Sometimes it's hard to keep up. Between seemingly daily San Francisco restaurant openings and brand new food websites, it seems like change is a constant. And like all things, some of those additions are good and some--not so much. So today I'm going to show you around five new food websites that are aiming to make a name for themselves by finding a little niche in the market. Who knows? Maybe you'll find one you like (I did).

Kitchen Monki
Kitchen Monki touts themselves as "your ultimate cooking utensil." The site is designed for home cooks and aims to be a place to store recipes, set up a weekly meal plan and generate grocery lists working from that plan. It's basically like a technologically advanced version of what I remember my mom doing on legal pads while we were growing up. It's not for me, personally. I'm far from that organized and rarely know what I'm going to have for lunch let alone what I'm going to have for dinner next Friday. But I can see it catching on, and it's a great tool for busy families who want to lay out their weekly meals and move on to other things. Once you generate your grocery list, they'll actually shoot it over to your iphone or blackberry which is pretty cool and they have an easy-to-use sort and search function to help you find exactly which recipe you're looking for based on ingredients, meal types or courses. So all in all, I think it'll stick around. If you're a planner and have a few people in your household, it might be worth checking out.
Twitter: @kitchenmonki

Yummly
Yummly started up in June and is, from what I can tell, one of the first semantic search sites for food and recipes. They claim to have over 500,000 recipes from all over the web although when I did extensive searches, it seemed most were mainly from Epicurious and Food.com (Formerly Recipe Zaar). You can search by ingredient, nutrition, taste, price, and even by allergy. Then when you find a recipe you're interested in, Yummly will pull up its full profile, showing a rating by taste profile (salty, savory, sweet, sour, bitter) and nutrition facts. I found the taste profile to be a little kitschy and wondered who exactly deemed each recipe as such: have they made and tasted them all? You can become a member of the site for free (then you'll be coined a "tastebud") and will receive taste specific recipe suggestions, can connect with other "tastebuds," and can organize and edit all of your recipes. Members can "favorite" things so you can begin to establish a rapport with other people online and see what they're cooking. I like the idea of this site, I just think the execution needs some polishing. More variety of recipe sources would help, and sometimes--call me crazy--the social media component of a website or concept could just be left at home. I'm not sure it's working here. Personally I'd never join because there's no part of me that wants to be coined a "tastebud" and between twitter and facebook, who has time for more online networking?
Twitter: @yummly

Punk Domestics
I smiled when I came across Punk Domestics a few weeks ago. Why? Because it's just downright cool. The site itself is largely user-generated, meaning folks join and can then post relevant content about preserving, canning, pickling or "otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear." What's cool about the content is it literally links to other folks' blogs so you are introduced to blogs you'd never heard of and techniques that may be new to you. In addition to canning and pickling recipes, there is a "Tools" page (self-explanatory) and a "Techniques" page with great tips to help the at-home "punk domestic" get going. The site isn't too busy, its scope is pretty narrow, it's organized well, and with the popularity of urban farming and preserving, I think it's going to be a success.
Twitter: @punkdomestics

Homegrown
The concept behind Homegrown is a little tough to pin down at first. So let me try and lay it out for you. Their introduction states that they're an online community of people "interested in all things homegrown: growing, cooking, crafting, brewing, preserving, building, making and creating." So when it comes right down to it, this is a spot where folks can share ideas and book recommendations or ask questions in the Forum. You can also join groups or mini communities that are more topic-specific (for example, join up with people who are into canning). You can also start a Member Blog, where you're posting original, relevant content on the Homeroom site. There's a lot to like here in my opinion because it's all about the genuine sharing of ideas and interests in an organized, relevant way. Like-minded folks seem to finding it and relishing it. That's a good sign of things to come.

Plummelo
Plummelo is in its beta version and is similar to Kitchen Monki in a sense but I almost like it better. While the design is starkly simple and a bit uninspired, the user has much more control over the content (so you're not just working with recipes from Epicurious and Recipe Zaar). The site itself is designed to help cooks save recipes that they find anywhere online and move forward to plan their shopping lists. Once you join for free, you'll have a little Plumello Browser Button on your browser's toolbar and it automatically stores recipes you like that you've found from all over the web (food blogs, online magazines etc.). Then from there, you can share them, organize them, and generate shopping lists. Cool idea. I think their success depends on the number and variety of users and the content they'll bring to the site.

