I've known Sofia Levin for more than a decade, so I was stoked when she said yes to coming on the show! A food and travel writer in Melbourne for more than 15 years, Sofia is now one of the four MasterChef judges and picked up a Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Trailblazer Award this year.
What I love about Sofia's work is the hunt for places nobody else is covering. We talked about finding the story behind a venue, and what an owner should do when that DM arrives from an influencer offering a post in exchange for a free meal.
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In this episode
How a backpacking trip to Morocco, and then COVID, turned into a career writing about food and culture
What a food writer notices first in a restaurant (hint: it isn't the food)
Why the best stories are about people, and why listening beats a list of questions
Why the whole of Darwin goes mad for laksa every October
What to check before you say yes to an influencer
How to find what makes your venue different without manufacturing a story
"It's humanity. It's often got very little to do with the food. Food is just where they've ended up." Sofia Levin
A Darwin detour
Sofia had just come back from the Northern Territory when we recorded, which took me straight back to my waitressing days. I used to order live mud crabs wholesale from the NT, and my party trick was cooking one at home and tossing it through spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and chilli. People loved the theatre of it! Sofia's Darwin eating guide is on her Eat Curiously newsletter.
When an influencer lands in your DMs
Sofia's advice is pretty much what I tell clients:
Check engagement, not follower counts.
Get it in writing.
Make sure the post is labelled.
Don't pay until after the visit.
And if you're running on a margin of two or three per cent, think hard before spending $3000 on a single post. As Sofia put it: "Do a bloody letter drop."
A restaurateur I once presented with said it best: if you want to chase trends and be in fashion, be prepared to go out of fashion. For most venues, paid influencers sit at about number 10 on my list, well behind your database, your Google listing and the guests who already come back.
Supporting MND Victoria
Sofia lost her dad to motor neurone disease in 2024 and is now a passionate ambassador for MND Victoria. If you'd like to donate, please make sure it's to MND Victoria, which is a separate organisation from MND Australia.
Mentioned in this episode
Eat Curiously: Sofia's newsletter, including a Darwin eating guide
Seasoned Traveller: the website
@sofiaklevin: Sofia on Instagram
Darwin Laksa Festival: held every October
La Esquina: the South American food truck park in West Footscray that Sofia says no one is talking about
One last thing
I asked Sofia for her end-of-day drink. First came a cup of tea, then the confession: "a real filthy martini". Her words: "Doesn't even matter what gin is in there because there's so much brine, you can't taste it anyway. No shame." Bartenders, brace yourselves!
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