Our San Francisco correspondent meets Sharon Hwang, a graphic designer and art director who works at Facebook. Sharon also runs a cooking blog, My Cooking Diary, with beautiful and mouth-watering photography, ideas and illustrated notes from her foodie travels.
Sharon Hwang’s My Cooking Diary >
Tell us a bit about you, where do you live, what do you do?
I’m a graphic designer and art director who has worked in London, Stockholm, and now San Francisco. I’ve recently started a new job at Facebook, after working at Apple for about 5 years. I also run a little cooking blog on the side, called My Cooking Diary.
What inspires you?
Beautiful things and moments! It could be a majestic tree in the forest, a delicious and nurturing meal, or a piece of well crafted design.
Most magical moment?
The first time I walked on a completed frozen sea in Sweden during the winter.
How do you relax?
Cooking and drawing — they both take my mind off everything else.
What gets your creative juices flowing?
Traveling — a shift in time and place always change my perspective, get me out of my comfort zone, and inspires me to create things.
Top five…
Film: Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
Book: Eat Good Food by Bi-Rite Market, an amazing local grocer in San Francisco.
Place: The buzzing market in Marrakech, Morocoo, the natural hot springs in Hakone Japan, the serene archipelagos around Scandinavia.
Food: Best food memories — Gravlax in the Swedish summer, bangers and mash in London, a kaiseki dinner in Japan, childhood dim sum meals, and my grandmother’s cooking.
Mulberry: The new Maisie collection looks incredible. The large Maisie totes look like they would be perfect to hold both my MacBook Pro and traveling sketch book!
What are your insider tips for visitors to San Francisco that only a local could know?
I guess the answer couldn’t be more relevant when it comes to where a local would eat dinner on a weeknight basis! My boyfriend and I had endless delicious meals at Nopa, the restaurant, and have been frequenting Delfina Pizzeria and the amazing Japanese spot Izakaya Yuzuki.