Annalisa Burgos
Annalisa Burgos brings a consumer-focused, business-aware lens to food coverage at Hawaii News Now, using restaurant and product stories to explore how culinary trends intersect with local entrepreneurship and affordability. She treats food segments not just as dining tips but as entry points into how small businesses grow, adapt and connect with their communities.
Food, business and local makers
Burgos’ food coverage centers on the people and business decisions behind what ends up on Hawaii tables. In her “What’s Cooking” segment on Aloha Nata’s Portuguese custard tarts, she highlights how a brand introduces an iconic product to the local market and frames it as part of Hawaii’s evolving culinary landscape. Across recent work, she features local vendors at events such as the Ala Hawaii Food Show, showing how specialty food makers position themselves to reach new customers and institutional buyers. She pays attention to pricing, distribution and exposure, emphasizing how food businesses navigate costs and competition while staying rooted in local identity.
Affordability and the cost of living
Alongside food stories, Burgos hosts “Covering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,” a Hawaii News Now livestream that breaks down the numbers behind the state’s affordability challenge. She uses that format to examine how housing, food and everyday expenses affect residents, connecting individual experiences with broader economic trends. Her reporting looks at inflation, wages and household budgets, and she brings those themes back into her food coverage by asking what it takes for both consumers and small food businesses to survive in a high-cost environment. This dual focus distinguishes her work: food is treated as part of the larger cost-of-living picture, not separate from it.
Anchor-driven community coverage
Burgos is a weekend anchor and Sunrise Weekends anchor at Hawaii News Now, and her food reporting grows out of that role. She regularly fronts segments that spotlight cultural events, one-night-only culinary performances and nonprofit fundraisers where food plays a central role. In coverage of a one-woman show by a chef and of launch events that raise money for causes such as sex trafficking rescue and museum projects, she connects food, performance and philanthropy, underscoring how culinary work is woven into community life. Her on-air presence allows her to package these stories for morning and weekend audiences, balancing service information with narrative about the people involved.
Cultural context and Filipino food
Burgos brings particular depth when covering Filipino food and culture. She has moderated Filipino food conversations and appears as a host and emcee at events that promote culinary exchange between Hawaii and the Philippines. In these settings, she frames food as a bridge for economic development and cultural understanding, highlighting chefs, cookbook authors and restaurateurs who are pushing Filipino cuisine into the mainstream. Her food stories often draw on this context, positioning dishes and ingredients within broader migration, identity and heritage narratives. That cultural grounding gives her coverage a more layered perspective than a simple taste or trend segment.
Format: on-air segments and live conversations
Most of Burgos’ food work is produced as televised segments and livestream conversations rather than long-form text. She uses short, structured pieces to introduce new food concepts, showcase behind-the-scenes preparation and interview the people running the business. Her “Covering the Cost” livestream extends that style into longer, candid discussions where she presses guests on numbers and trade-offs. Together, these formats keep her coverage accessible and visual while still tackling topics like margins, pricing and community impact. For communications teams, she is a journalist who treats food as both a lifestyle subject and an economic story, with a consistent emphasis on how local businesses and consumers manage the real-world costs behind what they eat.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Alice Mannette
Alice Mannette blends service journalism with narrative reporting about everyday life, using local food and gathering places to tell broader stories about community. She writes for the St. Cloud Times, focusing on practical guides to ice cream shops, wineries and other neighborhood businesses. Her coverage turns questions like where to eat and what to do this weekend into portraits of local entrepreneurs, weekend plans and the social life of her area. She reports food and drink as usable guides while tracing local history, culture and public safety. She also covers how people record their lives, writing features on diaries, family history and new books that examine archives and memory. Alongside this, she reports civic and public safety news and produces USA TODAY Network service pieces that compile clear, concrete resources for people dealing with storms and other emergencies.
Amanda Mactas
Amanda Mactas links food news, pop culture, and practical consumer advice, showing how brands, products, and personalities appear in everyday eating. She is an associate editor at Delish, reporting news and feature stories that span celebrity-driven launches, competitive eating, value-focused roundups, and taste tests. Her beat covers food culture, event-driven food deals, brand campaigns, product testing, grocery finds, and shopping guides, all with a clear service angle. She reports through specific products, personalities, and major sports days or holidays, using them to explain broader trends, marketing tactics, and consumer value. Beyond Delish, she works as a freelance writer and editor across food, travel, health, and lifestyle outlets, profiling founders, public markets, restaurant culture, wellness, and travel, and tying everyday eating to place, wellness, and routine in accessible, utility-focused prose.
Amelia Jones
Amelia Jones is a Fox 4 News reporter who makes major moments in Texas life feel close by centering ordinary people, often through food, fandom and everyday routines. She now reports across web, on-air and social video, keeping the camera and narrative on fans’ faces, crowd noise and local venues as she covers World Cup visitors trying Tex-Mex, FIFA fan festivals and standout supporters whose energy defines the stadium mood. She explains state legislative debates on issues like abortion pills in clear, practical terms, breaking down complex bills and legal analysis into real-world consequences. She reports on trials, crime, explosions and traumatic incidents through witnesses, victims and families, and spends time with small business owners and neighborhood groups in East Dallas. She joined Fox 4 News in 2023 and links daily life to the larger forces that shape Texas.