Style Insider - Kaie Wellman


Portland-based Kaie Wellman has a self-described "hardcore travel addiction," a foodie husband and a background in fashion. Who, then, could be better suited to publish the eat.shop guides, which began in Portland and added Austin to the repertoire in 2005? The author/photographer and small but intrepid team have chronicled the food and fashion of 13 locales across the globe, and are busy adding new cities every six months. Here, in Styleshaker's exclusive email interview, Wellman weighs in on Austin fashion, her queso obsession and why she sometimes wants to chuck it all and move to an ashram.

Q: When did you pull together the first eat.shop.austin?

In November 2005 the first edition of eat.shop.austin was published. I'm currently in production on the second edition, which will be released in late October of this year.

Q: Why did you choose to cover Austin?

When it dawned on me that I was going to start doing the eat.shop guides for a living, I made my fantasy list of cities to do, and Austin was on the top of the list. Partially because Austin is very Portland-like, with its raging creative types, but mainly because this is a big city that thinks more like a town - and I love that.

Q: What has changed since the last edition?

Wow - a lot. A chunk of businesses in the last edition closed their doors, but then a number of new businesses sprang to life. So goes the cycle of small, local businesses.

Q: How many trips to Austin did you make when you were doing the book?

I started coming to Austin when I was 19 years old, and since that time have been probably all together about eight or so times over the years. When I'm in production on the Austin book, I spend approximately two to three weeks in the city hitting the streets.

Q: Is it difficult to write intimately about a city where you don't live?

No, not at all because there are so many people involved in these books that live in the city, and many are natives. Marianne, who co-authors the Austin book with me, has lived in town for almost a decade, and is married to a native Austinite. So what I'm doing is bringing my sensibility to a city and then sifting what's happening in that place through my filter.

Q: What makes Austin different from the other dynamic cities you have covered?

Austin really is like no other place I know, with its mix of politicians, students, academics, techies, musicians, creatives. It's a serious mélange and it works because everyone seems to be glued together with a super-glue form of queso.

Q: Would you go out on a limb and mention your favorite hangouts in Austin - what you do, what you eat, what you miss?

I would fly here just to go to Uchi. The moment I leave Austin, I miss having all my food covered in jalapeños and drinking Big Red. I think it's spectacular Austin has an organic farm (Boggy Creek Farm) smack dab central in its urban core. By George is one of the best women's clothing stores in the U.S. - Katy and Matthew (Culmo) are retail gods.

Q: Do you notice anything completely signature to Austin's style?

I think Austinites are individualists - so you'll see a mix. There are girly girls wearing pretty cotton candy-colored sundress and wedges, and then girls kickin' around in shorts and little flats and a great vintage top. As for Austin boys, oh my. There's nothing like the musician type wearing the pearl-button shirt and cords.

Q: What's your favorite dish to order when testing a new Austin restaurant?
I admit it - I am obsessed with queso. Other than that, I really love to talk to the chef and see what he/she is really excited about.

Q: When will the next eat.shop.austin hit bookstores?

October 30th 2007!

Q: Where can Austinites pick up a copy?

BookPeople, of course. By George often carries the Austin guide, and some of the other eat.shop cities. Therapy. Big Red Sun - and in October when the new edition comes out, you'll see it at many of the stores featured! And also at www.eatshopguides.com

Q: With all this writing about eating and shopping, do you ever get sick of those two activities?

Thank you, thank you for asking that question - because as much as it's my stock answer to tell folks that I have a job that does not contain a complaint clause, there are times that I fantasize about joining an ashram where there is no food and no material possessions allowed. Of course I only feel this for about 24 hours post working on a book, and by the next day I'm already fantasizing about my next meal - or the hanging wicker 70's chair I saw at Austin Modern.

Q: Future plans outside of the eat.shop guides?

To lose the 10 pounds that I've put on since I started doing these guides. And then put the weight back on as I continue to do more guides. It's a vicious circle.

http://www.eatshopguides.com

designer insider
posted - beth / 7:57 PM / 07.03.07