Andrea Strong seems to be a controversial name in the food blogosphere. A corporate lawyer turned food writer, Andrea started The Strong Buzz as a portfolio site for editors to see samples of her writing. She loves to eat and share her stories with friends, so she started writing what has become The Strong Buzz e-newsletter, which is published weekly on Mondays. As she has seized upon the freedom to speak in her own voice in her blog — as opposed to when writing for other publications — her pieces touch upon her personal life and opinions more than other food reviews. This has drawn some criticism within the field. Andrea’s a bit baffled by attacks from other journalists and bloggers, but even if she has received some bad publicity, it’s clear that people are reading what she’s delivering.
Andrea doesn’t consider her site a traditional blog. Her writing is based more on stream of consciousness. She writes a full restaurant review per week, not just a snippet of things here and there. Having worked in the industry after leaving her career in law, Andrea has kept close ties with many top restaurateurs in the City. So much like Florence Fabricant’s coverage of Off the Menu in The New York Times, Andrea always starts her newsletters with the latest news. In fact, these days it’s not uncommon that Eater or The Strong Buzz will publish news before The Times.
