haven't been to the locations this week).

Taiwan - Eslite

Hong Kong - City'Super, Page One, Dymocks, Kelly & Walsh

Macau - New Yaohan

China - emo+, Gistyle, Homeplus, Kubrick Beijing, Popular Bookmall, Point to life design bookstore, Chapter 7, CNPIEC

Singapore - Page One, Kinokuniya

Malaysia - Cziplee

(for the record, unless stated otherwise and like EVERYTHING else on this site, I was not paid or even asked to blog about this product.  This is of my own accord. )

As for what else I'll be posting about, upcoming are some more food and beverage adventures in Hong Kong!

The ethics of food writing.

Coincidentally, three weeks ago I started a Gastronommy draft about my disapproval towards today's so-called "foodies," Food Network whores, the crappy saturated food blogosphere across the globe (maybe mine included!), and picky eaters who have decided to eliminate entire food groups from their diet for exasperating reasons.

Two weeks later, I pick up an issue of TimeOutHK sitting on my colleague's desk in our Duke's Group office.  I flip through and notice a review on TBLS and generally approve, as the writer and I seem to be on the same page about that restaurant.  Later I see a column by the same writer about food bloggers.  I found the article relevant to my original post and was actually going to link to it, not realizing who exactly she is referring to in her anecdotes.  A week later, some small potato silliness unravels in the digital world... as you may have noticed from my previous entry.

I wrote a comment in response to the last entry on the Twitter episode, but I've decided to copy and paste it here with some additions.  I don't know if I'm going to post my draft from three weeks ago anymore, since half of it is now covered below.  But we'll see.

Quote from my comment in previous entry (slightly edited):
On topic, what's interesting to note is that after my post on TBLS on Feb 3 (first written opinion on TBLS in HK too! =) ), Geoffstwitchen.com linked my entry quite a number of times, including directly to TimeOutHK. One week later, a review of TBLS by TimeOutHK AND her "Bloggers shouldn't be allowed to blog" column.  Hmm....
--Just forming theories and insinuations. ;)
(I'm joking, guys... half joking anyway)

What's funny is that the writer of this article and the dyslexic FoodInsider don't seem to realize is that I actually agree for the most part with her Blogger-hate attitude and food journalism ethics.   Particularly her categories of food blogs:
"Many blogs fall into one of three categories: the ego-driven nobody who power-trips with his iPhone, writing negative, knee-jerk reviews if they are not fawned over at restaurants; the “I took my mom to ____ and we liked ____ very much” variety; or the worst of the breed, the marketing spiel disguised as a personal blog."  


Some writers are elitist when it comes to dining and food writing.  But I'm very cool with that.  As dear friends and family already know, admittedly I too am elitist about those who choose to label themselves foodies.
 

 I can't stand wannabe food writers who blog about food, simply because they eat.  They don't research or understand how to completely appreciate food or all of the hard work that may have gone into the establishment.  I also can't stand lazy food journalists (rampant in HK for that matter), who nag restaurants for free tastings and end up taking one or two bites, before taking advantage of the free alcohol.  From personal experience, I've seen certain HK food writers parade into Duke's Burger and our other establishments literally saying to our staff, "Don't you know who I am?"  At minimum, I expect established food journalists around the globe to follow the New York Times' standards: at least 3 visits, stay anonymous, try as many items as possible on the menu, research, and get the facts right.  Additionally, editors should not be influenced by their advertisers.  I've also personally experienced advertisement salesmen of well-known publications in Hong Kong who have made promises to influence their editors to write about our various restaurants if I chose to advertise with them.  This is a reality and it's wrong.

Where the writer of this article and I divide (besides her nonsense victoria-hidden-identity-bullshit) is her inability to get with real life and understand how media is edging towards the digital, whether we like it or not; that restaurants giving free tastings to bloggers is all part of the marketing and PR scheme. The common blogger, regardless of their writing quality, integrity or intentions, have some power. At the end of the day, restaurants are a business.. and the common restaurant patron often uses the internet as their first source of food-research.

She and others need to accept that reality and work with it before they get left behind. If she truly cares about the ethics of food writing even into the blogosphere, perhaps she should stop with the petty gossip and should instead be using her journalism power towards making movements to standardize laws or regulations, similar to the US Federal Trade Commission's new regulation on requiring consumer-driven blogs to state when an article is actually an advertorial or based on complimentary products and services.

