Why This Super Popular Food Blogger Is Keeping Her Identity a Secret

All photos courtesy of Two Red Bowls

The blogger behind Two Red Bowls has a secret. In fact, the only things she would tell us about her identity is her first name (Cynthia), her ethnicity (Chinese), and her job (she’s a lawyer at a big firm in New York City). But Two Red Bowls isn’t a controversial political manifesto or a confessional-style blog recounting bad behavior. So why the reticence?

Cynthia doesn’t want her work colleagues to know she leads a double life: By day, she toils over legal briefs and summaries, but by night (and weekends) she runs a successful food blog bursting with vibrant recipes and magnificent photography.

“The blog can take up a lot of time, so I kind of like to keep my obligations separate,” she explained to Yahoo Food. “That way, it’s not so obvious that when I am not responding to an email on the weekends, that it’s not because of another matter of work, but another thing altogether.” Cynthia tries her best not to let one job interfere with the other, but, she added fatalistically, “Someone might think that no matter what.”

Korean “army base soup” with spicy broth, hearty noodles, and melted cheese.

Cynthia has commandeered the blog since 2013, when she was studying for the bar exam. Since then, none of her colleagues has been the wiser. They think nothing of the plastic containers full of cookies, breads, and brownies she leaves in the break room (extras from blog shoots), or the secret hand-offs of leftovers to in-the-know friends who work nearby. “We’ll meet in the elevator and hand it off like it’s an illicit transaction or something,” she said with a nervous giggle.

The recipes on Two Red Bowls run the gamut — they’re sweet and savory, fancy and rustic, healthy and decadent. Many have an Asian twist as a nod to Cynthia’s Chinese heritage, such as red bean brioche and street-style Chinese tea eggs. There are also myriad Korean recipes inspired, in part, by the heritage of her fiancé, or “Bowl #2,” as Cynthia calls him. Among them? Spicy noodle dish budae jjigae (which translates to “army base stew” in Korean), marinated pork bulgogi, and even kimchi potato salad.

Cranberry orange shortbread cookies.

Cynthia admits that how much she chooses to reveal about herself on the blog has been an evolution. “When I first started my blog, I didn’t even have my first name on it. My picture was just the two bowls sitting on a chair,” she said. Over time, she grew bolder. “It kind of felt unfair to me, to not give anything about myself,” she recalled. Other food bloggers get recognition for their hard work, so why shouldn’t she?

After all, Two Red Bowls has started to make serious waves — in the past two years, it’s been featured by Food52, Epicurious, Thrillist, The Kitchn, Saveur, Chow, BuzzFeed, and yes, even Yahoo Food. Cynthia has a thousands of fans on social media, particularly Instagram, where she boasts about 40,000 followers.

Kimchi grilled cheese.

Her transition to making her identity more well known was a slow one. “Slowly I said, ‘O.K., my first name is Cynthia.’ And then I had a picture that cut off right below my nose,” she said. “Now I have a photo [that shows my face, but] I’m looking down.” That’s as far as she’ll go for now.

Still, Cynthia is clear-eyed about the future. She knows she can’t keep this masquerade up forever. “I’m not going to tell people at work about it, but if they find my blog and they find out that it’s me, then it’s fine,” she said. There was resignation in her voice, and just a hint of relief at the prospect. “It happens, and I welcome them.”

Previous bloggers of the week who should be on your radar:

Meet the YouTube star who makes cooking, and cussing, look fun

Why this food blogger in Beijing is always so angry

How two kids and a deployed military husband led to a Tex-Mex ‘Sweet Life’

Who’s your favorite food blogger? Tell us below!