2016 has been another crazy and fun year for the Chef’s Wife! It’s been 12 months packed full of many highlights and lots of change! Like last year, I feel like I didn’t blog as much as I wanted, but life just gets in the way. I posted 75 new blogs in 2016 so that wasn’t a bad effort!
My blog highlights of 2016
Gosh, looking back it really was a busy old year!
I was proud as punch to be ranked in the top 5 in Perth’s Hottest 100 Food Blogs 2016. Fellow Perth Blogger Martine, from Chomp Chomp compiles this list every year. The list is a fabulous way to discover new Perth food bloggers – you should check it out!
This year I have continued my monthly restaurant review for the Post (the Western Suburbs local newspaper). I’m heading into my fourth year of reviews for the Post and very proud to be a part of such a well written local newspaper.
I’ve also been freelancing and had a listicle published on So Perth, for the City of Perth’s Eat Drink Perth food festival. I listed my top spots to dine in Perth city for a date night and it featured a few of my favourite food pics! I’ve also been working with some of my friends, the lovely ladies behind family website Buggybuddys too – writing lots of posts on kid friendly places to visit in Perth.
Our beautiful city played host to some fantastic events this year. The Night Noodle Markets were excellent. I loved Hoy Panoy’s satays, though this year it was all about the pretty as a picture watermelon cake! I also enjoyed the Beauvine festival and “no cook Mondays” at the Inglewood on Beaufort Night Markets are always a favourite with us.
It was sad to see a few restaurant close their doors, including Chophouse. Chophouse was one of our favourite openings of 2015. It’s such a shame that it got caught up in the demise of the Keystone Group.
Our favourite dining experience of 2016.
Hands down goes to Wildflower! This exquisite restaurant in the stunning COMO Treasury Building is without question the best restaurant in Perth. The locally focused fine diner has set a new benchmark. We were both very impressed with its innovative menu, cooking techniques and beautiful plating. Not cheap, but worth every cent. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary! 
My 5 Favourite Newbies in 2016
The new openings just keep on coming! When will it slow down?! In 2016 we have eaten at many diverse cafes, bars, restaurants and even food trucks. Here’s my top 5 favourite new Perth dining spots for this year…
o Hand made pasta at LuLu La Delizia – Subiaco
o Bellinis and brunch by the beach at Odyssea – City Beach
o One of our very best brunches ever at Mason and Bird – Kalamunda
o Huuuge pizzas at Mack Daddys New York Slice – Highgate (not blogged about yet!)
o Top notch dining at Post – Perth CBD
Honourable mentions go to the Henley Brook, Chatford and Co and Hamptons.
There were so many new spots to try, I didn’t quite make it everywhere. Other newbies and soon to open spots on my hit list for 2017 are…
o Epicurean – Crown Towers
o KuDeTa – Perth CBD
o The Hummus Club – Northbridge
o Young Love Mess Hall – Northbridge
o Tiisch – Perth CBD
o The Chippery & Co – Northbridge
o Frisch & Barc – Como
o Billie H – Claremont
o Meat Candy – North Perth
My 10 Favourite “oldies” of 2016
To be fair, some of these venues aren’t that old. With all the hype of new venues, it’s important to support existing restaurants that are doing a fantastic job too! Here are my favourite Perth dining spots I visited in 2016:
o D’s Authentic Japanese – Joondalup
o Petition Kitchen – Perth CBD
o Oakover Grounds – Swan Valley
Vital Statistics
My background is in accounts, so I’m a bit of a number nerd. I thought it was pretty nifty to see how my lil blog has grown from year to year. Here’s my 2016 stats…
o 75 new blog posts
o Over 55,000 views of my blog posts this year
o Over 12000 social media followers, growing by the day.
o Most popular post – Suburban Table’s excellent frozen meals got over 7,300 views!
You can follow me on social media at…
@Thechefswifeperth on Instagram
@perthchefswife on Twitter
On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheChefHisWifeTheirPerthFectLife
Sponsored Posts
To all the restaurants, artisans and companies that have contacted me in 2016 – thank you for taking the time to discover my blog. I get an incredible amount of emails and invites on a daily basis. I only go to about 25% of events I’m invited to. There’s a few reasons for that. One being time, another being not being able to get a babysitter! Another reason I limit my invited/sponsored posts is that I want to keep my blog as interesting as possible and I do think that an authentic meal at a restaurant where the wait staff have no idea that I am a blogger makes for the most interesting and “real” blogging experience. Saying that, an invite to a restaurant that I’ve not had chance to discover or would not have thought to go to otherwise always mixes it up a bit and offers some unique experiences… like hanging on stage at the Regal Theatre or cooking in the C Restaurant Kitchen! 
Sure, it’s great getting a freebie, but as the saying goes ‘nothing really comes for free”. With each kind gift and invite, a lot of my time and effort goes into creating a post to promote it. And in 2016 I haven’t had much spare time! When I do collaborate with a brand, I do like to keep it local and you know I’m bringing you something I’m really excited about. So thank you to these people that have taken the time to contact me and had to bear with my sometimes slow replies.
A blogger dinner is a great opportunity not only to check out a new venue, but to meet the many lovely Perth bloggers – some have become great friends. We have a lovely food blogging community in WA and I love to put faces to names of the blogs I follow.
Our 2016
Last year much of my spare time was taken up by moving house. This year, we’re all settled in at our new home and my free time has been taken up by a career change. This year my little business – The Chef’s Wife Social Media Management grew and grew. Specialising in the hospitality, family and lifestyle industries. I work with cafes, restaurants, takeaways, lifestyle products, family brands and more to boost and establish their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Feel free to get in touch with any Social Media questions for your business 🙂 
Chef deciding to leave his Head Chef restaurant role last year for a “lifestyle change” was the best thing he has ever done. He is happier making great food for the corporate functions at Domain Stadium and the WACA, as now working nights is very rare and he often gets weekends off too – almost unheard of for a Chef. My sports-mad Chef is seeing lots of sport now, as part of his job and a couple of concerts too!
Thank YOU!!
Lastly and most importantly – to all my followers, thank you very very much for all your support! Every Facebook like, Instagram love and blog comment is really appreciated. It makes blogging so rewarding for me.
My blog started off as a secret project that I thought up in 2012. I say secret, as I thought no one would like it! Never in my craziest dreams did I think that I’d create such a little monster. I love every second and every door that it has opened. I took a chance, put myself out there and it has far exceeded my expectations in every way. It just goes to show that if you have an idea – you should totally go for it!
What’s happening in 2017… MORE FOOD! They’ll be more reviews with the Post newspaper (once I recover from the festive season). First up, I’ll be continuing to share with you our fantastic trip to Denmark last month, a fantastic Great Southern town that all West Aussies should visit. Check out the first part here.
I’m also hoping to catch up on my backlog of TWENTY EIGHT unwritten posts! That overwhelms me a bit when I think about it. Phew! In the last few months I’ve eaten a Californian Pizza Kitchen, Cup and Co, Sayers Sister, Mayfair Lane, Brewhouse Margaret River and many more. But hey, life happens. I’m hoping that I’ll have a few days of blogging and get up to date before I embark on more foodie adventures for the new year.
I’m hoping 2017 is the best yet for us all! Wishing you health and happiness for 2017.
Happy New Year!!
Cheers 🙂
Amanda xx