Daily Inspiration: Meet David Ruin

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Ruin.

Hi David, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my food blog in 2017 as a result of an appreciation for the growing restaurant industry in Denver. Around 2015, maybe a little bit earlier, I noticed a surge in restaurant growth. Growing up in Denver, your choices of where to eat out were very, very slim. However, about 6-8 years ago, the restaurant industry has just been sky-rocketing. I grew up in a family of chefs and foodies. My dad graduated from culinary school in Russia and has owned a number of Russian restaurants in Denver. My mom is a Russian-Jew so there was never a time that food was not on the table. I think that my love for food came from my dad’s articulate culinary techniques and my mom’s Jewish soul food. Combing my love for food and more so my admiration of talking about food, I started the blog Mile High Bites; to show off Colorado pride through the food and beverage industry.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth ride. There have been a lot of ups and downs, trials and tribulations. I feel like the hardest part is growing a following. I still cannot believe sometimes that their actual people, practically strangers, that only follow my blog but also engage with it, DM me, and go to the places that I recommend; it’s wild to me! But I’m not going to lie, building that following is not easy and I never take a follower for granted.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In my every day, 9-5 job, I am a research scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I am currently working in a lab that specializes in research dealing with the Parkinson’s gene, PDR-1. I graduated from CU Boulder with a degree in Biology and a double minor in Russian and Jewish Studies. So, it’s pretty far from running my food blog but I have a passion for science and helping people, families who feel helpless at times. And after-hours is when my love for food comes out!

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I am really enjoying running the blog as a side gig for now and I definitely want to progress it and keep working on it. I have a huge passion for cooking so I would love to implement some recipes that I came up with myself into the blog at some point. I would also like to create an actual website inspired by the Instagram page. Also, now that the world has finally opened, I would love to take pictures of and explore bites outside the mile-high city.

Contact Info:

• Email: milehighbites@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milehighbites/
• Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdtp3e5S/