5 Questions with a Foodie

Introducing our new column in which we chat with a local foodie. First up: Jason Guard a.k.a. RVAfoodie.

About Jason:

I gave myself the nickname, or pen-name, RVAfoodie in 2006 when I started my blog, mostly because I had mixed feelings about the name of my blog. When you set up a Blogspot site, you have to choose a URL before you can start blogging so the pressure is on. CaramelizedOpINIONS came to mind as a play on words that conjured delicious food and a disclaimer about the kind of writing I would be doing. But within a week I wanted to rebrand the site RVAfoodie, a name that could more succinctly identify me and my website at the same time. Back then, I didn’t look at food blogs, or watch much Food Network, and I didn't really know what the word "foodie" meant, or that it would become a label.

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

To me, a foodie is someone who takes an interested in what they eat or drink. So really, we're all foodies, in that we all have our own tastes and preferences, or fiercely held opinions. But, there is also a connotation is that a foodie is someone who takes their curiosity too far, they're snobby, or cartoonishly obsessed. I'm sure I have days when hobby turns into competition, but I try not to be that guy.

And yet, I still claim the name foodie partially to be contrarian. It sets up an expectation that I'm gonna deliver pompous epicurean expertise, but my perspective is usually a little different than the stereotype. Generally, I'm more interested in regular people food and how little decisions about food can make life more fun and better tasting.

Rather than pursuing the highest quality ingredients and cozying up to every chef in town, I want to know where you can get the best deal or how you can take an expensive concept and do it yourself for cheap. I want to highlight the deserving underdogs of the restaurant scene and talk about how our culinary world fits into our personal and political identities. But, ultimately, the blog and the twitter account are just a compilation of my curiosities, burning questions, and personal perspectives on issues that matter to me. People looking for an authority on food will find that, despite my willingness to share my opinion, I'm pretty uncomfortable with the idea that I'm any different or more important than anyone else.

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

Taco Bell for their speed, ubiquity, high number of vegetarian options, and mild sauce. Think about it, the Cruchwrap Supreme. Pure genius.

Food Not Bombs, because their food is FREE and shared in public by volunteers in nearly every major city in the country.

Mekong Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine, because their phone book sized menu couldn't be a more appetizing read, especially while drinking a craft beer from their rotating taps.

How did you get into food and/or cooking?

My mother taught me a few recipes before sending me off to college: a Thai curry, some Indian dishes, all pretty easy stuff when using jarred curry paste. At that age, girls were really impressed by a cultured adult meal, so when I got dates I usually offered to cook.

The food always scored points, but even if we didn't hit it off, I was enjoying cooking, so the night was never a total loss. Once I was on my own in Richmond, temp jobs dictated a diet of ramen and spaghetti with Prego sauce. But, I still wanted dinner to taste good. So, I started experimented with various additions to my big bowl of carbs.

Feast or famine, flying solo or impressing guests, I wanted to enjoy my meals.

Also, as a vegetarian, basically since 1992, I've been forced to get creative and adapt recipes and figure out how to order at restaurants that treat vegetarian customers with little consideration. We still like to eat and we don’t want to pay for the meat that was withheld from the plate. Part of that education came through volunteering with Richmond Food Not Bombs from 1998-2004, cooking a vegan meal for 200 people every Sunday and serving it in Monroe Park. The people we were serving weren't all vegetarian, so we had to make the food taste good.

And the people who mentored me could make a tasty meal out of almost anything. Most folks who ate our food became fans of our cooking as well as our various social justice campaigns (Fair Trade, anti-war, race and poverty issues in Richmond). So, I learned that one way to people's hearts was through their stomachs.

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

My wife would say that I'm never happy with anything I make. When I make mistakes in the kitchen (which is often) I get so deflated and surly, and it takes me a while to bounce back. But even if my cooking turns out well, I find reasons to talk about all the things I should have done differently. Annoying, I know.

Describe your perfect meals for one full day?

Breakfast: Anything in tortilla is better than anything outside of a tortilla. So, I really like breakfast burritos. The perfect one is out there somewhere. And when I find it, I will still put hot sauce on it.

Lunch: A crunchy sub-roll overflowing with greasy steak and cheese, grilled mushrooms and onions. Of course, if the meal was really perfect, no animals would be harmed in the making the steak and it would still taste like the real thing and not some soy product. Damn, I miss those. Also, a can of Coke and a moist and gooey brownie. And probably a trip to the gym to ease my guilt.

Dinner: Miso soup. Salad with ginger dressing. Sashimi of every type and some creative maki rolls. More sashimi. Hot saki throughout. Maybe a couple bites of my companion’s tofu teriyaki.

Dessert: Ice cream, gelato, whatever, as long as it's good. No sprinkles. No whip cream or sugary sauce. Just rich delicious ice cream. Maybe involving the coffee and chocolate flavor combination.