As for this statement in the TimeOutHK column:
"The last category is harder to spot if you don’t do the due diligence. Some of the most respected food bloggers keep their identities hidden for anonymity, but if you cover the food beat, then you’ll know instantly which ones are blood relatives of people running various restaurant groups."

First, I'm going to completely ignore the part about anonymity as it is completely irrelevant to me (see previous entry notes on this, if you want to be updated on the story).  I will be completely straightforward and say that I speculate that this writer either has a grudge against me or she's simply deluded if she still believes her original accusation (which she also retweeted on her Twitter).  The accusation strangely being that I am hiding my identity, hiding my affiliation with Duke's Group, hiding my relationship to my father (owner of Duke's Group), hiding my affiliation with Gastronommy, and thus she implies Gastronommy is being used for ulterior motives.  From what I know of her writing, background, education, and mutual friends, she originally struck me as a relatively intelligent sane human being.  Her accusations and implications about me on her Twitter are surprisingly irresponsible and quite disappointing. As a journalist, she should get her facts right.  As a person, she should show some grace and admit the error. ...but I digress.

So let me ask you guys this, unless the industry-related blogger is using his/her blog as an advertising platform or other gray-area means, isn't it to be expected that the individual has a keen interest on the topic as a hobby as well?  Is it really that surprising if someone who grew up in a vineyard to end up blogging about wine?  Is it wrong?  If anything, I'm personally interested in food blogs written by waiters, chefs, line-cooks, restaurateurs, baristas, cashiers, farmers, doorbitches etc as it gives another perspective and insight I otherwise might not have realized.

A second question:
Should non-paid bloggers of any genre, be expected to uphold the same responsibilities as a paid journalist?  Is it fair to demand that they always include proper disclosure, honesty and research?

Out of personal values and integrity, even with Gastronommy being purely a casual personal hobby-blog, I hold myself to the same responsibility.  However, I'm quite torn about expecting the same from the thousands upon thousands of other bloggers in the world.  Hobby-blogs are a personal matter, so I feel self-righteously demanding the same is not my place.  I figure the quality blogs (or the entertaining gag-worthy cheap blogs) will rise and the rest will naturally fade into the shadows.

I shall leave you with my sleepy late night thoughts.  Thanks for reading.
xx

Twitterriffic. Some clarification.

I suppose 4-5 of you visitors are here out of curiosity from a certain twitter account. I am revolted by the idea of giving this anonymous user any attention, so I have stopped replying on twitter to the harasser that is @FoodInsider. I finalized my response to him on DM, "Don't try to use me as fuel to get yourself attention with your belligerent antics."

Twitter unfortunately makes it difficult to follow an exchange properly, so users can abuse this to twist their tweets into their own made-up conversation.  Thus, I have compiled the exchange for you in chronological order for your reading pleasure.

I will say very little beyond correcting the facts. I think this exchange speaks volumes for itself.

FoodInsider:
Staunton Group (finally) succeeded in getting the Duke's Burger space to complete their trio domination of the corners of Staunton Street.

hkFashiongeek:
@FoodInsider so they are now well and truly Staunton Group huh? Does that mean they can't expand anymore? Or will there be an Elgin Group?

FoodInsider:
@hkFashionGeek Good Question.They played dirty to get that space.Victoria Cheungs dad owns the bldg,so even if Duke's closes, they still win

iheartsoho:
What's with the weird signs in Duke's Burger, will have to get to the bottom of this...

FoodInsider:
@iheartsoho Do you mean the signs at say "Last Days, Come Try"? I can tell you in a private DM if you really want to know.

FoodInsider:
@iheartsoho Duke's denied closing for mons,even tho evryne knew they were closing.TimeOut printed they were closing,but Duke's denied it....

@iheartsoho The day after Duke denied it,they had a sign Last Days, ComeTry. Either PR had no idea what they were doing,or they were lying.

@iheartsoho Therefor the signs.

iheartsoho:
@FoodInsider Intriguing... If what you say is true I have to wonder if the whale will find a home across across the street?

FoodInsider:
@iheartsoho The Whale played dirty to get that space. Remember the deck Duke's used to have outside.. ever wonder why it's not there?

