I wasn’t raised to love Food.  My family didn’t revere it and my childhood memories were filled with instant ramen, food court fare at the mall, and strange-smelling leftovers packed for school lunches rather than lazy Sundays cooking with Grandma or day-long family feasts.  My mother – forbidden by traditionalist parents from learning the ways of the kitchen – only began cooking seriously after she married my dad.

I am not a celebrity chef, visionary photographer, or on-trend “influencer”.  I spend most of my days behind a computer at a job that pays me just enough to afford the occasional vacation.  I don’t cook with immersion circulators, smokers, or golden tweezers in a gleaming, minimalist kitchen.  Most of my photos are hastily taken and the ones that make it online are posted long after I’ve digested the meal in question.

This blog is dedicated to:

• …the everyday cooks and diners who know the smell of something burning in the oven all too well, grumble at having to shop for groceries, and sigh at the perpetual scarcity of time in the kitchen,
• …the food lovers who love the people and stories behind the meal as much as the meal itself,
• …the wanderers who see themselves in the dishes of another’s table, no matter how foreign or distant,
• …the mealtime philosophers who know that the best condiment for any meal is a good conversation.

This is for the people who eat not only out of nutritional necessity, but the desire to connect with themselves and others regardless of race, creed, occupation, or method of cooking eggs.

(Read on for Recipes, Travels, Side Hustles, and Thoughts – both Long and Short – on all things Food).

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A Little About the Author…
Paolo Española is a wandering diner in search of a good meal and an ever-elusive identity. He started this blog during his soul-crushing stint as an accountant and later co-founded Hidden Apron, his side project that dabbles in everything from catering, hosting pop-up dinners, podcasting, and everywhere in between.  He is also a contributing author to the best-selling cookbook, “The New Filipino Kitchen”. He believes that food is a universal language that can solve the world’s most challenging problems, help people believe in their own potential, create communities with shared stories, and realize that in breaking bread, we break boundaries.  

Connect with him on Instagram (@errant_diner), over e-mail (theerrantdiner@gmail.com), or through Hidden Apron.  He has over five years of experience in strategic and operational roles in the tech industry and is always open to opportunities at the intersection of food, agriculture, and technology.