Gourmantic Turns One

The First Anniversary

Today marks Gourmantic’s first anniversary, the day I hit the publish button and went live with an idea that took me just a few weeks to realise. I still recall flicking through some notes I had made during various travels and feeling the urge to share my stories. And I still remember standing in line at the Simon Johnson sale in 2009 thinking that I could write about food if I had a food-related website.

And so a vision was born. I wanted to produce a quality website in a magazine style that relays the love of travel, food and drink in an all encompassing passion of mine: writing.

Background

I take no credit for the name. Gourmantic is the invention of my other half and partner in indulgence, Mr G. A seasoned traveller, he took to the skies as an infant and continued to travel throughout his formative and adult years. A bon vivant and a gourmand, he introduced me to the pleasures of pairing wine with food. Together, our shared passion for travel took us on regular holidays to various parts of the world.

Mr G and I have been avid foodies long before it became the latest fashion and the cool kids adopted it because it’s cool. We’ve had the utmost respect for chefs whose culinary creations have left lasting impressions, and that was way before the term ‘celebrity chef’ was invented.

Over a few glasses of wine, we still regale one another with shared memories such as the time we shook hands with Paul Bocuse at his restaurant in Lyon after an unforgettable lunch and the time I told a delighted Rick Stein how often we have wooed dinner guests with a dish from his Seafood Odyssey book.

Our travels have always focussed on the enjoyment of food and drink, the appreciation of regional produce and respect for traditional methods. From the pinnacle of our dinner at La Tour d’Argent to the enjoyment of a rustic porchetta with a bottle of unlabelled wine in a forest outside of Rome, our experiences often have us sharing culinary travel stories with good friends across a dinner table. Therefore it came as no surprise to them when one year ago, we announced the launch of Gourmantic.

First Year Highlights

The first year of Gourmantic has certainly been a delight. With over 200 articles to date, and material collected from our last trip alone to last another two years, we are committed to sharing our knowledge, experience and passions with our readers.

Looking back at the first year, there have been some subtle changes made without losing the original focus of  delivering an experienced-based travel and food website. There have also been memorable achievement to celebrate. These include entering and winning first prize in the May Grantourismo Travel Writing Competition, receiving a comment and a recipe from chef Jacob Kenedy of Bocca di Lupo restaurant in London, having our review of Media Luna Restaurant in Sydney featured on their website and being selected by Tripbase for publication in a series of Travel Secrets eBooks.

Looking Forward

Gourmantic is enjoying exponential growth but a successful website isn’t about statistics, the number of comments, Twitter followers or fans. These analytics are secondary. It is about the connections we make, the impact our articles have on others when we share our experience as much as the impressions that our readers, commenters and emailers leave upon us.

Today not only celebrates the first anniversary of Gourmantic but the beginning of its second year. We  already welcome with anticipation the adventures it holds for us. There are travel plans on the horizon and several ideas to further spread Gourmantic’s wings.

Thank you for your readership, friendship, advice, feedback and connections. We look forward to having you with us on our continuing journey.

Corinne and Mr G