The restaurant industry in New York State employs more than 440,000 people.  According to the National Restaurant Association statistics, sales for the industry topped $24.1 billion in 2005 and growing fast. But it's all about to change. Somewhere in Brooklyn, Cathy Erway has begun a controversial personal quest not to eat out. Ever. With millions of Americans reading her blog, is this the beginning of a new era?

DB: The idea of not eating out in the city is a small revolution. How did you get bored with New York food?

Although I think it's virtually impossible to get bored with food in New York City, I did get quite bored with what I call "New York Food." Working class, midtown lunch food, in particular. It's quite diverse, but at the same time so cookie-cutter — you can only improvise so far with the same ingredients in your sandwiches, or salads, or things in your stir fry or pasta tossed-to-order. Aside from that, restaurants for sit-down meals are nice and varied, but who can spend all their money on that all the time? Well, maybe most people do.

DB: The Eating Out majority is overwhelmingly loud. How do you get your voice heard?

While I'm not purporting to be a voice to be reckoned with, and I do love to gossip about restaurants with other foodies (or did?), I've found quite a response to my blog so far. I think it struck a chord in many people, and it has been nice to read comments from readers who, for example, agree that roasting a whole chicken is the perfect remedy for when you're feeling gloomy and blue. I also get emails from people who are like, "I want to not eat out, but don't know if I can, but I'm starving and broke so I love reading your tips." That sort of thing.

I admire other blogs that concentrate on home cooking because I find the diversity there so fascinating — just as interesting, perhaps, as the innovations of master chefs at renowned restaurants. I honestly don't know much about what other people tend to cook in their homes. But, just from reading newspapers and magazines, I do know what chefs cook in hot restaurants. I think there needs to be a dialogue both ways, and a lot of people have said to me since starting this blog, that they agree.

DB: This commitment must impact your personal life. Do you refuse dinner dates, pass "Go" without collecting someone's 200$ and fast forward directly to the next level?

Well my boyfriend is at his wit's end for not being able to eat out as much. I try to make up for it by cooking something really great but I know I will never cut it for the atmosphere element. Other than that my friends and family have been pretty amenable to the situation — I rarely get asked out to eat otherwise, but hopefully I'm not inconveniencing anyone too much. And who doesn't like home dinner parties?!

DB: Aren't you afraid that your decision will have the same effect as, for example, eating vegetarian? With millions of people adopting, the world economy will lose its fragile balance!

Ha. But really, why can't you all just do this too?? When I first began the blog, one of my objectives was just to see if I could not eat out, and not crack. Now not only have I been doing it, but I've been enjoying it. Sure, it's not always fun to have to pass up on the great new Australian meat pie joint (one sprang up down the street from me), or not grab pizza at 3:00 a.m. (as someone asked me yesterday—"how can you NOT do that??"). But I take a lot of pride in my own cooking, and for having made this a commitment. Overall, it's been a fun personal challenge. I was always sort of manic obsessive about cooking. And it just seems fitting, that in a town where everyone is extremist in some way, and a lot of people here are extreme foodies, or eating-outers, to do this here.

DB: On a blurb about yourself you offer the example of Professor Thom Cooper who made his class go on a media fast. How can you compare the single-minded American mainstream media with the very international and diverse food of the Big Apple?

Ah. The media fast Professor Cooper devised was not an American mainstream media fast — it was an all media fast. Any published book, poem, recorded music, film, newspaper, etc, you could not ingest (unless you created it yourself). Sounds impossible, right? His idea was an homage to Thoreau. Now I'm not saying that I'm doing anything as big as that, but most people I know think that it's impossible to not eat out in New York, especially if you go to work 9-5 and do other stuff in your life. A lot of people eat out practically every single meal. So the quest is for one's personal revelation, that's different for everyone. Yes, the food in New York is great and diverse. I guess the idea is that YOU, too, are also great and diverse, and creative. If you just close your eyes for a moment you will let yourself discover it.

DB: If the amazing New York restaurant food is not enough to crack the nut, to make you break your commitment, what is?

Um, are you trying to plot against me? I'm keeping my eye on you. That's right, no comment.

You can find Cathy on FoodCandy or on her blog.