Welcome to The Flavor Files

A New Beginning

Hello!

It’s been more than a year and a half since I started my newsletter at Meta’s Bulletin, This Is A Cook-Letter. More than any other medium or social media platform, the newsletter format has been one of the most direct ways to connect and communicate with readers. It’s been a rewarding experience, and I’ve loved every moment. Unfortunately, Meta made the difficult decision to shut down Bulletin (it will end in January 2023). Since I’ve enjoyed writing my newsletter, ending it wasn’t an option. My experience with the team at Bulletin has been amazing, and I’ve learned so much along the way; now, it was time for me to figure out the next steps. 

Change is good. I needed to find a new home for my newsletter. Luckily, Substack reached out, and after several meetings with them, I knew they were the right place to build a new home. With a new home sorted, it was time to rebrand and rebirth. I’ve been blogging since 2011. A Brown Table remains my baby and the place that allowed me to explore my passion for cooking and helped me realize that food writing, developing recipes, and photography are what I love the most to do. It opened new doors and set me on a completely different career path that I never expected to walk on. A Brown Table is here to stay. All my recipes, old and new, will remain on my blog, but it is in my newsletter, where I’ll share in-depth discussions on food science, cooking methods, kitchen hacks, book recommendations, and much more. 

Why a newsletter? Over the years, I’ve written for multiple media outlets, both large and small. It’s been a privilege with many benefits and rewards, but I’ve always been at the mercy of what people think I should write. As an immigrant, a person of color, and a gay person, it’s easy to box me into a category and define my style of writing. My background, however, is in molecular biology and cooking, and that’s what I want to write about. I will always be grateful to the editors that gave me the freedom to write about what I was passionate about, saw the potential in my work, and did not view me as an item that ticks several boxes off a list. Social media started as a way to have fun and help spread the word about the work we created, but complex algorithms now define it and popular trends. The newsletter helps me reach people directly, and unlike the unpredictable nature of social media platforms, I know you’ll see what I write because you’ve signed up for it.

I want to write about cooking through my lens and not be determined by what might be popular. If there is a personal story to share relevant to the recipe, I will. What excites me about food writing is understanding why things work and don’t, why we choose specific methods over others when we cook, and why different cultures approach the same ingredients in different yet parallel ways. 

Knowledge should be shared, and food science needs to be made more accessible to people from all walks of life. My singular goal is to empower cooks and equip them with the tools to make their time spent in the kitchen easier. The newsletter gives me the freedom to do just that. I can write about the topics I care about, share the food I want to share with you, and do the work I am happy and passionate about. I am not leaving Serious Eats; I will continue to write for them; I loved every minute of working with my editors there, who’ve taught me how to be a better recipe and science writer.  

A Rebirth 

This Is A Cook-Letter will go by The Flavor Files (an ode to one of my favorite scifi shows, The X-Files). With so many changes, I wanted to redefine the newsletter. The Flavor Files will focus on food science topics and contain a digest of my recipes from A Brown Table. I’ll share my kitchen hacks, book recommendations, author interviews, and more in the newsletter. 

For my subscribers from Bulletin’s This Is A Cook-Letter, you don’t need to do a thing; you’ll immediately start to receive newsletters from The Flavor Files. 

This newsletter is supported by readers. 

I can’t predict the future, but I am excited to find out where The Flavor Files takes you and me. I am excited about the prospect of writing and bringing the topics I am interested in that I think and hope will help you in your cooking at home and make your time spent in the kitchen easier. I’m defining my path and looking forward to this journey.  

Join me?

xx

Nik