Worcester’s Chief Foodie Scott Erb

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Jennifer Roy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Who needs Boston when there's Worcester? Scott Erb and Donna Dufault are putting the town on the map with Erb Photography and Foodies of New England Magazine.

Scott Erb is owner of Erb Photography in Worcester and produces Foodies of New England Magazine, a locally distributed publication published by Mercury Media LLC that showcases the area’s best restaurants. One feature of the magazine is the gorgeous photos of succulent dishes taken by Scott and his wife Donna Dufault, both self-proclaimed foodies. In this article, Scott talks about combining his talent and his passion for food to educate the community and all of his readers of the wonders of New England’s restaurants and encouraging residents to buy local.

1) Describe Foodies Magazine/how often is it released?

Foodies of New England is a magazine focused on the cuisine scene throughout the region, be it food and drink, chefs, restaurants, farms, specialty shops, artisan food producers, and…well, everything a foodie needs to stay up on culinary news, trends, and events. In addition to the print version of our magazine, we also have a digital archive available. It is distributed three times a year: Spring/Summer (just released), Fall and Winter.

2) What inspired you to create it?

We were meeting these amazing chefs and loved how passionate they were about what they were doing. We felt we had to share this with everyone.

3) How much work goes into producing this magazine?

Lots and lots. For our part, we have an average of 23-25 shoots per magazine. Since the magazine covers all the New England states, we are required to travel to all the states that we have articles in and photograph them. Sometimes we'll shoot one in VT and then another in RI the same day. Lots of travel, but we love it!

4) How does Foodies Magazine benefit the community?

Foodies underlying theme is about buying and supporting local. I believe that spending my money and supporting my neighbor is way more important than supporting a chain that doesn't appreciate me. In this case it's about local New England. Also, since many of us are from the Worcester County area, we give lots of love to the local food communities and restaurants. It also benefits the reader by informing them of all the wonderful places they can go to try new things and learn about recipes that they may not have tried before. Clearly it benefits the restaurants that we feature and drives new business and awareness to them.

5) How do you choose which restaurants you will feature in the magazine?

The restaurants are typically chosen by social media or from our group. They are then vetted by one or more of our staff. Social media is amazing we get so many leads this way.

6) What are some of your favorite local restaurants?

I like many of the local restaurants. It really depends on my mood. My favorite "hang out" is The Citizen. I like the relaxed atmosphere and can order off of either their bar menu or from the upstairs restaurant the Peoples Kitchen. The bartenders know my drink, but love to see me branch out to one of their creations. I almost always go to Sweet for my sugar cravings. Alina's cupcakes are my fave, but I sometimes order off of her savory menu. We are also a huge fan of the Flying Rhino, Sole Proprietor, Baba Sushi, Ceres, Pho Dakao, and Dino's to name a few. We eat out a lot!

7) What are your future plans for Foodies Magazine?

Foodies future plans are to be distributed by a regional periodicals distributor. This would mean they would be available at your local bookstores and shopping centers. We are currently looking into this. Ultimately, we'd love for it to go national. With the amount of current interest from people who are seeing it from other areas of the country, it's apparent that a "local" magazine can be national due to the content we provide.

8) Which do you prefer? Photographing people or food?

LOL, I love both. Both are fun and challenging in their own ways. I think that's why I love shooting for the magazine. I get to photograph the food and the chefs. It's always fun to meet them. They are so passionate about what they are doing and it comes across in the food. Their wide variety of personalities really showcases the same in the dishes they create.

9) What have you learned about Worcester's restaurants from producing Foodies Magazine?

I've learned that our local restaurants are really doing their best to attract the local community by creating their own restaurant personalities and flavors. I love that I have so many different options to choose from these days. When I first moved here 15 years ago, the food scene was kind of a wasteland. Now I bring my friends from Boston and Providence to Worcester and love to show off what we have to offer. I have found they are coming to Worcester on their own now and love it. Their comment is that they can get the same quality and experience here as they can in Providence and Boston, but they feel that the parking is WAY better and their dollar goes a lot farther here. I love that.

Foodies of New England also has Foodies TV. You can watch on-line episodes here: http://www.foodiesofnewengland.com/foodies-tv

Jennifer Roy is President and Owner of Jen Roy PR, a socially progressive boutique public relations firm located in Central MA. She specializes in media relations, creative event planning, public speaking and interview training, corporate social responsibility consulting and video production for on-line marketing.