@iheartsoho The owner is asking $250K per month for the Duke space. Can a small space like make that kind of return?

VictoriaCheng:
@FoodInsider @iheartsoho Duke's "denied" it because they weren't sure yet. Duke's has zero PR team by the way. It's all word of mouth.

VictoriaCheng:
@FoodInsider @hkFashionGeek G Victoria Cheungs dad owns the bldg,so << Are you implying that "Victoria Cheung's dad" owns Staunton Group?

FoodInsider: 
@victoriacheng No, your dad owns Duke's Group(burger/Deli) and the bldg Duke's Burger is currently in. Why are you talking in third person?

VictoriaCheng: 
@FoodInsider Because as far as I know, I am not Miss Cheung. Besides that, much of your information on Duke's Burger is only half correct.

FoodInsider: 
@victoriacheng Please let us know what's going on with Duke's. I have a pretty good source on these things. Most coming from Duke's staff.

@victoriacheng R u are not the same Victoria Cheung? Bc the author of food blog gastronommy.com is also the daughter of the owner of Dukes

VictoriaCheng: 
@FoodInsider Please note sarcasm. EVERYONE knows my relationship with Duke's Burger, dear. It was all over food media when it opened.

FoodInsider:
@victoriacheng In fact u even write about ur relationship with Duke's here http://bit.ly/5SruQ6. Ru denying ur father owns Dukes? Calling BS

VictoriaCheng: 
@FoodInsider I suggest you reread our exchange, you sound very silly right now. Clearly, I am not Victoria CHEUNG.

I also originally tweeted: "I am also more than happy to share the facts about Duke's Burger (if it even matters anymore), just ask." I've sinced deleted it because FoodInsider doesn't know what he's talking about and he's looking to start a fight.

I then sent him this DM, hoping to clarify this apparent misunderstanding:

VictoriaCheng:
i'm not discussing this publicly with you anymore. You obviously don't get the joke about you misspelling my name. CHEUNG/CHENG

[no response]

Then back to public tweets--

FoodInsider:
@victoriacheng Wow u really are a psychopath like evryne says.CHENG BROTHER HOLDINGS LTD owns Dukes. I'll have a word with ur dad to clarify

to those this may not be obvious to, FoodInsider doesn't even know my father's name (not even surname it seems), let alone be able to even talk to him.  Does it matter anyway?

VictoriaCheng:
@FoodInsider You're very strange. I don't think you understand the nuances of being facetious. I am CHENG, not CHEUNG. CHENG's Holdings

FoodInsider:
@victoriacheng I understand the difference. You have a food blog AND your dad owns a restaurant group. Conflict of interest?

@victoriacheng When does the lying stop with you? A week before Dukes is to close, you say it isnt? Rests dont have 1 weeks notice to close.

@victoriacheng It is Cheng Holdings (like your last name), not CHEUNG.

I sent the DM about not using me as a tool for his attention getting antics and blocked FoodInsider at this point.  

hkFashiongeek:
@csetyono @victoriacheng @FoodInsider so what was the consensus? And also, who's Victoria Cheung?

FoodInsider:
@hkFashionGeek Its no secret victoriacheng was fired by her dad bc she kept messing things up at Dukes. He was trying to save face for her.

@hkFashionGeek So its understandable why victoriacheng denies being the daughter of Dukes Group owner.Its shameful shes doing it publically

@hkFashionGeek Also,I'm sure victoriacheng doesnt want the public to know she keeps a food blog &is the daughter of a rstaurnt group owner.

this is of course very funny to all of us, since my twitter is my real name with a link to this blog.

hkFashiongeek:
@FoodInsider ohh you were referring to victoriacheng. coz the first tweet said victoria cheung and i was confused..

FoodInsider:
@hkFashionGeek yeah for some reason victoriacheng was calling herself cheUng to confuse pp.But its cheng who is the daughter of Dukes Group

@hkFashionGeek Anyway I want readers to know gastronommy.com is written by someone with family ties in the food industry & not be deceived.

AngieWong:
RT @FoodInsider: @hkFashionGeek Anyway I want readers to know gastronommy.com is written by someone with family ties in the food industry & not be deceived. 

hkFashionGeek:
@FoodInsider oh. that's strange. I thought it was common knowledge.. and on twitter she's obviously using her real name..

