We’re Going Back on the Air, Hopefully for the Last Time
image by J Portugall, via creativecommons.org
Toqueland is back!
That’s right, I’m putting the key in the ignition, hoping the engine turns over and that this baby can still run the way it did for a brief while in the winter and spring of 2010…
Actually, I’m hoping the site will run a whole lot better, with more posts and even more compelling content. Here’s where I went and how things’ll be different this time around:
Back when Toqueland first sprang into existence, I was full of optimism about how often I could crank out magazine-feature-length pieces while also penning a bunch of books. What can I tell you? I was carried away by my own enthusiasm. After a while, I realized I couldn’t keep it up and let the site quietly lapse into a vegetative state, although I never took it down.
In the intervening year and a half, a number of things occurred to me about how the site might be different—both more manageable for me and also, perhaps, more interesting for you.
What I realized was that every offering didn’t need to be a 1,200-word feature story. Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s what blogs are for, but I wanted the site to be more of an online publication than just a stream-of-consciousness scroll. Anyway, I’ve come around… sort of: Moving forward, Toqueland will combine quick bursts of commentary and observation with more full-length articles: I’ll share what’s on my mind every day, but also continue to profile chefs—both heralded and unknown—and other industry figures; spend time in a variety of kitchens; turn you onto perceptive books, movies, video clips, and other depictions of the profession; and do whatever else seems worth doing at any given moment.
Beyond that, I’ll also post with anything of note that comes up as I work on book projects, which at the moment means life with Paul Liebrandt and Michael White, and–if all goes according to plan–will soon find me collaborating with Harold Dieterle. So expect plenty of wit, wisdom, insight, and so forth from those toques in the coming months.
Bear with me. I was so eager to get the site back up and running that I’ve relaunched it with a few odds and ends left to remedy; as new posts go up, I’ll also be addressing a few stray typos, cleaning up the aesthetics, and just generally prettying up the place. Also, please don’t be mislead by some of the so-called “recent” posts on the home page–until I push them out of the way with new material, some 2010 dispatches will still show up there; I’ve dubbed these Vintage Toqueland in hopes of skirting any confusion.
That’s all for the moment. Just wanted previous followers of the site, and any new visitors who may have found their way here via Twitter or Facebook, or a well-timed Google hit, to know that there’s plenty of new content on its way, and that—I dare say—it’s worth coming back soon.
Thanks for reading, and off we go…
– Andrew
