Blog Spotlight: Chez Pim

As you can probably tell by now, I favor lifestyle-oriented blogs and Web sites. As I’ve been known to say, I like anything that teaches me how to cook, decorate, or dress better. So for the second week in a row, I bring you a cooking blog: the magnificent Chez Pim.

For a long time, I never thought of cooking as a conversation. You get the recipe, you follow the instructions, and you put it on the table–end of story. But then I remembered all those afternoons and evenings when my parents had the whole family over, the kitchen buzzing, the cooks scurrying, and the rest of us slobbering for the awaiting meal. That’s not just a conversation–that’s a roar!

This conversation, though still held in kitchens all over the world, can also be found on the Internet, where at-home cooks (and many professionals, I reckon) share their proud creations, in both recipe and visual form, with anyone who wants to see. Last week, I covered the Cupcake Bakeshop, who stays true to her name and her specialty. This week, we gather at Chez Pim, a true foodie’s foodie.

At first glance, the Chez Pim blog tells you two things: This woman is serious about her food (witness the artful and mouthwatering photographs of the foodstuffs) and her blogging. You’re looking at one seriously tricked-out blog! Witness the search box, the tag cloud, the archive highlights, the recent comments, the lengthy blogroll, and of course, the advertising; though it’s not hard to see that she’s passionate about her subject, clearly she isn’t opposed to monetizing that interest either.

Peek into the posts, and you’ll discover a dedication to food to an extent that most of us will never know. If Pim eats junk food, we’ll never find out because she sure doesn’t blog about it. Instead, she covers recipes from her native Thailand and just about every other corner of the earth, she dines at some of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants as well as delicious holes in the wall, she rubs elbows with acclaimed chefs, and she’s been a judge on Iron Chef America. What a life!

It’s hard to pick out any single favorite element of Chez Pim; she seems to have not only incorporated her love of food so wholly into her life, but her continuing fascination and devotion to the topic is clear from reading her posts. Sure, everyone has to eat every day, but how many of us can put down in words what a single kumquat means to us? Pim has done exactly that.

If pressed, though, I’d point to two types of posts that Pim does beautifully. For one, there are her recipes. Granted, they aren’t always easy, but her extensive directions, confident tone, real-world pragmatism, and gorgeous photos are what any serious home chef looks for. Her Pad Thai for beginners is one of the best breakdowns I’ve ever seen of this popular dish, as is her homesick curry.

But Pim gets out quite often too, and her restaurant reviews are among the other highlights of the blog. Odds are most of us won’t make it to the fine dining establishments she chronicles, but at least we’ll have an idea of the luxury of the experience based on her posts.