------

I am debating whether or not I should bother pointing out the ridiculousness of this exchange since it seems so glaringly obvious.  But here's a quick list of bullet points about things that aren't AS obvious as FoodInsider's Cheung/Cheng name mix-up:

• It is no secret that I am Victoria Cheng, blogger on Gastronommy.com.  It's clearly on my twitter, my facebook, this site and others.  I suppose I'm flattered that people like FoodInsider and perhaps others think they've stumbled upon some great secret worth publishing or twittering about.  ;)
• Everyone in the industry already knows my ties to Duke's Group and if they didn't or aren't in the industry, I have blogged about it three times on this site (which is funny that FoodInsider and Angie Wong of TimeOutHK would help link everyone directly to my Duke's related posts in a tweet--I'm starting to think they're deliberately pretending to not realize this out of some mysterious grudge).  My Duke's Group business card even says gastronommy.com on it.  The print and broadcast media have published my name, photo and title with Duke's Burger when it first opened.  See Tatler, HK Economic Times, SingTao Daily, etc.   This is so painfully obviously not a secret, it hurts to even have to spell this out.
• The gossiper is also stating false facts.  Besides the fact Duke's Burger is now closed (again, not a secret), everything else spouted out of his Twitter is false.  I was originally reluctant to even bother correcting his petty lies and bad information, since I figured he doesn't deserve to know.  Honestly, nor is it really anyone's business if they don't already know the truth.  But here it is.
• 5 Staunton St is not owned by my father (another signal how out of the loop FoodInsider and his source is),  
• Duke's Burger never denied closing and neither did I,  
• I originally left Duke's to go back to school in New York (says in my info on this site),  
• and obviously I never hid my identity or found any need to.  It's not like I'm a celebrity nor do I really write about Hong Kong.*  If anything, I've paraded my identity and intentions since the start.

*Though it's cute that despite all of my father's hard work and minor fame within a certain circle, he is referred to as nothing more than "Victoria Cheungs dad."  And by cute, I mean, FoodInsider is not so much on the "inside" as s/he likes to think after all.

Here's another lead.  Expect to see more Duke's Delis and Burgers around Hong Kong sooner than you think. 

As for the topic of "conflict of interest," it says it all on the right hand column in my info/about me section.  I've been upfront since the start.  Besides that, as has always been stated, Gastronommy is NOT a newsletter or official restaurant review site.   The few restaurants I write about are mostly not in Hong Kong anyway.  I just talk about food and my interests in it in general.  I have advertised my involvement in F&B (see top right hand corner), because I figured it would be an interesting perspective for friends of friends who have stumbled onto this site.  It's like saying Cristiano Ronaldo starting a blog about sports is a conflict of interest.  Ridiculous.

But it's a decent topic, so perhaps more on that later in another entry. ...as well as my opinion on Hong Kong's media industry.  Which, as many of you friends know, through my general observations and through first-hand experiences dealing with them when I was working directly with our restaurants (Duke's and others), I never thought highly of them at all.  But I guess it's not fair to hold HK Mag, TimeOutHK, SCMP, etc to my high New York publication standards.

And at the end of the day, all of this won't matter by tomorrow.  Hope that clears things up for the curious stranger!  Srs biz.

Sent: Moleskine Passion's Recipe Journal

In this entry back in January, I mentioned my involvement with GeoffsTwitchen and the new Moleskine Passion Recipe Journal.  Well, I did the best I could in less than two weeks time before their courier came by the office to pick it back up.  I wish I could have kept it while I was in Singapore over Chinese New Year to continue filling it out!

 

My cheese section with lists of my favorite cheeses and places to buy my fromage in various cities.. with photos of my own arrangements at home!

 

I'm not sure exactly how they'll be exhibited, but look out for Geoff Wu's and my journal in the following cities and stores in March 2010:

Taiwan - Eslite

Hong Kong - City'Super, Page One, Dymocks, Kelly & Walsh

Macau - New Yaohan

China - emo+, Gistyle, Homeplus, Kubrick Beijing, Popular Bookmall, Point to life design bookstore, Chapter 7, CNPIEC

Singapore - Page One, Kinokuniya

Malaysia - Cziplee

Turtle Burgers

Despite turtle soup shops gracing every few corners in Hong Kong, the appeal of eating turtle is just about zero.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've had pet turtles throughout college.  Who knows.