So there you have it. If anything, creativity abounds here as people try and pull away from bigger food sites and infuse their concept with elements of sharing, conversation, and social networking. I suppose the main question is how well they pull apart from the big boys, what kind of niche they create, and if they can capture new user's attention. Some are certainly doing it better than others. Those will be the ones I'll return to.

Honorable mention, only because the author of Tea & Cookies splits her time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

Well, after my post on food websites last week I received a surprising response from readers asking why I didn't include more information about blogs, questioning my rationale between blogs and websites, and asking for blog recommendations--specifically local ones. So in a way, this is a continuation of last week's post, a Part 2, blogger-style. And it was surprisingly difficult to put together. I needed to choose some way to narrow down the food blogs I read or the list would get out of control. So after many sleepless nights (I jest), here's the criteria I came up with:

• Must be a Bay Area food blogger
• Must be on my Google Reader (hey, it’s my post after all, right?)
• Must write interesting, creative content that's somehow innovative/unique.
• Cannot be one of the contributors to Bay Area Bites (although some of us have awesome blogs...but I want you to discover someone new this week).
• Must keep current and produces consistent posts.

So here goes. I realize I'm probably leaving out your roller derby buddy or your girlfriend's sister, but hopefully you'll stumble across something new here that's worth a look. Happy reading.

local lemons

Originally from Brooklyn, Alison Arevalo moved to Berkeley for a change of pace. Her blog, local lemons, focuses on original, all-natural recipes. Of the recipes and ingredients she chooses, Alison says:

"I take advantage of as much local produce as I can in my recipes. I shop at farmers’ markets in Berkeley and Oakland, while making stops at Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market. Using organic, unprocessed ingredients is as important to me as shopping locally. When I was living in Brooklyn, Whole Foods or Fairway was my supermarket of choice. Now, even though I live a few blocks from one, Whole Foods is only an afterthought."

There are a few things that make her blog an absolute pleasure to read. First, those photos. Good lord. Alison has a brilliant eye for composition, color, and light and you can’t help but become enthralled with each recipe after taking a quick glimpse at each post. Second, her recipes are creative and varied. I was blown away by the 'Fast Food Makeover' series she did recently, where she took typical bad-for-us food that so many of us love and revamped them using organic and local ingredients. Who doesn't love a chicken nugget? Or how about a filet of fish sandwich? Yeah, that's what I thought. I remember when I first started blogging and I posted about how I was trying to find the identity/voice of my blog, struggling with how much personal information to include and where to draw the line. Alison wrote in, encouraging me to do what felt right—whatever I wanted. You can tell she follows her own advice. local lemons is the real deal: a genuine, likeable voice in an increasingly glutted food blogging world.
Twitter:@LocalLemons

eating/sf

I'm not totally sure how, but Kasey's blog was one of the first local food blogs I discovered. We have similar taste in recipes and cookbooks and I often notice strange coincidences between what she covers on her blog and what I cover on my own--like how we both made Brussels sprouts the same week or fell in love with the Ad Hoc Cookbook around the same time. But, besides the no-fail recipes and clean site-layout, the concept of Kasey's blog makes this a must-read. She's paired up with her husband, Matt, who does the "Musical Pairings" portion of the site. I love thinking about food as a sensual experience--and obviously music is much the same way. So it makes perfect sense: when you think about the components of a meal, there's the food but there's also the lighting, the music, and the company you're with. So I've always loved the concept over at eating/sf, and I've discovered some great new artists by reading the blog.
Twitter: @kfleisher

No salad as a meal

Last week, my friend Anthony contacted me to ask if I'd heard about this blog, No salad as a meal. Anthony's flirting with the idea of moving to San Francisco, so he's been checking out our food scene, and apparently this was one of the first hits that came up on his Google search. Of course, I replied with a resounding yes. How could you not appreciate a blogger that doesn't fear lugging the ol' DSLR camera into dark restaurants and getting busy? There's even a post about shooting food in dark restaurants if you're interested in learning the ins and outs of setting up shop at COI. So essentially, No salad as a meal focuses mainly on detailed restaurant reviews featuring exceptional photos. The author also includes a supplementary section entitled "Entremets:" short stories in between meals. Recently one on airplane food caught my eye. This is a great site to explore when your mom's flying into town and you're drawing a blank for dinner ideas. There's a brief "NO SALAD RECOMMENDS" list with such favorites as churros at Contigo and couscous at Aziza. So all in all, it's a fun, visual feast that'll inspire you to try someplace new. The restaurant selection is tastefully culled and the posts are smartly written. What more could you ask for?
Twitter: @nosalad

