5 Questions with a Foodie: Robey Martin

"5 Questions with a Foodie" is our new column in which we chat with a local foodie. This time: Robey Martin, restaurant reviewer and food blogger.

About Robey Martin:

I started writing about 5 years ago with the blog In Vino Veritas. My food writing changed when I combined that blog with another well-known food blog, I Wish I Could Cook, a few years ago and began Whine Me Dine Me. You can find me there, yammering away about all things food and at Style Weekly.

How do you define the term foodie and do you consider yourself one?

Being into food (and writing about it) isn’t an exercise in how-far-can-I-stick-my-head-up-my-own-ass. Everybody eats. My definition of a foodie is someone who likes food a whole damn lot. Is that me? Perhaps. I am passionate about food. Have I been called a foodie? Sure, but I have been called a lot of things.

If you could pick the best components of a few Richmond restaurants to create one super fabulous restaurant, what would they be?

An oyster shooter from Sensi, an empanada from Café Rustica, pork Osso Bucco from 27, the airy atmosphere of Can Can when its windows are open, the woodiness of Bellytimber, the marble bar of Lemaire, the barbecued quail at Comfort, the beignets at Louisiana Flair … wow, my super fabulous restaurant has a serious personality disorder.

How did you get into food and/or cooking?

My family. My father makes dinner most every night and my mom attempts some wild recipes on the side. If you ever meet her, ask her about the biscuit/lard debacle of 1993. I still have no idea where someone would actually go to buy that much animal fat. My sisters were always better cooks than I, so sheer jealousy drove me to learn as much about food as possible. (Have I just backed myself into a corner with this foodie thing?) And my brother will eat anything. Traveling with him (really, with my entire family) opened my eyes to curious food I otherwise would have hesitated to chow on.

If I were to ask your significant other or best friend what your worst “foodie” trait is, what would they say?

I am super impulsive with eating. I will stop (sometimes abruptly) at the most obscure (sometimes dangerous) places to eat—not always the best for sensitive tummies or automobiles following us on trips. I am THAT girl. You know, the one who says, “Try this. It is terrible.”

Describe your perfect meals for one full day.

Breakfast: A nice crusty baguette, a cup (or four) of strong coffee and some fresh butter.
Lunch: A simple grilled cheese or some freshly made pappardelle with a crushed tomato sauce.
Snack: A dozen raw oysters.
Dinner: Fresh lettuce salad with balsamic, lightly seared scallops or braised short ribs and Brussels sprouts.

I would not be crushed if you added hand-cut French fries to all of these meals.

Do you know a foodie that you’d like to see profiled? Send an email to kpeifer@richmond.com.

5 Questions with a Foodie: Robey Martin

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