Welcome to fancyfoodfancy. My name is Sandy. fancyfoodfancy is where my love for food and photography convene. I was born, raised, and currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have mad love for the Bay Area and feel incredibly blessed to call this place my home. If you love the Bay, too, we should talk.

I love sharing meals and cocktails with friends, experimenting in my kitchen, and perusing various farmers markets and grocery stores in the area. I love oysters on the half shell, especially with a cold pint of beer or a glass of bubbly. I have dinner with my eighty-four seven year old grandmother every Sunday, which is when I do most of my cooking and baking for this site.

Because I have a serious sweet tooth, you’ll find lots of baked goods and confections here. But I love breakfast, lunch and dinner as much as I love dessert, so you’ll find savory dishes here as well. I try my best to keep it balanced. Enjoy!

Contact me at: fancyfoodfancy (at) gmail (dot) com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who takes the photographs on fancyfoodfancy?

I am responsible for all of the images here on fancyfoodfancy, unless otherwise noted. I’ve known since I was seventeen years old that one day I would be a photographer, it’s just taken me a while to get here. This site allows me to photograph what I love most on a daily basis.

What kind of camera do you use?

I shoot with a Nikon D90, primarily equipped with a standard (the secret is out!) 18-55mm lens. I also have an old Nikon F2 from the 70′s, which is one of my most prized possessions. If you love film, the F2 is an incredible piece of machinery.

May I use one of your images on my site?

It depends. The images and content on fancyfoodfancy are protected by copyright, so please contact me first for permission. Thank you!

Do you have any culinary training?

Not yet, but maybe one day. My training and inspiration come from the amazing cooks in my family (namely my paternal grandparents, my maternal grandmother, and my Auntie Pam), my love of cooking programs (I live for Saturday mornings on PBS), my twelve-year subscription to Martha Stewart Living courtesy of my Auntie Dianne, cookbooks, magazines, countless establishments in the Bay Area, my food loving friends, and years of practice.

Where do you purchase your hard to find ingredients?

Because I live in the Bay Area, lots of uncommon ingredients are very accessible. I do most of my shopping at Berkeley Bowl Market in Berkeley. I also frequent local farmers markets (the farmers market at the SF Ferry Building really is as great as everyone says it is; the Saturday market at Oakland’s Lake Merritt is great, too). I really like Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco for its impressive bulk foods department and cheese counter. And Bi-Rite Market always gets me going (goodies galore, AND you can buy Bi-Rite Creamery’s salted caramel ice cream by the pint) . I also love The Pasta Shop in Berkeley. Whole Foods is always a great resource.

Where do you buy all of the plates and dishes that are featured on your site?

I have a bit of shopping habit! I love antique stores, estate sales, and flea markets, which is where I find the majority of the dishes seen in my posts. Anthropologie always has gorgeous little things that I can’t seem to resist. ebay is another one of my guilty pleasures.

Why is your blog called fancyfoodfancy?

While I was in the process of creating this blog, I was watching the show Pushing Daisies obsessively. I was in love with the aesthetics of the show and the lead character, who was a pie-maker. One of the shows quirks was its use of alliteration throughout the series, and while I was brainstorming baby names, I had an alliterative name on the tip of my tongue. And then fancyfoodfancy was born.