101 Cookbooks

I can't say enough about 101 Cookbooks, the local food blog where Heidi Swanson writes about "the recipes that intersect my life, travels, and everyday interests." The inspiration behind the site goes a little something like this: Heidi turned around one day and realized she had over 100 cookbooks--it was time to get cooking. Most of the recipes are vegetarian and focus on natural and whole-foods ingredients. From baked doughnuts to pan-fried chickpea salad, I've whipped up some amazing meals from Heidi's site. And in addition to her growing recipe collection, 101 Cookbooks was my original inspiration to learn more about food photography. If you take a look at Heidi's blog posts or her book, Super Natural Cooking (of which she did all of the photos), you'll see why. They photos are actually quite spare without the use of a lot of fancy props, but they're absolutely stunning. She has a way of capturing the essence of each dish with the simplicity of a special bowl, the right light, and the perfect angle. When I'm struggling to think of how to photograph a certain dish for my blog, I often step back and think, what would Heidi do?
Twitter: @101Cookbooks

chez us

Denise Woodward and Laudalino Ferreira created chez us from a 20 square-foot apartment kitchen in the city (which has since changed to 40 square feet). They say: "We wanted to share with everyone how we live small but still eat big." chez us stands out for a few reasons: their rotating thematic organization and great videos. For example, instead of just listing the recipes under categories like "Breakfast" and "Main Entrée," Denise and Laudalino create searchable categories such as "Easy Eating," "French," and "Portuguese." Then there are the videos, where the couple walk their readers through things like making homemade yogurt (I want that yogurt machine!) or hearing Peter Reinhart talking about bread. The blog's easy to navigate, informative, and has great original content. Anyone whose trying to make a small kitchen work in the city will appreciate what Denise and Laudalino pump out (you can see their video on creating a pantry for storage inspiration ideas).
Twitter: @chezus

On one of the morning talk shows last week, a woman was discussing a New Years resolution to streamline her online life. She lamented how it’d taken over her "real life," and had calculated how many hours she wastes on twitter and facebook alone. I'm sure we've all felt similarly at one time or another, although maybe you're still guilty of whiling away an hour online on the office clock and spending more time catching up with your Google Reader than your significant other. So this week I thought I'd put together a post for you highlighting a few food MVP's--online sites (many of which are local) where each moment you spend drooling, ogling, and researching will be time well spent. I promise.

Eat

Food by mail. Certainly something people are warming up to, but there's still some hesitation. With thoughts of honey-baked ham and bad coffeecakes, not everyone's jumping on the wagon. But there are some great sites out there, hand-selecting unique, small-batch products that you can't find at your corner grocery store. From small sites stocking heirloom beans (love them), to big-box stores with overnight shipping--you can get pretty much whatever your recipe calls for online these days. But local rock-star site, Foodzie and innovative Marx stand out for their diverse products and way in which they foster community by supporting small artisan vendors, blogging about their experiences, and hosting contests and giveaways.

I can't say enough about Foodzie. First, they're based right here in San Francisco, they're supporting small businesses from all over the country, and every time I sign on I find something cool I'd never heard about. If you're not familiar with the concept, essentially they're an online space, allowing small-time (or bigger-time) vendors to set up a shop. Then buyers purchase directly from these passionate food producers and growers. I've found a few favorite new products like handmade peanut butter cups from the small baking company, a little bit of sweet, and Sunchowder's Emporia unique hand-crafted jams (wrapped in beautiful papers). Their blog has dining recommendations, interviews and recipes, and there's a great "Discover" map that highlights artisan foods made in and around the Bay Area.

Twitter: @foodzie

Before 2007, only high-end restaurateurs knew about Marx Foods as they were essentially a supplier of wholesale, boutique, high-end products. Today, their product line has expanded and is now available to home chefs who can search by categories or ingredients, season, organic/free range etc. Their mission is to find the finest and freshest products, stay on top of food trends, and connect the customer to the food source (by taking out the warehouse/middleman element). Their "Foodie FAQ" delves into such topics as the spiciness of ghost peppers and freezing live mussels. And they also have a blog where they feature contests and post relevant pieces like "How to Store Fresh Truffles" or great recipes (like this one for chile-coconut crusted shrimp).

Twitter: @marxfoods and check out their flickr stream

Read

I won't even touch on blogs or online food communities because we all have our favorites and really, that'd be an entirely different post. If you want to know what blogs I read and admire, here's my current link list. Moving away from blogs, there are a few sites that stand out in my mind for fresh local content and literary voice.

