West Chester Dish

Read the beginning of the story: It All Started Here

…so about this time last year, after a polishing off some nachos at Iron Hill, I was in need of something cold and sweet. But I had a problem. With the recent arrival of not one but FOUR ice cream retailers within a five-block radius I had no clue which place to try.

Overwhelmed with the options and wanting to try them all, I ended up just buying a pint of Ben and Jerry’s frozen yogurt at 7-11 and heading to my apartment. And that’s when I formulated my plan. First, I created score sheets with a one-through-five rating scale for things like “service” and “taste”. I made customized t-shirts and bought balloons. Finally, I called a bunch of friends to invite them to join me at “I-Scream 2006″, West Chester’s first Ice Cream Crawl.

I summed up the experience in an article—The Scoop-Off: I-Scream 2006. I enjoyed writing it so much that I continued to do so with other food topics, including reusing coffee mugs (Light and Sweet) and dating a man based on his sushi preference (Single White Female Seeking Sushi Eating Male article).

Skip ahead a few months: I was working on some new articles (which I began to post online in the form of a blog) using the wireless internet at Sprazzo when a dashing gentleman named Dave walked in.

I made a food bet with him to break the ice (I won’t go into detail, but he won.) He got a coffee out of it, and I got his curiosity about what I was working on. Little did he know that his simple question would lead to a dissertation on how I had hoped for an online food resource with information on restaurants and food happenings in West Chester.

Our friendly Sprazzo-girl-behind-the-counter, Sarah overheard our conversation. Soon, the three of us launched into a full-out foodie discussion. Realizing Sarah’s interest in writing and Dave’s interest in the web it occurred to me that my little blog was on a path to something bigger (Sarah is now a writer for the site and Dave does the marketing).

As the idea grew, Dave soon drafted his friend Jason, the computer whiz who helped transform my basic blog into the delicious site you see today (I still blush when I look at it).

So, after months of crouching over my very well-loved (some keys don’t work) computer late into the night, writing about the food adventures of my day, and entertaining (if no one else) myself, I can see now that it was worth it.

It was worth getting curious looks from strangers as they watched me snap pictures of restaurants and plates of food. It was worth the late-night hours after my full-time job to get to know all the wonderful people behind the food in West Chester. And last but not least, it was worth learning how awesomely understanding my friends and family are, so that they didn’t kill me each time I told them “I need to work on my site… again.”

And there you have it, the story of where wcdish.com came from. While I’m not entirely sure where it’s headed, I do know that I’m on a mission to give the foodies in West Chester an amazing resource. I want them to have a one-stop site to find places to eat, share food experiences, participate in fun food events and to learn more and more about the delicious things West Chester, PA has to offer. So I hope you enjoy it!

The Final Dish: Thank you to everyone who has been a major ingredient in the making of something so yummy! I couldn’t do it without you!