Savouring with SAVEUR

Dear Soleil,

Congratulations on becoming a finalist in the 9th Annual SAVEUR Blog Awards! From a pool of over 20,000 submissions, your blog was selected as one of the most innovative, impressive, and well-executed we came across, and one of our top six contenders in the Best Travel Blog category.

These are the words I have held onto the last five days and I don’t think I am coming down from cloud nine anytime soon.
For those that are unfamiliar with this magazine, SAVEUR is one of the top gourmet, food, wine and travel magazines that dives deep into how to cook, eat, and travel the world.

I remember reading SAVEUR when I was little, long before Instagram and food blogs were a thing. It was an escape and exploration into a world filled with limitless food and culture that SAVEUR shared so authentically. One Christmas my dad bought me the SAVEUR cookbook and throughout high school I constantly searched and applied for internships to be within the slightest realms of SAVEUR. And now they chose me?! To say I am excited is HUGE understatement.

For those you that have known me for 10 years or 10 minutes, I thought I’d reintroduce myself (emphasis on food and travel intended).

Name: Soleil Noreen Roth

Born in: Changsha, China

Hometown: Richland, WA

Current City: Seattle

Favorite Restaurant: (In Seattle) Toulouse Petit Lounge and Kitchen, RockCreek Seafood and Spirits, and Canlis-DUH!

Favorite Activity: Strolling the Ballard Farmer’s Market

Signature Dish: Salmon.

Can’t Live Without? Salmon.

Countries Visited: 27 (?)

Favorite City: Rome…or Copenhagen…or Selville… Rome.

Favorite Country: Disregarding my bias for Italy, probably Spain. Also Croatia.

Favorite Trip: Peru…or Vietnam. Switzerland too. Wow, I’m not really that good at answering these questions am I?

Funniest Travel Story: Let’s just say, make sure you go to the correct airport. Because if you go to the wrong airport like I may or may not have, you might end up missing your flight, crying on the airport floor, flying to a different city four hours away from your actual destination, getting flushed on the plane from one drink, and then praying that the earthquake currently happening doesn’t make your train later than it already is.

Best Meal: I still dream about this baked fish I shared with my parents on the island of Hvar, Croatia. It was fresh-caught that day; a delicious flaky, buttery white fish baked whole on top of vegetables complimenting the fish’s gentle flavor and beautiful olive oil. Simplicity at its finest.

Last Meal: Surprise, it’s salmon.

Bucket List Destination: Australia/New Zealand and Japan.

Guilty Pleasure: Wood-fired pizza bianca.

Languages Spoken: English and Italian

Next Language I Want to Learn: French

Next Trip: Europe with the family for Thanksgiving (right after Memphis for the SAVEUR BLOG AWARDS!!!)

Biggest Lesson Learned: Don’t forget your passport!

Favorite Thing About Travelling: Getting to meet new people and trying new foods.

Travel Philosophy: Leave all expectations behind, live in the moment, and remember life is too short not to eat good food.

I am BEYOND excited to take advantage of this amazing opportunity and if there’s one thing I believe is that if there is something in your life you are passionate about, go into it wholeheartedly with everything you have. One of my greatest passions is sharing the beauty of travel and this chance has reminded me how dear that passion is to me. I would love nothing more than you for to VOTE FOR MY BLOG HERE , share it with your family, friends, coworkers, strangers, and know that if I win, I am baking everyone who I know voted treats (you can hold me to that).