Looking Forward to 2011...

2010 was a good year.  A very good year.  Filled with tons of eventful happenings, I was excited to share with you my eclectic, (and I hope) culinarily rich insights.  As I look forward to what the new year will bring for The Foodista (and for you!), I wanted to recap 2010 with a fun highlights reel.  Here are my 10 biggest accomplishments this year, in order of importance.

10.  Taste of Tennis - I had the pleasure of covering this amazing event on the "green" carpet and even managed to cram in a foodie interview with Alex McCord of the Real Housewives of New York.

9. Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation - Being on the planning committee of this amazing charitable food event allowed me to not only to help make it happen, but to also be a part of the action!

8.  Interviewing the Ace of Cakes - How fun it was to meet the cake man himself!  Duff Goldman was just as cool in person as on TV.  Our interview got a little controversial at the end, just take a look.

7.  New York Culinary Experience - Having the honor of covering one of the greatest hands-on culinary events in New York, I got to interact (and cook with!) amazing top chefs such as Babbo's Gina DePalma, Hearth and Terroir's, Chef Marco Canora, SHO Shaun Hergatt's Chef Hergatt and more.

6.  Interviewing Sandra Lee -  The semi-homemade queen and I went one-on-one at the Silver Star diner in NYC, where she talked about her love of tuna fish and the creative ideas that make her who she is.  See the buzz the interview caused in the NYT.

5.  Interviewing Paula Deen - Another Food Network star highlight was meeting the priestess of Southern cooking, Miss Paula Deen.  Not only was she genuine and warm, she really does love her butter more than anything in the world.

4.  Being a Guest on Martha Stewart Living - I was so excited to be a part of Martha's radio show on Sirius XM where I told readers all about the fabulousness of Astoria and about my family dessert favorite, Ceresnova Bublanina.

3.  Judging the French Culinary Institute Student Final - This was a huge honor for me, as I got to taste and critique the dishes of up-and-coming culinary talent.  My fellow judges included high profile chefs such as Carmen Gonzalez of Top Chef Masters and more.

2.  Tasting and Exploring Astoria - From new restaurants such as L'Artiste, MexiQ, 5 Napkin Burger to amazing mainstays such as Vesta, BareBurger, Ovelia, Ornella, Seva and more, Astoria never ceases to amaze in its richness and cultural culinary diversity.

1.  Connecting with You - Most of all, I love interacting and engaging with my community in Astoria, LIC and beyond.  I love the lively commentary that you take part in as a result of my posts, and I hope you find them helpful and valuable.  Your enthusiasm and candid opinions further motivate me to provide you with honest, uncut and behind-the-scenes culinary insight.

Thank you, and Happy New Year to you all.  See you in 2011!