Not too late to be thankful?

A week after Thanksgiving, I hope this is not too late to be thankful for my life, and mostly, for this little sand box I have called Chez Pim.

Oh, and sap-alert by the way, if you are allergic to sweet sappiness, you might want to just skip over to the next post where I will be announcing the Where in Paris is Pim? contest winner, I am going to get rather sappy over here for about a few minutes. And if you didn't like it, heh, bite me.

Quite a few things have been happening in the past weeks that make me so happy I have this silly little food blog Chez Pim. It really had never occurred to me that the blog I started just so I didn't have to write 20 identical emails to friends in different countries would turn out to be what it has become today. The turning point was, certainly, when I began writing about my true obsession, food. That Chez Pim receives so many hits every day is completely astonishing to me. Not anywhere near Chocolate & Zucchini, mind you, but then again Clotilde is far more interesting than I would ever be.

Besides continuing to be amazed by the sheer number of people who are somehow interested in the silly things I have to say, it is always an extra treat when the people I admire and wrote about found their ways to the blog.

I was just at the farmer's market over in the Ferry Plaza here at home in San Francisco, where I ran into my Cheese Godmother Peggy Smith of Cowgirl Creamery, who told me of her recent trip to Bordeaux to visit Jean d'Alos, the famous French affineur, whom I so admire. I was at his lecture here in San Francisco a few months ago, and wrote about it here on Chez Pim. M. d'Alos somehow found his way to the post and was so touched that he proudly showed it to Peggy and asked her to describe me to him so he could perhaps recall who I was from that day. I also had another long chat with the lovely June Taylor, whose tireless artisan work on her organic preserves should be a source of inspiration for anyone, whom I got to know because of the blog and by sharing my love of her products with friends. Not to mention the chefs whose work I enjoy and admire, David Kinch, Yannick Alléno, Grant Achatz, among others, with whom I have established contacts or even become friends because of my restaurant reviews on the blog.

Chez Pim has made me many new friends, Pascale and Clotilde in Paris, the entire San Francisco food blogging set, my regular readers who send lovely encouraging emails, and many many others. I must admit that it was a somewhat bizarre and surreal experience to walk into a small bistro in the 17th arrondissement in Paris and found a number of people there who knew me from Chez Pim, or to go to a tiny couscous place in the Tenderloin I've written about and ran into Chez Pim readers who were happy to see what the bottom half of my face looked like(!), or to hear from the proprietors, Hakim and his sweet mother, that his business has picked up, and that there had even been some people all the way from Singapore who came to his restaurant during their visit in the City because of the review on Chez Pim.

There are also the many messages I received which began with, Are you the same Pim I knew way back when at ....? , reconnecting me to friends from long ago and far and wide.

Chez Pim is truly my labor of love and a never-ending source of gratification and of much, much gratitude. I am very happy to continue on this road, and ever so thankful to everyone who has helped see me through this joyous journey of much frivolity, occasional sobriety, and even a sprinkle of bitterness, I am ever curious to see where it will lead me. Thank you everyone. I am enormously grateful.

Comments

[Pim]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. I really do appreciate them.

[boran]

I am one of the many readers of your many anonymous readers who enjoys hearing about your meals at some of the top restaurants (and local spots) around the world...Keep up the good work!

[savina]

I'll toast to this as well with a nice Italian barolo wine

[Omar]

Dear Pim,

My wife and I have been reading your blog almost daily. Since it is time to be thankful, thanks for sharing your epicurean adventures with us. I am glad to see that there are people out there who are as obsessed with food as we are. I also read with great interest your non food related pieces. I am of Lebanese origin (a sometimes challenging label to carry in America), and was extremely touched by the comments you made in your tenderloin couscous place blog. Thank you also for bringing the distressing tales of your friend Yishay to light.

A bientot!
Omar

[London Chef]

Pim,
What a great success story your blog is. I can't remember how I first found Chez Pim, but it was really my first introduction to the blog realm. Since then I've found dozens of other great blogs and found myself a part of really dynamic community. Keep up the great work and thank you for your contribution.

[Matthew]

Hey I love reading Chez Pim. Best thing about my working day. Think you have inspired me to start one of my own.... Who can tell. Anyway yours is definately the best. Only one I always read. Keep going.

[foodnerd]

awww... *teary* I'm so glad that you are happy. I lurk on Chez Pim all the time -- you always have something interesting to say, and you get to eat at the most wonderful places. (Clotilde & her blog are both utterly lovely, but it is *your* life that I covet.) Your little sandbox brings so much pleasure to me, and clearly many of the rest of us; I am glad that you get so much back in return.

[Arthur]

Keep the good stuff coming Pim! We all enjoy it. I am still anxiously waiting to try the couscous place when I get back to San Francisco over winter break! :)

[Sophie Mezei]

I'm a rather recent amateur of the blogosphere (been surfing on it for about 4 months now) and it's been amazing to discover a whole universe of epicureans that write warm, accessible posts with photos that I relish. I'm only 18 and starting to gain quite an interest in food-making and I've been spending a lot of money on cookbooks but then I realized that all the good tips were here.

Bonne continuation and best wishes from the Pays de la Choucroute (Alsace).

[jimmy]

Pim...I'm so glad you write this blog! Months ago I simply typed "eating in paris" in google/search and 'chez pim' was the first entry that came-up. Without you I wouldn't have found 'seattle bon vivant' and wouldn't have a couple of your favorite Paris bistros on my places to eat list for my upcomming vist in a few weeks. Thanks again!!! jimmy-in-Seattle

[Molly]

I'll toast to all that, Pim. Congratulations on building a great blog--and a great little world for yourself.

[Juliette Rossant]

Chez Pim,

I have just added your blog to my list of food blogs on my own "superchefblog" and wonder whether you would reciprocate.

Also, I have a book out, Super Chef
that you might find
interesting enough to list on your hot books list.

Thanks, Juliette