I decided to do a big USA post on the blog a few years ago. Aside from working in the photography industry and having a huge interest and love for all things design, I am also a massive 'music head'.
Long story short, one of my favourite bands is Oasis ~ or should I say more correctly, "was" Oasis as they are sadly no more.
Noel Gallagher released a song and accompanying video a few years ago, which I love and was shot at a location 1 hour north of Los Angeles in a place called; Club Ed. I've always respected that the soul behind this band was the primary songwriter, Noel and herein is where I come to my point re. This post.
Club Ed is an old movie set which, if I cut to the chase, was considered to be too 'cool and valuable' a location to tear down, so it is now rented out for movies, adverts, music videos etc... Very rarely does something inspire me as much as Club Ed did/does. It covers everything I am inspired by. I was utterly and entirely smitten when I saw it, almost gobsmacked. I am also a massive fan of all things 'Americana/Retro/Californian'; one of my favourite areas of the U.S. is the Californian desert, and this location's whole feel and atmosphere just knocked me for 6.
I decided to rent Club Ed and go over to the U.S. to shoot at it (note this is not a cheap place to rent for shoots, especially when they are not commercial and being paid for by a client ~ you're looking at $$$$ to be allowed to take any shots full stop). Without waffling on too much, all I can say is that because of a few different factors due to work and some personal stuff, sadly, it didn't eventuate this time. I was gutted.
Wonderfully, I came across these above shots by photographer Jill Odice. I had to share. Jill has captured Club Ed next to exactly as I hoped I would. Check out her site. She has some incredible photography on there.
Please note ~ All 6 photos are taken by photographer Jill Odice.
Jill kindly agreed to these photos for use on the blog (gratis), for which I am very grateful.
The original Noel Gallagher song inspired this post... You could call it the 'soundtrack to this post – SEE VIDEO ABOVE.
So Club Ed and lads from Manchester aside, here we go, guys. I won't lie. This one was a tad long in its execution. I got there with the recipes and shots, all taken in-between work shoots and over the odd weekend over the past 4 weeks, then putting it all together.
I reached out to WKA blog followers to contribute photos of their travels in the U.S.
I hope this post offers a good feel for the U.S., as shown by various readers of What Katie Ate. And how excellent to have so many shots from all your contributions. I loved putting them all together. It's great to showcase all this work to people who follow the blog. And I am chuffed to have so many of you included in this post.
I thank everyone - all 200+ of you, who sent me emails with photos. I am genuinely so grateful to all of you who took the time to send me shots.
All the following recipes in my 'American Retro Food Special' came about via meals I had during my recent trip to the U.S. I aimed to take the great food experiences and replicate them in my own style or combine 2 meals to produce a new one. Either way, it's my take on fantastic, honest American food ~ savoured either in all-authentic diners; bars; top-notch restaurants; NYC cheap and cheerful pizza joints or at the local Mexican or Italian family restaurant.