But then I came across this on thisiswhyyourefat.com:

Turtle burgers!

I still kind of wish it wasn't in a turtle shape (yes I am still somewhat turned off, even with the ultra-win combo of bacon, cheese, beef and hotdogs).  The creator calls this the "Bacon Cheese Turtleburger," originally made for his Super Bowl gathering. 

 

Sharp cheddar cheese, Hebrew National hotdogs, bacon and ground beef patty to be baked.

Okay, now that looks less like a turtle and more like super delicious.

Photos and description from Interwebs Randomness and Other Inspiring Tales and ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com.

Video Edition: JuicynDelicious

(SCROLL DOWN to see the additional posting added 9 Feb)

As mentioned in this entry, a few weeks ago in Singapore, Juicyndelicious sent me a last minute invite me to join them for some chili crab.  The vanity in me is wholly embarrassed by my disheveled appearance and how I wasn't prepared to talk about crabs.  Ah well.  The video's out and here's the link anyway to take a look at some delicious chili crabs!  Chili crab, black pepper crab, and beehoon crab to be exact!

9 Feb: Scroll down this post for a bit more details (now that I've had time to digest the crab and think about it).

And on Saturday night, I had to stop by Australian Dairy Company one more time before I left Hong Kong for Singapore again.

mmm...

And then my first meal upon arriving in Singapore today.  I do this a lot when I'm famished or the food's great, but I forgot to take a photo before I started gorging.  I love hokkien mee and wonton mein (dry style)!  Thanks to Colin for bringing us here!

Edit:
Tuesday 9 February 2010

Last night, Mr. Mah and I went back to Mellben Seafood's other location at Toa Payoh.  I was seriously craving chili crab and cereal prawns.  I didn't mention this in the video: while I thought their beehoon crab and black pepper crab was fantastic, I actually prefer No Signboard's chili crab gravy, cereal prawns and mantaos over Mellben's.  I was still having my chili crab and cereal prawn craving as Mellben's didn't quite hit the spot for me the first time around.  But as Adrian reminded me, maybe they were having an off night.  I decided to visit again last night.

Mellben Seafood Round 2!

Between the two of us, we had a small crab and cereal prawn.

 

They may have had a No Guarantee sign, but one thing is for sure at Mellben: their crabs are plentiful in meat and sweet in flavor.

Look at the size of those crabs... and this was at the end of the night!  Both visits to Mellben at both locations have proven their crab worthiness.  The crabs were always fresh and never overcooked.  The crab always came out in perfect whole chunks instead of dry flaky bits that stuck to the shell.  I would have taken a picture of all the beautiful pieces of crab meat, but our hands were to the wrists in chili gravy.

 

The cereal prawn this time around was much better, though the actual flakes still didn't hit the spot for me.  It didn't have that nom-tastic sweet condensed milk aftertaste that No Signboard's has.  The prawns themselves were meaty and tasty though.

The mantaos were a bit stale and not fried enough!  But to be fair, we the last customers to arrive at 9:30pm on a Monday night.

Aaand the chili crab.  As mentioned in the video, the meat was still succulent and plentiful.  And as also mentioned in the video, the sauce was a bit more tangy and the chili flavor is very apparent.  I am still relatively novice to the intricacies of chili crab, but I think what I was looking for has something to do with No Signboard's tomato sauce.  I have to visit No Signboard again to triple check that I do indeed find their chili crab gravy more thick, rich and savory than Mellben's. 

 

With that said, it couldn't have been all that bad.  Look at the damage we had done between the two of us.  Shellfish graveyard. 

If you visit Mellben Seafood, definitely order the Black Pepper Crab and Beehoon Crab!  

And while I'm on the topic, some people have asked me if I've been to another well-known chili crab joint, Jumbo Seafood.  Long review short: Jumbo sucks.  I don't get the appeal.

 

Mellben Seafood (Ang Mo Kio) [location of Juicyndelicious video shooting]

Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

#01-1222

Tel: +65 6285-6762

Mellben Seafood (Toa Payoh)

Blk 211 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh

#01-11/15

Tel: +65 6353-3120

No Signboard Seafood (Esplanade) [not depicted in this post]
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-14/16 Esplanade Mall
Tel: +65 6336-9959