Title Change: Saying Goodbye to The Food Girl in Town

Shutting down the blog is bittersweet, but the delicious will live on!

After 12 years of blogging, I’m shutting down The Food Girl in Town. 

There are a variety of practical reasons why I’m letting the blog go — hosting costs have gone up drastically, for example — but when it comes down to it, I’m not The Food Girl in Town anymore. 

Last year, I said hello to the title “author” and then “best-selling author” with the publication of my first book Where We Ate: A Field Guide to Canada’s Restaurants, Past and Present a title I’m frankly in disbelief about, but I also said goodbye to the title of “restaurant critic” by concluding an almost five-year tenure as The Telegram’s restaurant columnist (you can read my last review here) and now I’m ready to let go of “blogger” as well. I just don’t have anything creative or otherwise left to give, I dread thinking about posting — and if you’ve looked lately there was only one post last year. I’ve outgrown it and I’m ready to say a bittersweet goodbye.   

I owe my career to The Food Girl in Town. 

If I hadn’t started the blog I never would have met amazing Halifax food creators like Kelly Neil or Kathy Jollimore who were foundational to my early blogging days or food bloggers across the country who have supported me throughout my career like Melissa Harfiel, Bernice Hill and Diane Galambos.   

If I hadn’t started the blog I wouldn't have had the confidence to apply to journalism school at the University of Kings College in Halifax which enabled me to launch my career (and a few lifelong friendships too).  

If I hadn’t started the blog I wouldn’t have started writing the Iconic Canadian Food series on the Food Bloggers of Canada, which sparked my interest in the history of Canadian restaurants. 

If I hadn’t started the blog I wouldn’t have attended the Food Bloggers of Canada conference in 2017 where I off-handily pitched my book to Robert at Appetite which led to the publication of Where We Ate last year.   

As a struggling “art historian” (a title that never quite got off the ground for me) in 2012, I started the blog to explore Halifax and pursue a pipe dream of being a writer. Twelve years later, I don’t need the blog to support my writing, something I did for free (by choice) for almost the entirety of the blog’s existence — Gabby Peyton the writer is here to stay. 

Just like my career has evolved, so have I, so it’s time to let go of the title “blogger” and stand on my own as a writer.  

Many of my subscribers here on Au Gratin were loyal followers of the blog, so let me take this opportunity to say thank you for reading, your support is invaluable. I am letting you know you’ve got one more month of The Food Girl in Town to try recipes or find great Newfoundland accommodations. I’m shutting down the blog on February 9th, 2024, but the essence of The Food Girl in Town will live on here, on Au Gratin. While I’ve lost the desire to create blog posts, my hunger for writing is no less voracious —  I hope you’ll stay here and tag along for my recipes, travel stories and culinary history. I have lots to tell you. 

Cheers.