Another month in the books and it was yet another month of high traffic on the blog, with the highest-ever totals registered for monthly page views and unique visitors. I have no idea what’s driving all this traffic. I’d like to believe that the world is finally waking up to my genius but it’s probably just a combination of some transient Google algorithm quirk and the automated WordPress.com SEO tools doing their thing. I certainly have not been doing anything differently this year. I post on the blog and add links to my Twin Cities restaurant reports to a few Facebook groups and that’s it; in fact, I’ve even stopped posting links on the blog’s own Facebook page as the site made it really difficult to do so a few months ago. And it’s not even Twin Cities restaurant reports that are driving the traffic, as you will see below. Once again, the most viewed posts of the month were travel reports from outside the US and I have not been plugging those anywhere really. Whatever the reason, the stats for 2024 as a whole are already past 2023’s numbers, with a whole quarter of the year still to go. So, what were people looking at the most in September?
Here are the top 10 most viewed posts for the month:
- Eating at Mercato Centrale (Florence, June 2023)
- Bukhara (Delhi, March 2022)
- Trattoria Monti (Rome, June 2023)
- Eating at Noryangjin Fish Market (Seoul, February/March 2024)
- Mingles (Seoul, February 2024)
- At Namdaemun Market, Pt. 2: Eating (Seoul, March 2023)
- Red Bean Curry with Coconut Milk
- Homi, August 2024 (St. Paul, MN)
- Lagavulin 11, Offerman Edition, Rum Finish
Not much movement at the top, except that my look at Mangwon Market in Seoul pipped the Mercato Centrale report to the post, ending the stranglehold it’s had on the top spot for several months now. The March 2022 report on Bukhara in Delhi and the summer 2023 report on Trattoria Monti complete the top four. After that come six newcomers to the Top 10. Only one of those was a post actually made this September: my account of our meal at Homi in St. Paul in August. Then there are three more Seoul reports, a recipe and an actual whisky review. The recipe was linked to on the Rancho Gordo Facebook page and the whisky review was of this year’s Lagavulin Offerman Edition, which finished just outside the top 10 in August as well. All in all, there are four Seoul reports and two Italy reports on the top 10. I guess, if I want to chase numbers I should keep traveling.
Just outside the top 10 were a few more market reports from Seoul (Kalguksu Alley in Namdaemun Market), Goa (Margao Fish Market), Bombay (Sassoon Dock Fish Market), and St. Paul (Ha Tien); another couple of recipes (for mutton curry with yogurt and a white bean stew); and a few more restaurant reports (Soul Dining, Kwality, Kim’s, Myriel). My review of Myriel actually shot towards the top of the list at one point, presumably because a lot of people outside Minnesota were searching for it after they were named to some magazine list (Food & Wine, I think). I do feel slightly bad that my tepid review should show up so high on the Google search results (more than one Twin Cities fine dining restaurant would probably appreciate this apology). The interest in Kim’s presumably had to do with the restaurant’s sudden closing. At the other end of things, after cracking the top 10 last month, the blueberry-plum jam recipe didn’t receive even a single, solitary view in September. Sic transit gloria and all that.
Alright, what can you look forward to in October. More of the same: a booze review on Monday, a Twin Cities restaurant report on Tuesdays and an additional restaurant report most weeks till I’ve cleared out my backlog. That backlog has grown. In addition to the four outstanding reports from our California trip in June, there are a few Twin Cities reports that have piled up as well. Accordingly, I will not skip this week’s Twin Cities report: I’ll post it either tomorrow or on Thursday (it features our third dinner at Oro, about which I have some critical things to say). I may also possibly have a non-restaurant-related food announcement to make later this month. And no, it’s not about the return of recipes to the blog (those interested in my cooking adventures should continue to look to Instagram).
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you’ll continue to come back for whatever you’re coming here for.