In March this year, the beast celebrated its first anniversary of Internet existence.

From the very first post on making Toad in the Hole to exploring various farmer’s markets, overdosing on meat from the Rib Man on Brick Lane to dining at restaurants of great heights (literally) at Duck & Waffle and Oblix, discovering hidden gems like Little Georgia and Tinello to attending some of London’s biggest food festivals such as Taste of London, writing up recipes that were a flop and some so delectable they became staples of my cooking life, the Beast has certainly evolved to become a wealth of food knowledge and information and if nothing else, a plethora of food photography marking these adventures.

Since unleashing the beast one year ago, culinary prowess, discerning taste buds and harsh, yet fair critiques are not the only things that have developed. At its inception, the beast’s followers included the beast’s mother, sister and some co-workers who felt obligated to join the measly band of followers. Over a year later, the beastly family has grown to a delightful 976 foodies (some of them are still those begrudging colleagues), who hail from a variety of countries all over the world. We’ve got viewers from Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, Ireland, Brazil, Spain, Finland, Italy, India, Kenya and beyond. And of course the largest fan base not surprisingly, comes from the United States and the United Kingdom, the beast’s two homes which provided the inspiration to kick-start this little blog.

One of the things that the beast relies on is recommendations: recommendations for new cuisines, different recipes, pop up foodie events, little hole in the wall restaurants that people love. On this occasion of the beast’s (belated) anniversary, it would be great to hear from all the followers in the comments section: a bit about yourself, where you are from, what you like about the Ravenous Beast and anything you would like to see more of. Without you, the Rav B would very much just be the self-proselytizing musings of a very hungry ex-pat, okay it still is that, but with people to engage, disagree or agree, comment and provide ideas it can serve a much greater purpose than mere ranting (I think).