32avenue's gone through quite
the journey to get to its present day incarnation. Originally borne as
Revues au Jus, it quickly morphed from a single guy's thoughts site into the bona-fide
cult-favorite team food blog that it is today, growing so rapidly that
even established world-famous restaurant review publications were forced
to take notice (but we'll refrain from disclosing the
competition...ahem). First things first: why the name
"32avenue"? Legend has it that a certain puffy-looking dog
climbed onto a keyboard and miraculously typed it out.
Another legend says that in a fit of gastronomic euphoria, the
founder of the site randomly threw food at the keyboard and
somehow the name spelled out on the screen. Either way, we
just think it's cool that the name rhymes.
So what makes us so special? Well, for one,
we just speak our minds, and write whatever we want to write. Each
contributor to 32avenue has their own unique writing style and tastebuds
- there's no common standardization. It just so happens that
people like what we write. Or maybe only our friends read it.
We're not sure why we're popular, but we'll take it.
Lastly, we don't profess to be pros. We're just regular folk
who happen to love food. We don't get special treatment in
restaurants, we don't have the pressure of writing a daily review for a
newspaper. We're just like you and whoever's next to you right
now. If anything, this is just a hobby. In reality, we're so
unique that there is no competition. No games. Just
food.
So without further ado, here is the vaunted roster of contributors to
32avenue: |
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Justin is the founder of 32avenue, the mastermind genius
behind it all, the head honcho. Ever since July
2003 when he was inspired to write his very first review
on Revues au Jus, he kept thinking big. He
soon discovered that he could use his two favorite
hobbies together to expand his restaurant reviews: eating and travelling around the world.
Thus he spearheaded the evolution of 32avenue,
and with the help of his fellow foodies, continues to
enjoy writing reviews simply for the hell of it.
After all, as one of his wise professors taught him:
"Life's too short not to enjoy good food and wine."
Justin hails from Toronto, Ontario and is a proud
Canuck. He graduated with his bachelors from the University of Toronto, with
stints at the University of Hong Kong and Oxford
University, before completing graduate studies at the
Anderson School of Business in UCLA. Ever the
metrosexual businessman, he's especially adept at taking
over the world, with his immediate goal of buying
Manchester United and moving them to Toronto. He
enjoys long walks along the beach at sunset, candlelit
dinners and blatant sarcasm in his spare time.
In reality, he's just a nice, dopey guy who really,
really likes to eat.
Really.
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Adrian finished her undergrad at Queen's University
before completing her Law degree at the University of
Toronto. She was born and raised in Toronto,
Ontario and is currently articling at a downtown Toronto
law firm. Growing up, she sampled all sorts of
traditional Chinese dishes, cooked up in the family’s
old-school carbon steel wok. In addition to regular
dim-sum lunches, her father had a funny penchant for
haute Western cuisine and took the family to dine at
upscale Italian eateries, seafood restaurants, and
everything in between. Adrian’s love for food comes
from eating, of course, but also from cooking. One of
her favourite pastimes is cooking with good friends - at
all hours of the day. From peeling cold soybeans in
Thunder Bay (to make soybean milk from scratch) to
baking banana muffins in the middle of the night (purely
on a whim), she’s willing to help you in the kitchen
with pretty much anything. These days, Adrian’s fond
of Thai curries, Middle Eastern tapas and everything
that’s French cuisine. While she enjoys fine dining at a
swanky bistro as much as the next guy (Bymark, Susur,
Auberge du Pommier are memorable), she’s equally
appreciative of the $5 rare beef Pho she can get around
the corner. |
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Angie is currently studying her M. Arch at the University of Pennsylvania,
after obtaining her undergrad degree from the University
of Toronto. As a budding architect, she has a
special appreciation for the plating and presentation of
a dish and loves to discover the ingredients that
construct each culinary creation. For "ange", food
is all about the culture - a part of life - a social
event where friends and family can get together and bond
over a good meal. She was born in Hong Kong, with
sojourns in Toronto, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo
before currently settling in Philadelphia.
Although she appreciates just about any kind of good
food, her travels have acutely trained her discerning
tastebuds - she favors healthy comfort food - the more
"authentic" the recipe with fresh ingredients, the
better. Above all, however, she will never forget
the out-of-this-world Otoro at the Tsukiji market in
Tokyo.
She
has a cute, puffy Bichon Frise dog, Casper, and specializes in restaurant reviews for the
United States and Asia.
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As an amateur food connoisseur,
Renée had her first culinary epiphany at the tender age
of four with her first sushi roll. Influenced by the
creative geniuses of her mother, who first introduced
Renée to the concept of fusion cuisine, appreciation of
fine dining, quality ingredients, and the development of
a discerning palate, she has the useful ability in the
dissection of a dish using all five senses for at home
recreations. This appreciation has proven itself useful
and is apparent in her reports of overall culinary
experience. Her aunt, an amazing chef of Asian cuisine,
has exposed Renée’s tastebuds to all things Southeast
Asian, from street foods to dishes with great "wok-hei",
helping round out her overall
try-everything-before-making-a-judgement approach
to dining.
Born in Vancouver, British
Columbia, with stops in Hong Kong, China and Calgary,
Alberta before currently residing in Toronto, Ontario,
she had the chance to pursue great multicultural
gastronomic explorations in those cities as well as in
many other countries in her various world traveling
experiences. Currently a PhD candidate at the
University of Toronto, Renée also had a stint at the
George Brown Culinary School and loves the science
behind the food. She is aware of how good fine
food can be, appreciates service and ambiance that one
pays for when dining out and hopes that her dining
experiences can help make (and not break) a memorable
eating occasion (because a stomach shouldn’t be wasted
on food that’s sub-par).
Neither a foodie nor a food snob,
but more of a food nerd, Renee’s a tad on the verbose
side when speaking of one of her great passions in life
(um, food that is...and bread)...just wait until you ask
her about her research! |
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We wouldn't be where we are without the help of our special guest contributors. Those on the 32avenue
guest roster also include:
Dawn Chiu
Elaine Lee
Matt Mark
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Tianne Wu
Frank Yong
Lydia Yung
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