Next best thing to being there

“I’m so sorry I didn’t pick up on this,” subscriber and faithful reader Ty Kotz wrote on Instagram after seeing pictures of The Food Section’s first-ever subscribers’ reception this past Saturday. “Would have loved to be there.”

To use a journalistic cliché, Ty wasn’t alone. Lots of subscribers couldn’t attend because of scheduling conflicts or the sheer distance between their homes and my house in North Charleston, where the party was held. Plus, the event coincided with Charleston Wine + Food, during which dedicated eaters are pulled in a dozen different directions at once.