October 29, 2009

Written by: Vince McConeghy

Name: Andrew Z. Galarneau
Age: 42
Occupation: Food Writer, Buffalo News
Born: Chicago, Moved with family to WNY in 1975
Graduated: Pembroke Senior High, University of Buffalo
BA

Galarneau has launched a new food Blog for the Buffalo News called Hungry For More that is now a regular part of the newspaper's website. The Blog represents an evolution in coverage by the News and an affirmation of the role of food as a subject matter of immense interest with its readership. Galarneau is captaining a slender vessel out into the great sea of food content but seems to have set his eyes firmly on the horizon.

“Before I get done with this thing (the Blog),” he commented “I hope to explore and get inside every kitchen that is turning out every possible type of food in Western New York and bring it to life. People like reading about food, not necessarily because they are going to cook something that night, but as a means of learning about community.”

LFS.com: Who has influenced your thoughts on writing and food?

Galarneau: I’d have to credit Calvin Trillin, the writer for the New Yorker, who in my opinion changed the face of food writing in America. He made it OK to have high ambitions about food and discourse, but was able to express this in what sometimes were the humblest of settings and circumstances.

LFS.com: How did you arrive at your position as Food Writer at the News?

Galarneau: Well, I’ve always been way too interested in food in general. In fact, I’ve been accused of planning vacations around places and choices of what there was to eat, instead of what one might actually do in these surroundings. In fact, there was some merit to this accusation…At the News, I started writing food features three or four times a year. It progressed from there and when Janice (Okun) retired, I became the Food Writer. Let’s be precise, I am not the Food Critic for the News, but the Food Writer.

LFS.com: What, then, does the Food Writer write about?

Galarneau: Food, cooking, restaurants, food business, people working inside the food business, people cooking in their homes.
I am interested in everything from when you pull it out of the ground until it is served on your plate…We hope to use the website for the great publishing tool that it is, and aggregate as much content for our readers as possible. We are no longer confined  by space limitations. There is now room for things such as extra recipes, videos, profiles, all the work that you put into the process now has an outlet.

LFS.com: What content should food service operators provide you?

Galarneau: The first thing that might surprise them is this: I don’t know what is happening out there, unless somebody sends me something. Don’t be shy, but then again, don’t send a press release or a story idea the day before your event and expect it to get published. Allow at least two weeks lead time for items you might want to show up in the Blog. Send me openings, closings, events, all the things you might see in the Short Orders section of the Gusto. We may not be able to use it, but that should not discourage you because chances are we might discover something for future use.

LFS.com: Any food websites you can recommend?

Galarneau: Serious Eats, Slash Food, Smitten Kitchen are a few I read. Locally, I think Buffalo Chow is really doing a great job.

Postscript:

The Z. in Andrew Z. Galarneau’s by-line stands for Zemo, a self imposed moniker Galarneau bestowed upon himself in grade school.

Explained Galarneau: “My parents never gave me a middle name and I just got tired of leaving that space blank. So I chose Zemo. Hey, it’s on my passport.”