Hi, I’m Susy Bando — you can call me a food lover, just don’t call me a foodie. To me, foodie suggests fussiness and over-analysis, when what I really love is the joy of eating. Whether it’s a comforting home-cooked meal, a late-night street taco, or a spot on the World’s 50 Best list, I find happiness in food that connects people and creates memories.
Food has always been my compass. Sometimes that means wandering a local market to dream up dinner, other times it’s detouring a hundred miles on while away to taste legendary whole hog barbecue. My travels are shaped around food, and along the way, I’ve discovered that sharing meals also builds community. Many of my most meaningful friendships have been forged over a table, across languages and cultures.
Oaxaca, in particular, has become my second home. Its vibrancy of colors and flavors has set the benchmark for how I see food and travel everywhere else in the world. Each return deepens my connection — not just to the food, but to the people who make it, share it, and celebrate it.
Call Me A Food Lover began when I finally secured a coveted reservation at The French Laundry, one of those “bucket list” experiences I’d dreamed about for years. That meal not only lived up to the hype, it also inspired me to start documenting my food adventures. What began as a way to capture one extraordinary night has become an ongoing excuse — and a reminder — to keep chasing delicious experiences everywhere I go.
A Few Food Facts About Me
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First food memory: Fresh sea urchin on cucumber, age five.
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The turning point: A short-lived stint as a “vegetarian” in my 20s (for a boy!) opened me to Indian and Thai flavors and forever changed how I saw food.
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Weakness: Potatoes in every form — fries, chips, mashed, hash browns. My kryptonite.
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Favourite chef wisdom:
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“There is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it. The purpose of striving toward perfection is to make people happy — that’s what cooking is all about.” — Thomas Keller
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“One must eat good food to know how to make good food.” — Jiro Ono
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Thanks for visiting Call Me A Food Lover — I hope my stories inspire you to explore, taste, and connect more deeply.
You can reach me anytime at susybando@gmail.com.
Call Me a Food Lover... 
Can’t wait to hear about TFL! Keep it coming. Love the Quick Bites!
You can read about TFL now!
Hey Sus.
Cool site. Browsing through just made me want to go down to Granville Island and get some good eats. Sounds like NYC was fun. Good to see you at ball this week.
CD
Hey Susie,
I had no idea you were so into food! I love your site (funny that Chris commented on it, too!). Beautiful photos and great writing – I look forward to trying out some of the recepes! I’m gluten-free… any recommendations?
xox J.
Thanks Jenny, your comments mean a lot! Nothing on the top of my head about gluten-free, although I hear there are better and better products out there lately. We all really need to get together to feast sometime soon!
Hi Susy, I’m one fo the organizers of the Hester Street Fair and I’m trying to collect some high rez images for a project we’re working on. Would you be able to send me any? Of course we would credit you.
Thank you,
Suhyun Pak
suhyun@hesterstreetfair.com
Thanks for your request! I’ve sent you an email reply.
Hi! Great blog with awesome pictures. I heard about this through your father-in-law when my husband and I were on our European honeymoon 😀 We got to talking at the Jameson whiskey distillery in Dublin when he mentioned this blog. Pls tell him we say hi and we’ll visit often! Take care.
Thanks for reading! I will definitely say hi to Henry for you, and will thank him for being one of my biggest fans.
Hi Susy! Your blog was highly recommended to me by Jo and Henry, who I met by chance at Woodland Smokehouse & Commissary. We shared some counter seating and some soup and had a great time chatting about food, so naturally your blog came up. I was advised also to let you know what wonderful in-laws you have. 😉 Happy eats!
Lol, “highly recommended”, that’s what in-laws are for! What you’re doing Between Snacks is great and your travel maps made me smile because as Jo&Henry probably told you, that’s what I do too!
They told me that we have a lot of similarities about the way we talk (obsess?) about food… so what made me smile is coming to your page and finding that we both used mochi ice cream desserts as a heading photo (it’s my avatar for betweensnacks). Where is your picture from?
That’s totally funny. Yes they mentioned similarities too. As much as I like mochi ice cream, my photo’s actually of Mochi Cream taken in Osaka, which is mochi filled with flavoured whip cream.
Hi Susy. Happy New Year. Thankyou for sharing your food and travel experiences. It’s been a pleasure reading your words and enjoying your images. Look forward to new and exciting stories this year. If you ever make it all the way to Sydney Australia happy to provide some recommendations! Here’s to a great 2013. Sharise
Happy New Year to you too Sharise. Thanks for your comment and for reading. Can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for me! Australia’s definitely on the list, although it always seems so far away!!! I’m addicted to Masterchef Australia though, which does increase my interest in Australia immensely. 🙂
Hi Susy, I really enjoyed your blog and wondered if you were interested in submitting an existing post to a new event called Our Growing Edge. The event aims to compile a monthly snapshot as to what bloggers are doing in terms of new challenges with food. This monthly event aims to connect and inspire us to try new things.
A growing edge is the part of us that is still learning and experimenting. It’s the part that you regularly grow and improve, be it from real passion or a conscious effort.
I hope you can make it. More info can be found here: http://bunnyeatsdesign.com/our-growing-edge/
Thanks for your kinds words. Your event sounds very intriguing! Please let me know how I can become involved.
Hi Susy, more info can be found here: http://bunnyeatsdesign.com/our-growing-edge/
It will be every month and the first round ends at the end of February.
Hello. Sorry for my bad English but you should try to visiting Baja one day. The food here is different from the rest of Mexico and the seafood is top class. best tacos in Mexico as well jaja I’m sure you can find a thing or two on the internet about the culinary movement in Tijuana and Ensenada, its a food lovers Paradise.
Hope to see more of your adventures across the world
take care
Thanks for your comment. The Baja is definitely on the list of places I’d like to explore!
love your blog! I am obsessed with the mind of a chef and Anthony Bourdain! I am planning a trip to Japan in the summer with my boyfriend to check out the same spots! I wanted to check out the ramen place outside of Tokyo with the original chef that tries the broth every morning. Did you get to go there too?
Thanks Maria! Unfortunately I only got to Rokurinsha on my last trip to Tokyo. Funny enough, I rewatched that episode of MOAC 2 days ago and regretted not going to the other place. Have you seen this list that Lucky Peach just put out? http://luckypeach.com/the-five-ramen-shops-you-can-and-should-visit-in-tokyo/
Hi Susan,
Your father in law Henry stopped by for a late lunch today because you love our food so much. Thank you for the recommendation and your awesome food blog. Stop by the next time you’re in town and we’d love to take care of you. Hope to see you soon. 🙂
Sincerely,
Tawhid Islam
General Manager
Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop
600 11th Avenue
New York NY 10036
Thanks for your comment! Will definitely stop by again the next time I’m in NYC. I’m craving ramen now!
Totally with you – really dislike the term foodie!