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Stephanie Dickison’s Spot in the Light

Posted by Correen in Articles, Interviews | 1 comment

We all deserve our spot in the light…this I believe wholeheartedly, it’s actually why I’ve created this space where we get to know food lovers from around the globe. When Stephanie dropped me a note about getting together for an interview, it took me an ‘enth’ of a second to go for it…especially once I’d peeked at her online work.

As most of us dedicated to working from home have come to realize…it’s not easy. You are not going to get rich quick overnight, despite what them damn spammers say. It’s about a dedication to your craft, expressing that honestly through the work you do. Stephanie has been hitting the bricks and writing passionately for over 16 years, so today I am honored to give this Stephanie Dickison interview the spot in the light…it’s a beautiful Sunday after all!

Tell us a little bit about your site, One More Bite. and your aspirations,

One More Bite was created as a way to share my love of food outside of my restaurant reviews for Metro Newspaper, my Dining Out column for Poetry of Food and the other food writing that I do. Sometimes I just want to cook something and then talk about it or I get the opportunity to go to an event or meet a chef and so I can share that exclusive encounter with my readers.

What are three important points you cover whenever you write-up a restaurant review?

1. I am always honest about what happens while I’m dining there. It might not be the same experience you’ve had in the past or what might happen on your next visit, but it’s what occurred when I was there.

2. I only have 150 words to get my point across. That’s why the pieces are mostly about the food, with a sentence or two about the space and atmosphere. Nice and focused as opposed to the 800-1000 word ones I used to do.

3. Trying to incorporate the colours, flavours, textures and aromas is always my goal, but if something really stands out to me, I might forgo one or two of them.

How do you get your various food related writing gigs? Is it about ‘who you know’ or ‘being in the right place at the right time’?

Ha ha. It mostly comes down to being a journalist for over 16 years, publishing a book that is about 1/3 focused on my career as a restaurant reviewer and being darn patient. This was by no means an “overnight” thing, It’s been close to 2 decades of writing pretty much all day, every day.

Seems you have dipped your fork into all types of cuisine. What is one thing you have not tried that is on your foodie bucket list. Why?

I am extremely fortunate to get to try the variety of cuisines and ingredients, thanks to my job, but there are some things that aren’t readily available in my neck of the woods that I would love to try such as fugu, a fish that is a delicacy, but if prepared wrong, the poisonous toxin todrotoxin (1,250 times stronger than cyanide) can kill you. Talk about a memorable meal!

When you are relaxed at home and cooking, what are some of the things you love to whip up in your kitchen for family and friends?

I enjoy making comfort foods such as stews, chilis and meatloaf the most. My mom used to make James Beard’s version of meatloaf, which still remains one of my favourites, but I tend to do mine different every time (Italian one time, Southern the next). Dishes such as Chicken pot pie and jambalaya are wonderful during these cold winter months and I almost always make soup once a week out of whatever leftovers I have. But I’m trying to expand my repertoire and have started making more restaurant-type dinners – this week I made a wonderful Egyptian Lamb Pie and I’m going to be testing the Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook which is more molecular-based.

Not only do I review restaurants and write about food for a living, but I spend much of my “free” time cooking, shopping for ingredients and basically thinking about what I’m going to make next. I figure if I’m thinking about this stuff, someone out there must be too.