‘Hot Eats, Cool Feets’: Professor creates Instagram food account like no other

Gathering a carton of delicious stir-fry noodles and placing the dish in frame with his Jumpman shoes, Jordan Curtis snaps a quick photo to post for his 1,600 followers. Combining a passion for sneakers and unique cuisines, this WSU Vancouver professor is the creator of the Instagram food account, @hoteatscoolfeets, where he shares his mouthwatering food discoveries with the world.

Based on Dairy Queen’s classic ‘90s slogan “Hot Eats, Cool Treats,” Curtis created the unique Instagram page to set himself apart from the massive community of other food accounts on social media. When scrolling through his posts, viewers can find colorful pictures of food from a multitude of restaurants or food trucks that Curtis has visited around the Portland metro area. Plus, as a self-proclaimed sneakerhead, he features several pairs of Nike shoes, which will often be used as a background for each of his flavorful photos.

Curtis discovered his love of food while working as a professional line cook at a restaurant in Portland for eight years, before developing a career in marketing and public relations. As for the story behind @hoteatscoolfeets, Curtis had once worked in downtown Portland for Edelman, one of the largest public relations agencies, where he would frequently visit food carts in the surrounding area with coworkers.

 Having exposure to many different kinds of dishes, Curtis fell in love with Portland’s food cart culture and was then led to working for Travel Portland. While the company promotes tourism to the city, working with Travel Portland allowed Curtis to visit an array of restaurants, which inspired the popular food and sneaker account.

“I have worked with Travel Portland on and off for six years, and I really got to do a lot of storytelling with restaurants. So I love that, and that just deepened my love for food online. I also have a lot of friends that work at Nike, so there is the sneakerhead connection. … As I have done this account, I have gotten smarter about sneakerhead culture. I don’t have any rare [shoes], just the stuff you can get online basically, and I have kept them in good condition,” Curtis said. 

Wanting to stay creative, Curtis started his food account during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to enjoy the restaurant scene in new and safe ways. In a short amount of time with gaining his following base, many of his admirers are fellow food accounts from Portland or other interested foodies around the world. 

“I just kind of went after it. … I don’t have a lot of followers and in the food Instagram world, it’s like small potatoes. But, I don’t even worry about that because I don’t have any aspirations of being an influencer. … All the pleasure that I really get is making the food look awesome,” Curtis said.

Support for small businesses around the city has also played a major factor in Curtis’s selection of locations, as Curtis will primarily visit unique food trucks or restaurants, sometimes even outside of the Portland area. He often tags local businesses and gives them shoutouts for the dishes they offer. 

With the account, Curtis has made a lot of fellow food-blog friends over social media, and will engage with people online asking about their favorite foods, or the best places to eat in their local areas. However, when asked if he plans to expand his social media presence to other platforms, he said he will likely stick to posting on Instagram for now. 

Despite all of the restaurants Curtis has visited, his favorite lies in the heart of Portland. In the hypothetical situation where your best friend visits town, but neither of you knows where to eat, Mama Chow’s Kitchen is Curtis’s most highly recommended restaurant, especially when it comes to eating their noodles, dumplings, wontons and Asian wings. 

“It’s a cart in downtown Portland and is only open for lunch. Mama Chow’s Kitchen is owned by a Chinese dude that came here from Oakland, [California] … and he is beloved by the community. I think the only reason why he doesn’t have a full-blown restaurant at this point is because he’s just the kind of guy that wants to live a balanced life and not work all the time. How can you be mad at that? But I really wish I could go there for dinner or something. So, I would say that is my favorite place to eat,” Curtis said.

Continuing his exploration of local eateries found in the Pacific Northwest, Curtis captures photos of a wide range of food that features some of the best places to go. Next time you wonder where you should eat, think about checking @hoteatscoolfeets for your next dining endeavor.

Olivia Eldredge

Olivia is a senior studying English at WSU Vancouver.