Eater.com Blogger Lounge: 2009 NYC Wine & Food Festival

Where “new media” food writers came to dance on the graves of print journalism

This year's NYC Wine & Food Festival was the first in this post-Gourmet world, so where better to get the scoop than at the Eater Blogger Lounge at the Standard Hotel, where all those bloggers who killed the magazine are plotting world domination. Print media may be on life support, but based on the jockeying it takes to land a seat at the lounge, there's plenty of online talent ready to step in and take over. Maybe it's the sexy new digs or the free-flowing food and drink (definitely an upgrade from last year's coffee and brownie selection), but this year's blogger lounge felt like an event all its own.

The folks from Eater played gracious hosts, offering bloggers access to an impressive range of food personalities from Scott Conant to Mathieu Palombino to Marisa May. And while the blogerratti were preoccupied with the chefs, we chatted with the bloggers themselves (you know, the ones who have all the dirt on the NYC food scene). Plus we grabbed a few chefs for their thoughts as well.

Interviews by Jeremy Cesarec and Matt Rodbard; photos by Gabi Porter