Paging Dr.

Breakfast
By Jordan Wade

The thirty-something-year-old ex-professor

sits at the small table alone, typing furiously
on his laptop. He’s dressed casually, wearing
just a light blue polo, jeans, a pair of Vans and
his wedding ring. It’s not that he looks out of
place really, but it’s puzzling his waitress as to
how he found his way to this hole-in-the-wall
diner.

Suddenly and abruptly, the man closes his

laptop, tucks it under his arm, tosses a few
dollar bills onto the table and stands. “Thank
you!” he calls out to his waitress as the door
closes behind him, leaving the bell jingling
slightly.

Nick Dekker didn’t plan to become Dr.

Breakfast; it kind of just happened. As someone who has always loved food—especially
breakfast—Nick thought it would be a fun idea to start writing about the various places he went
and the meals that he ate. Eventually, the blog that started as a hobby grew into something much
more, opening several doors along the way. Today, Nick—aka Dr. Breakfast—is a freelance writer
with publications in various magazines and newspapers such as ​(614 Magazine), Columbus Crave
and​ TourismOhio​, a blogger that gets paid to write about his favorite food and a Columbus food tour
guide. When asked about his blogging success story, Nick said, “The first thing I tell people is to
really niche down and find a specific topic you really like.” According to the breakfast doctor, it’s
important not to try to do everything or go too broad; “People want to hear your thoughts on
something specific”.

For Nick, that something specific was breakfast food.

As far as the transition from college professor to
full-time blogger and freelance writer goes, Nick says
that one was surprisingly easy and an instance of good
timing. The lecturer was blogging on the side in a much
more casual fashion when the university began to
shrink the department in which he worked, giving Nick
the opportunity to leave higher education and explore
more in-depth his passions for writing and breakfast.
Though Nick might be best known for his Breakfast with Nick blog, he also leads a breakfast tour
twice a month here in Columbus and published a book entitled ​Breakfast With Nick: Columbus. ​ ​Both
the breakfast tours and the book highlight some of Nick’s favorite places to eat in the city and how
he and his family recommend that you travel and eat. “We have our four parts when we go to a new
place: breakfast, park, beverage, art. Those are the four things we look for and so that’s how we are
trying to teach more people to travel.”

While most people look at breakfast as merely another meal in the day, Nick saw something more,
something that he was able to capitalize on. If you have the knowledge and passion for something
specific, you can probably do more with it than you initially assume.

Some unexpected turns in life brought

the man known as Dr. Breakfast to
where he is now, and he couldn’t be
happier. Through combining his arts and
humanities background with his
enthusiasm for breakfast, Nick Dekker
managed to create for himself a growing
influence on the breakfast scene of
Columbus and beyond.