Andrea Strong, our NYC Uberchic for November 2008

Ask a New Yorker: Tell us a bit about yourself?

Andrea: The Cliff Notes version is: I was a lawyer working at a big firm in Manhattan, pretty disillusioned with the practice of law in general. I went to law school in hoping to meet out justice and save the world and instead I ended up working at Sherman and Sterling in mergers and acquisitions, which are about as far from justice and humanity as you can get. So I ended up leaving the firm and working for a couple of federal judges and trying to do some work that felt a little more meaningful to me. I really could not find a place where I could feel like what I was doing had any passion. I felt dead. This is not what I want to be doing. But I really loved going out to restaurants and following the food scene and I got involved in a charity based in D.C. called Share our Strength. Through these high end chef, food and wine events they raise money for the hungry. I got involved with Share our Strength and giving back to the community, which also got me involved in the restaurant business, after five years of working as a lawyer and two years of volunteering Share our Strength. I loved the restaurant industry. After working in the restaurant industry in front of the house for 2 years I was like, “this is hard--I can’t do this”. The money was terrible, and the hours were brutal. I still wasn’t feeling like it was the right thing for me to be doing. I saw an ad in the newspaper one day. An essay contest that asked why you chose a career in the food businesses, so I wrote this story of how I left the law firm, joined Share Our Strength and then started working in the business. It resonated with someone because it won second prize in this contest. One of the judges of the contest hired me as a food writer for her. She was working at a food magazine. That’s how I ended up changing careers.

Ask a New Yorker: What piece of advice would you give someone who is unhappy in their current job and wants to switch careers?

Andrea: I frequently get emails from people, I probably got a half a dozen emails this week from frustrated lawyers who love food and want to write about food. I actually tell them not to quit their job. As it is right now we are in a very difficult time financially in this country. Unless you are independently wealthy you need to keep your day job. But what you should do is explore classes in food writing. I teach a class, introduction to food writing class, at Media Bistro. The new school offers food writing classes. So the first thing I would say is take a night class. Sign up for an introduction to food writing class or the like at one of the local journalism schools. They offer classes in writing specifically in food writing. In any instance, when you want to change your career the best thing to do is find people who are involved in the job that you want to be doing. Join a networking group; reach out to people, friends of friends. Facebook is a great tool. I’m interested in becoming a documentary film maker, does anyone know anyone in the industry that might have coffee with me? Just try to expand your network of people and meet people who are doing what you think you want to be doing, if you can, try to keep your day job.

Ask a New Yorker: What was the hardest part of making the transition from corporate lawyer to full time writer?

Andrea: The hardest part was the money, to be perfectly honest. Being a corporate lawyer I was making in excess of six figures. It was very comfortable. I went from making over a $100,000 year to $35 and $150 for a short story that I was writing for a magazine. Food writing is not very lucrative unless you’re writing for a glossy magazine. So I had to really bust my ass to try to write for every type of publication from Time Out to The New York Times to writing copy for a jockey underwear catalogue. I wrote press releases, corporate copy. I just did everything just so that I could make money while I was building a name for myself, so I could get more food writing jobs.

Ask a New Yorker: New York is the home of thousands of self appointed food experts and everyone is a critic. How did you find your voice that set you apart from all the rest?

Andrea: Very good question. I think finding your voice is something that kind of happens gradually. Once I started writing The Strong Buzz and writing in the first person, my voice is me, it’s how I communicate with my friends and my family. It’s really a very personal style of writing and that is what sets The Strong Buzz apart from other food critics who tend to stick to specifically the food. When you read a review on The Strong Buzz there is a little more of a story, a personal story, it can be just something about that’s going on in the world. But there is something other than food in the review. It’s a style of wring that appeals to a lot of people and doesn’t appeal to others. Some people have called me the Carrie Bradshaw of food writing.

Ask a New Yorker: What’s your favorite restaurant that has recently opened?

Andrea: My favorite restaurant is Char No.4 on Smith Street right here in Brooklyn. It was opened by Shawn Josephs and the chef is Matt Greco. Matt is from Texas and Shawn is from the South. It’s a southern American restaurant. They do a lot of smoking in house. It’s pretty hardy, rustic American food, lots of sausages and chicken and biscuits, gravy and homemade gravy. They are very popular right now because they are probably the largest whisky bar in the New York Metropolitan area. They have three hundred whiskies, 50 of which are domestic. So it’s pretty great.

Ask a New Yorker: Congrats on your marriage. What was your cake like?

Andrea: My cake was actually not a cake. It was a tower of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. It was one of things Craig baked for me when we first started dating. And my friend Dawn and Dave who have a bakery called One Girl Cookies made them for us. http://www.onegirlcookies.com/

Ask a New Yorker: Your favorite snack as a kid?

Andrea: Wow, this is going to be embarrassing. My friend Mellissa Epstein and I, my best friend growing up, used to eat ring dings and we use to split them open and put some peanut butter in the middle and then microwave them. That was my favorite snack growing up.

Ask a New Yorker: Have you met the one and only Gael Greene?

Andrea: I have. She is an incredibly lovely person and very talented and really very funny writer.

AskaNewYorker: Thanks very much for your insight Andrea. Look forward to trying Char. No. 4.

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