Jodi Bart Holzband is one of the original Austin Food Blogger Alliance board members. Tasty Touring focuses on the restaurant buzz in Austin, with a few recipes sprinkled in for good measure. Jodi has a wealth of knowledge of what chefs are serving up, and the best place to find a food truck when you are feeling adventurous.
Tell us about yourself! Where are you from? Why do you blog? What is your focus?
I’m a proud Canadian and was born in Ottawa, Ontario. My time living in Canada was relatively short as our family moved to the suburbs of D.C. — Maryland — when I was only six. Folks who are familiar with me and my blog know about my obsession with maple syrup — I have a guide to maple syrup availability in Austin on my blog that I try to keep updated. My focus is on my fondest food-related experiences and include a wide variety of content from family recipes to new Austin restaurants to travel.
How did you start blogging?
I started my blog in July 2008 as a way to express my creativity and share my love of food and travel with others. At the time I didn’t enjoy talking about my job, and the blog gave me something to talk about when people asked me the inevitable question, “what do you do?”.
What items are always in your fridge or pantry?
In the fridge you’ll almost always find blue cheese, coconut water, maple syrup, and Fage yogurt. In the pantry there will inevitably be middle eastern and southeast Asian spices and sauces to be used in some of our favorite Ottolenghi and Pok Pok recipes, as well as a bar of Dolfin dark 70% cocoa with cocoa beans.
If you could share dinner with anyone, who would you host and what would you eat?
This is a tough one, but my ideal dinner guests would be people I love who love food (and aren’t picky eaters)!
What is your favorite AFBA memory?
I was a founding board member for AFBA and have too many fond memories to count. A highlight for me personally was helping to organize and curate the Austin City Guide — it’s been such a great resource for locals and visitors alike and it had the added benefit of driving traffic to our members blogs!
What is your most popular post?
My most popular posts are actually listed at the bottom of my homepage. The post with the most comments is “Austin Overrated: No, you should NOT eat at that Austin institution“.
