Meet Our Guest 'Grammer of the Week: @Tworedbowls

Photo: Instagram/tworedbowls

This weekend on #TastyTakeovers we tag along with Cynthia of the popular blog, Two Red Bowls, who you may remember as one of our past Bloggers of the Week. Her knockout photography is not only making a splash in the blogosphere but on Instagram too, garnering her with more than 46,000 followers. Check out her Q&A below!

Name/Instagram Handle: Cynthia, @tworedbowls

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m originally from South Carolina but came to New York by way of Boston. I live in Brooklyn with my husband, where we veg on a regrettably (because I have a penchant for spills) white couch and I make messes in our tiny kitchen. I am a junior lawyer in Manhattan, but I do my best to recover from that on weekends by cooking a lot and occasionally taking pictures of it for Two Red Bowls! As for fun facts, hmm. The best job I ever had was a part-time job walking dogs and working at a dog daycare during my second year in law school. And my pinky toes are an evolutionary aberration and don’t touch the ground!

Cynthia and her husband in Honolulu on their wedding day. (Photo: Christie Pham)

What first got you interested in food and photography? Where do you draw inspiration from?

I’ve loved pigging out for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t really cook until kind of late, sometime in my last year of college, and then photography didn’t come until even later, about two years ago. But it’s been an unexpected and amazing journey, mostly owing to serendipity, an old hand-me-down DSLR, and just how fun it is to make people happy through food. I am inspired by all kinds of things —my Asian heritage, my Southern hometown, restaurants here in New York, and the many phenomenal bloggers in this amazing food community. (Just a few of the wonderful ones I follow are here.)

How do you take your photos (with a camera or phone)? What are your favorite photo editing tools and/or tips for taking exceptional food photos? Give us the scoop!

Pretty much all of my food photos are taken with a Nikon D610 and a 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens. That said, I’ve been amazed by the new iPhone 6 camera! That was all I took with me on our recent honeymoon to Japan and I was so impressed by the little dude. For editing I use Adobe Lightroom and VSCO or just plain Instagram on my phone. My main tip would probably just be natural light — it makes such a huge difference!

Cynthia’s recent honeymoon to Kyoto. (Photo: Cynthia)

Who are three of your favorite Instagrammers? What do you like about them?

Oh gosh, I’m so terrible at favorites!  It’s so hard to choose just three, but let’s see — like so many out there, I love @local_milk. Her exceptional, heart-stopping sense of aesthetic and eye for beauty is such an inspiration, always. I’m also a huge fan of @ladyandpups for a perspective on photography that is always fresh (not to mention stunning). She always challenges me to look at things differently, plus her snaps of Beijing (like this crazy amazing one of a Hutong at night) are so alluring. And I’m a newcomer to @the_dailys but I love her glimpses of Australia and her unique compositions. But there are so many more that I love.

What do you enjoy about Instagram compared to other online communities?

I think a lot of online communities have a sense of “boundary,” and I love that you don’t really get that with Instagram. It’s like you can go and “like” anyone’s photo or comment on anyone’s Insta, and that’s totally okay and welcome. Because of that, I think IG feels warm and less intimidating than some other platforms when you first get started, and I really love that sense of positivity and openness. (Of course, those things are not always true of Instagram or any place on the Internet, but for the most part!) And the other part is just that Instagram is so wonderfully visual and full of delicious food and sights from around the world, which is eye-opening in the best way.

Spicy ahi poke served with avocado and rice. (Photo: Cynthia)

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently?

Pretty much everything we ate when we were in Japan earlier this month!

If you could throw a dream dinner party for any three people — living or  dead — who would they be and what would you cook for them?

This is silly, but it would probably just be my family — my mom and dad, and my little brother (and I’d sneak in my husband too if you’re cool with that!) Family is so inextricably tied to food for me, and I think the most bittersweet part about getting older is how much more infrequently you get to see your family, but how much more you come to appreciate them. My mother is a phenomenal cook, so I don’t know if I’d just take a backseat to her and let her tell me what to make! But we’d probably have a Chinese soy-braised butterfish for my brother, something with dried tofu for my dad, and a big pot of warming pork rib and daikon soup for my mother.

What’s the best dish you’ve ever made or the dish that you’re known for?

Oh man, I don’t even know. A friend of mine who graciously accepts a lot of my blog leftovers swears by these Shanghainese red-cooked pork pot pies, and I really loved them, so maybe those!  But I’m also really partial to a simple bowl of bibimbap (the first recipe I ever posted!)

Shanghainese pies filled with caramelized pork belly that’s braised in soy sauce and spices. (Photo: Cynthia)

What does the new food revolution mean to you?

I’m probably shamefully ignorant of it, to be honest, but I think eating locally, and seasonally. Being more conscious of where our food comes from, and more conscious of what demands we should and shouldn’t be putting on our environment and our food community.

And last but not least — what’s your favorite food?

Korean. The unique sweet-smoky spiciness and the fermented tang in so many Korean foods is something I can never get tired of.

Budae jjigae known as Korean “army base stew” made with instant ramen, salty Spam, chewy rice cakes, and silky-soft tofu. (Photo: Cynthia)

Meet more foodies from the Instagram world:

Yahoo’s own @Dad_beets and his mouthwatering creations

Meet Justin Schuble @DC_foodporn

How to nail the perfect #foodporn shot from ‘grammer @Gilliehouston