Life is good for Marcia Gagliardi these days. She's currently hitting up the food scene in India and has a book coming out this spring. While I rarely give out my email and subscribe to newsletters and the like, I look forward to every Tuesday afternoon when the "hopper" arrives in my in-box (online version available on her website). Marcia's voice is light-hearted and humorous. She's sometimes self-deprecating and never takes food too, too seriously. But she's definitely got the inside scoop on the San Francisco dining scene: restaurant closures, changes in ownership, great reviews, and upcoming events. Her rotating "Ten Places to Eat at Now" list contains a few of my very favorite spots, and she provides a great free service called "tip please" that allows you to enter a bit of information and receive a personalized restaurant recommendation (service temporarily on hold while Marcia travels). She's not paid by restaurants to write a review, she doesn't accept ads, and she doesn't believe in writing negative reviews. She's a genuine voice coming out of the San Francisco food scene.

Twitter: @tablehopper

With a tagline like: Read. Chew. Discuss, eGullet has got to be good. There are a few parts to the website. First, they have a popular forum, where folks post questions in topics ranging from the best canned tomato soups to where to get dinner in Morristown, New Jersey. But the reason I come to egullet is for The Daily Gullet, the literary journal of the eGullet Society. Here, food writers and editors post longer, more literary pieces such as "Why Jews Like Chinese Food" and "The Frying of Latke 49." They're not always recipe-driven like many food blog entries tend to be these days, and are always smartly written. In the online world of short snippets and photos, sometimes it's nice to curl up with the laptop and read an actual essay on food. You get that here.

Look

If you’re a food blogger or a fan of "food porn," you already know Tastespotting and Food Gawker well. If these sites are new to you, the idea is simple: anyone can submit a photo and, if you meet the fairly rigid criteria (focus, composition, exposure and lighting), your picture could be chosen and posted for all to see. For bloggers, it's a great way to drive site traffic because viewers can click on your photo and be routed over to your blog or website for the recipe. For everyone, it’s a fun way to spend a few minutes, seeing what people are cooking and posting, and getting visual inspiration for future forays into the kitchen. If you're looking for a particular recipe or dish, you can search by category, popularity, and date to weed through the tempting photos and find what you're after.

Twitter: @tastespotting, @foodgawker

I

I'll admit it. Some of the food blogs I admire and read the most are ones with exceptional photos--sure, people like to read about food, but people really like to look at food. And that, my friends, is where the genius of Foodspotting enters. Instead of reading restaurant reviews to determine where to find a spicy mole or an authentic macaron, you check out the pictures on your own and judge for yourself.

Foodspotting is a new site that's been getting quite a bit of buzz lately for it's relatively genius concept, user-generated content, and clean and use-to-use interface. It's a self-proclaimed "foodie-powered field guide." Essentially, the idea is that when it comes down to it, you don't always care what Michael Bauer said about your favorite restaurant and researching new spots can make eating a bit more scholarly than it needs to be. So not only do users post photos of their favorite dishes, but Foodspotting has built in an important social element to keep the site fresh, interesting--and even competitive. Here's the nitty gritty (in brief) on how it works. Check out their site if you'd like more detailed information.

• You see a picture and like it, you "Want" it. "Wants" are sightings you'd like to try.
• "Noms" are for foods you've tried and loved the best.
• Champions: people who have spotted food at more places than anyone else.
• Follow: a little like twitter, you can opt to follow places, dishes, and other Foodspotters you trust to stay in the know on the latest sightings.

I'm particularly excited about this site. It's social functionality makes sense--it's all geared towards helping you find dishes you want to try from all over, getting to know your local scene better, network with others who have similar food interests, and perhaps freshen up those camera skills. In terms of travel and restaurant recommendations, it's a new and entirely visual way to check out a city you're traveling to and discover what looks good there.

Twitter: @foodspotting

This past Friday, January 15th at 8 p.m., 7 x 7 magazine hosted what they're calling the Friday Flash Mob. They encouraged diners, chefs, wait staff, or anyone involved in a restaurant that evening to take a shot of what was going on. From the guys manning the line at Tacoliscious to Chris Cosentino enjoying a quiet moment, it's a look at the kitchens, chefs, and dishes that were happening at the same moment all over the city. I'm a sucker for this stuff. While it's obviously too late to submit a photo (unless you have one from Friday at 8 p.m.), the Flickr photo stream will be used to help build the magazine's popular February food issue.