food art: ryan van duzer

Hemingway once called Paris "a moveable feast," and for the past two years, particularly on the Saturday night that tips into the final stage of the Tour, it has been just that. Somehow my luck of the previous six months will turn, events and schedules align, and I end up having dinner with some pretty great people. 

This past July, I met Ryan Van Duzer over charcuterie, seated on chairs spilling out onto a Paris sidewalk. He was covering the Tour for People for Bikes and told me, modestly, that he was a filmmaker. I showed him my food art portraits, which by that point were becoming something I just did between sleeping and not riding. I'd gotten emails from friends about the food art, the likes on Instagram, and the retweets on Twitter, but Ryan was the first person who got visibly excited about it while physically in front of me. I liked him instantly. 

We went our separate ways after that dinner but kept in social-media-touch. I found out later that Ryan isn't just a filmmaker; he has his own TV show on the Travel Channel, has been on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, and rides his bike everywhere. Like "across the country" everywhere. After four days of Google/Facebook/Instagram-stalking - this is what painting portraits does to you - I like Ryan even more (and not only because he did a 5ive Points interview for NYC Velo, too!). He has a life that is both genuine and adventurous, and while you won't find me trying to survive in the wilderness of Venezula any time soon, I'm inclined to at least aspire towards a life more crazy and happy.

Thanks, Ryan, and here's to some post-ride burritos!

Subject: Ryan van Duzer

Materials used: pureed beans, salsa, guacamole, and tortilla pieces


this is japan: udon-flavored caramels and katapan

Since March, my mother has been completing the Shikoku pilgrimage – consisting of visiting 88 temples over approximately 1200 km – in four day installments. Every few months, my mother packs up her conical hat and her walking shoes, my dog freaks out (she has separation anxiety issues; I instantly become her new best friend), and my mother returns home with presents.

The past few visits rewarded my dog whispering skills with small good luck charms shaped like monks. A few days ago, fresh home from her third pilgrimage visit, my mother came back with udon flavored caramels (they also apparently made with udon broth) and udon-themed tenugui fabric.

Plus a package of rock-hard, ginger-flavored biscuits called katapan (which literally means, “hard bread”). Coated in sugar and just lightly spicy, these are really, really good. Massive consumption is prudently limited by my desire to not break all my teeth. Some light gnawing will snap off a shard that can’t be immediately chomped between teeth. Despite the mastication issues, my mouth waters a little thinking about them.

Oh, and those caramels? They were...interesting.