I know I haven't been on Chowhound in a while, but....

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Meredith Norris Vuotto

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May 30, 2022, 11:11:01 AM5/30/22
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Happy Memorial Day,  everyone!   I know I haven't been on Chowhound in a while, but is it defunct?  I tried to log-on from 2 different devices and got a message "we wish you all the best in your culinary endeavors."   I'm so sad if it's gone!!!

I hope everyone is well and healthy!  I'm still here in the mountains (20/25 minutes west of Asheville in Waynesville).   I had wanted to get any pointers for Chatanooga, TN for an upcoming short road trip

Also, if you guys are ever this way, please let me know and do try out my husband's restaurant @Valé 243 Italian.   He opened last August and has been doing really well..

All my best to my CH friends!  Call or email anytime. 919-522-9036 

Cheers, 
Meredith  (Tehama on Chowhound)


Cat Link

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May 30, 2022, 4:21:07 PM5/30/22
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Good to hear from you Meredith! Glad you both are well & the restaurant is thriving. Waynesville is a great town.

I hadn't participated in Chowhound in many years but the shuttering of the site saddened me. It was the place where I made some great friends and the community was wonderful.

The decision seemed to be made to shut it down with minimal notice. Some people, including Melanie Wong from California, put in many hours to attempt to archive info on the Wayback Machine. Otherwise it seems the wealth of info, record of sharing and friends helping friends is gone.

It appears a good number of Home-cooking participants have joined Hungry Onion. I haven't been active there for several years so no idea if there is a southeast presence for travel suggestions. But it might be worthwhile to join up and see!

All the best to you!

Cat
meatn3

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Meredith Norris Vuotto

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May 30, 2022, 7:17:26 PM5/30/22
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Dear Cat, thank you so much! What a great treat to hear from MeatN3.  After I emailed everyone today, my googling lead to the very disappointing news CH had virtually disappeared.  Seriously I'm so sad.   Years ago when I first became active on CH, it was during a period of my life that was not so great.   I feel like like I met so many friends both virtually and later in person that really helped. Really connecting to people over my love of restaurants and cooking was a daily solace.

I moved to the mountains ((Waynesville - Haywood Co) from Raleigh in 2017 - seems like yesterday and forever ago at the same time.   Seriously...  where the heck does time go?

Since Valerio [husband] opened his restaurant last August, the only day I have off for much culinary exploration is Sundays, but if you all need any Asheville-metro suggestions, please email or text me (919-522-9036).  I'm on Facebook @meredithlnorris  and Instagram @viegofidel - please feel free to friend me.

I really enjoyed the camaraderie we all had and would love to reconnect.

Chow Ciao!!!   xoxo, Meredith 



Cat Link

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May 30, 2022, 10:27:41 PM5/30/22
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Even though I hadn't been on CH since the Georges fiasco I was surprised how hard the closing hit me. I guess I liked thinking the community was still there busily chatting and sharing. And that I could pop in or retrieve a past post. It does feel like a big part of my past is gone.

I had lurked very early on with CH but I didn't own a computer, most of the talk was NY oriented and the way threads were formatted was very laborious. I bought a laptop & finally got internet when I was recovering from a surgery which left me pretty incapacitated for a number of years. I had moved just prior to the surgery so our Triangle chowmeets were some of my first forays into socializing in the area.

I'm thankful to have met wonderful people who I shared great meals with.

Take care,

Cat

Tom Viemont

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May 31, 2022, 9:15:01 PM5/31/22
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The closing of Chowhound hit me, too. Not overly hard but it was unpleasant, even though the new ownership drove it into the ground.

When I was living in Portugal last year, I befriended Jim Leff, who was considering a move there. We had a couple of meals together. His view of things at Chowhound was really quite different than what I saw as a user. Really nice guy. 

Cat Link

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May 31, 2022, 9:35:32 PM5/31/22
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That must have been interesting to hear his perspective. I imagine he must have had to do a bet of emotional letting go of the site when it initially left his hands. IMO a bit of his philosophy got lost over time as the site grew and "foodies" became a thing. But it was a vibrant sharing forum. I owe a lot of wonderful eating experiences to CH.

Are you still in Europe or have you return stateside? I hope Covid didn't limit your explorations too much.

Glad to hear from you! Maybe Meredith's initial query will create a little online reunion? I had no idea the Google group still existed.

Cat 

Nancy

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Jun 1, 2022, 9:55:10 AM6/1/22
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If you haven't seen Jim Leff's blog post regarding the news about Chowhound's shutdown, here it is:


There's a link in the post to earlier (very long) blog entries about selling Chowhound long ago. 

_____________________________________________
Some may say too lean
But the Greyhound understands
To lean is a verb.
~ Lee Minardi





Burgeoning Foodie

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Jun 1, 2022, 12:22:02 PM6/1/22
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I wonder how many people are still in the area and how many have moved elsewhere. I think one of the local members was somehow involved with a local (possibly nefarious) government official maybe governor or mayoral candidate.  We can still chow up together depending on everyone’s availability and COVID cautiousness.  

I’ll miss like things that might have been offered off the beaten path by real (non published material) people who could also report up to date info.  I never met any chow people outside of the local group and I was horrible at getting back about where I went and what I had. Now I’m on the Chapel Hill/Carrboro foodie group where I sometimes play nice but other times get tired of everyone constantly praising everything in which case sarcasm comes out to bite someone’s ass.  If anyone wants to gather somewhere by all means let’s start chatter in a separate email.  I’d be open to say Lime and Lemon or….?

Tom Viemont

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Jun 1, 2022, 8:56:47 PM6/1/22
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We lived in Europe from Jan '20 to Oct '21. Most of that time was spent in Portugal. It was a good experience, but we missed, among other things, the variety of food we could get here, so we moved back. We now live in Durham. 

I would happily participate in a get together. I've been wanting to try that sichuan hotpot place in Morrisville, but my family is hesitant.

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