Stoa Digest #59: For the love of food 🥘

because everything that sizzles isn't always steak...heh heh

Aug 01, 2022

It’s a Monday and a start of a new month! I hope your life is treating you well as we near the end of the year.

Exciting times, Cohort 06 enters month four & Cohort 07 is kickstarting the second half of the program with Paneer Express to look forward to this weekend. #prayforC7 #paneer7

On our end, the machinations are busy at work behind the scenes at Stoa as we gear up for Cohort 08.

The Stoa platform is coming along well, our newly founded tech team is building and building day in-day out. I hope we can have an Erin bot in there too, someday 😝

What’s that I hear in the distance?! …eeeaaaaarlllyyyyy acccesssss…

Yes! We will be reaching out to a select few of you to become early users of the platform 😁

—
In a change of pace, this week, the spotlight is on the enthucutlet from Cohort 06 & current guru to everything food related!

🔦Fellow Spotlight 🔦

Let’s set the stage; what is your origin story?

I graduated with 2 degrees in design, but when it came to my career, I chose a different path.
Writing started as a “because I’m good at it” kind of a thing and more so because my parents threw me in the job pool to see if I could survive that life!
Eventually, I ventured into content creation space with food & lifestyle as my favourite categories and that’s how it has been for the past 7 years.

How did your food blogging journey begin?

I remember it was baking I was drawn to most initially. It all began when in 2013, I stayed over at a friends home during Christmas, that boozy plum cake in the oven was rising in its own glory, her mom's famous apple pie was being garnished with laced pastry dough and the chicken quiches were being served with hot mashed potatoes!
That very scene transported me to all those food shows I watched while growing up! It was the spirit of celebrating food that I can never forget. It was indeed the smell of my new found path, my calling, that I was about to embark on, hoping it lasts for a lifetime.
In 2015, I also ended up starting my first start up as a home baker! It was called Joy in A Jar. From cookies to brownies, cake pops and chocolate clusters, it was a menu I prided in. But then I hit a roadblock. Those years, logistics were an issue and after delivering most orders on my own in a city like Mumbai, after much deliberation I had to recourse.
So, I took a step back and started documenting my restaurant experiences where I would try something new, with ‘where I eat’ as a concept on the gram! As a kid I was a picky eater (I think I ate only 2 dishes for the first 7 years of my life!, like my mother tells me) and cut to today, I have a blog where I cook & bake cuisines from across the country & world. While also working on a job, I found myself resorting to shortcut methods to make delicious food but with not too much of tam-jham. If you read my bio, it says a lazy girl’s aesthetic blog and initially it wasn’t even aesthetic! But with time, it came with exploration, inspiration and from a place of pride for having learnt it either from the Internet or on the job where from a content curator I budded into a content creator.

You recently crossed 10k followers on Instagram! Congrats on the milestone 😀

Ahhh and now I’m at 10K, although elated, nothing happened overnight. It was a journey of hard work, consistency and passion. Everyday you hope that one of your content pieces explodes. Every single day..
I learned the hard way that in order to sustain and grow, I need to focus on the content that matters the most rather than trying to optimize on one hit viral wonders!
I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey because my connection with food has grown deeper. But what changed my life overnight was learning the virtue of acceptance through one single line “don’t yuck somebody’s yum”

How did the food walks come about? They’re absolutely loved by every Stoan that attends them!

I was inspired by this concept of ‘Food Walk’ when Chethan, from C5 (credit where it’s due) had planned one in Jayanagar. I loved the idea so much that I wanted more and then it just turned into a thing that I don’t want to stop doing!
My first one was in Jayanagar too where we enjoyed Bangalore Masala Poori, a concept I was blown by! Then some Masala Dosa & Paneer fruit and ended it with DBC from corner house!
I believe that the biggest connect for me with people is through food. Meeting new & old faces, exploring different parts of the city, different cuisines and mostly spreading smiles when they take that first bite or a sip is what keeps me going.

When is the next food walk planned? How can people register for it?

On that note, I plan the next one in HSR layout on 5th August and it’s going to be the one you don’t want to miss! Why? Of course because of the line up I’ve been planning since last 3 weeks. Added bonus is you get to meet some amazing fellows from Stoa who are as passionate about food as you are! Also, I’d like to appreciate the support I’ve received from some amazing folks I met through these food walks (they know who they are) who help me with places I must visit. Bangalore has been a revelation for me. So, thank you.

What’s the long-term goal with your passion for food?

A quote by Isaac Newton that comes to mind, “What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean.” I thrive on learning something new everyday. My shorter goal is to learn the monetisation side of content marketing, and longterm is to solve an everyday snacking problem in our lives!

You can (and should) follow Shreya’s page on Instagram!

📣 Announcements 📣

It’s time for your start of the month Mixer, and this time, we’re doing it in a new place in a new format. Shh no spoilers…

🐝 Community Buzz 🐝

It’s August 2022, and you know what that means! Premier League kicks off this month, and did you know that we have a Stoa-run Fantasy League

Use the link below to sign up, and we wish you the best in attempting to dethrone 2x Winner of FPL: Ayush Thakrar 👑

Join here!