Welcome to the official Bergmann Bites blog! When I started my Instagram @bergmannbites in September 2015, my initial purpose was threefold.

Background

First, I wanted to document all the wonderful food I ate for my own selfish sake so when I reviewed it several years down the road, I could remember both the tasty food I ate and the people I shared it with. Purely self-serving. Nothing wrong with that.

Second, I wanted a way to keep myself accountable for a continued culinary exploration of my home city at the time – Los Angeles. Living in a vibrant city with an astounding diversity of cultures and cuisines, I wanted to learn more about Los Angeles through the gastronomic gateway of taco trucks, strip mall ramen joints, and abundant donut shops.

Lastly, and most importantly, I wanted a visual way to share all my favorite restaurants, donut establishments, and ice cream parlors with the people I cared about – YOU! I never (and still don’t) care about the number of people who follow my account. Nah, I’m going to post no matter what. Go viral? Nah, I just want to post my pics. In fact, for plenty of reasonable people, foodstagrams are pretty much the bane of social media and a symbol of the narcissism of millennials. I even get that. I respect it. No offense taken by this guy.

But for many of my friends and the people I’ve met over the last three years, food is something special. It’s a way to connect with a stranger, re-connect with an old friend, or show someone you care. It can be used as a metaphor for life events or it can just be a really damn good way to make your morning (have you ever woken up to the smell of waffles?. I’ve been fascinated by food since I was a kid, from the time I kept a secret snack drawer under my bed to the entire Chuck E. Cheese pizza I ate when I was 7. Recently, this pastime has taken the form of thoughtful conversations with friends, reading food-related books, and posting photos of my food on @bergmannbites. Now, this hobby will manifest itself through this blog. Sure, I’ll continue to post pictures on Instagram for the more frequent dopamine hit but this blog will serve a complementary purpose to my original Instagram.

Purpose

The blog will contain a well-researched list of all my favorite food, coffee, and dessert recommendations in the cities where I’ve spent a significant amount of time. For the cities where I grew up (Portland) or attended college (Los Angeles), that list will number 50+ and continue to grow. For the European cities I visited once, I’ll just link my food blog from that abroad semester. This is the primary purpose of the blog – a go-to spot for your weekend trip to Portland or summer internship in Los Angeles. Straight-forward. Life is too short to eat subpar food.

The blog will also have a portion called Food for Thought, where I’ll serve up long-form essays on different food-centered topics, from global takes on agricultural sustainability and animal meat replacements to reviews on food-related books. Whatever I’m craving. This section addresses my hunger for a taste of ideas that engage the brain, not just the palate. While I’m living in Taiwan until July 2019, I’ll primarily focus on intriguing topics I discover here and cook up some pieces for you to intellectually chew on. But this part is meant to be collaborative – let the ideas posted here marinate a bit then shoot me your thoughts. If you ever have a question or just want to discuss, please let me know via email at bergmannbites@gmail.com.

Well, that’s all I have to say about that. If you made it to the end, thanks for reading and hope you find some use out of the Bergmann Bites blog. HUZZAH!