Katie Workman
Katie Workman covers food through the lens of everyday family life, turning reported features and recipes into stories about comfort, celebration and ease in the kitchen. She writes regularly about food for The Associated Press, with her columns carried by The Independent, and has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking. Across her work, she combines approachable recipes with interviews and personal reflection, so that dishes feel both practical for home cooks and emotionally tied to specific moments and traditions.
Family-friendly cooking and practical recipes
Workman’s food coverage centres on cooking that fits into real family routines, shaped by her background writing two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking. Her stories emphasise dishes that are generous, shareable and manageable for non-professional cooks, often highlighting how to make meals feel special without adding stress. Even when she profiles chefs or explores classic American foods, she steers the conversation toward what works at home and how readers might adapt ideas for their own tables. This grounding in everyday cooking distinguishes her from more restaurant-driven food reporting, keeping the focus on the home kitchen and the people who cook in it.
Holiday and occasion-based food features
Workman often uses holidays and seasonal moments as anchors for her stories, showing how food shapes family celebrations. In “Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father's Day,” she speaks with fathers who cook professionally about the meals they would most want to share on that day, blending chef-level imagination with the emotional stakes of a family occasion. The piece explores what makes a Father’s Day meal feel meaningful, while still offering readers ideas they can translate into their own cooking plans.
In “The many ways that baking is winter therapy. With a delicious ending,” she writes about baking as a way of coping with the long, cold season, using the kitchen as a source of comfort and calm. The story frames baking not only as a practical skill but as an emotional outlet, ending in a recipe that gives readers a tangible way to act on that idea. Taken together, these features show her pattern: she ties recipes to moments on the calendar and to how people feel, making occasion-based food both relatable and actionable.
American food culture and regional tastes
Workman also explores American food culture through specific, familiar dishes, using them to discuss memory, place and preference. In “What's the perfect American hot dog? Depends where you grew up,” she looks at hot dogs as a map of regional identity, showing how different cities and states dress the same food in distinct ways. The piece focuses on toppings and styles tied to places such as Chicago, New York City and other regions, and links those choices to upbringing and local tradition.
By framing the hot dog as both a simple everyday food and a marker of where people are from, she turns a basic item into a conversation about taste and nostalgia. That approach recurs across her work: familiar dishes become entry points to talk about who people are, what they remember and how their food preferences were shaped. The result is coverage that is less about novelty for its own sake and more about recognising the depth in ordinary, widely loved foods.
Reported, narrative-driven service journalism
Across these stories, Workman blends reporting with narrative and service elements, rather than focusing solely on recipes or chef profiles. She interviews subjects such as professional chefs who are also parents, drawing out their experiences and ideas in accessible language. She then connects those voices to concrete guidance, whether it is a suggested meal for a holiday, a way to think about regional food traditions, or a recipe that readers can follow at home.
This combination of reported detail, storytelling and clear, usable takeaways is consistent in her work for The Associated Press and its publication at The Independent. It makes her a distinctive voice on the food beat for stories that need both human texture and practical direction, especially where the focus is on family meals, seasonal cooking and classic American comfort foods.
4 more food journalists.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What's On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose food and leisure coverage is built around immersive, first-person reporting and concrete detail. He works at the Manchester Evening News, focusing on new restaurant and bar openings, regular food reviews, gig and event coverage, and issues affecting LGBTQ+ people. He treats restaurants, pubs, bars and experiences as stories about place, people and community, explaining what makes a venue different and how it fits into the local dining scene. His pieces cover pricing, service, atmosphere, crowds and concept, and he is willing to be critical when gimmicks undermine the experience. He writes character-led pub profiles, works shifts, joins treasure hunts and attends major cultural events, inviting readers to follow what he does and use his straightforward assessments to decide where to eat, drink and spend time.
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd is editor at Secret Manchester, where she treats food as part of how people live in the city, not as an isolated subject. She covers restaurants, bars, street food and casual dining, linking new openings and food trends to neighbourhood change, local businesses and everyday routines. Her pieces focus on accessible spots, comfort dishes like pizza and tacos, and clear details of menus, presentation, atmosphere and practical information such as opening hours and booking. She often combines food, drink and live events, producing guides to venues for major sports tournaments and themed pop-ups as part of wider things to do. Alice also reports on hospitality business pressures, city-centre public spaces, charity initiatives, transport and infrastructure, always showing how food and drink fit into community and lifestyle stories. She previously wrote for other regional “Secret” sites as a staff writer and describes herself as a writer and food fanatic.
Aly Walansky
Aly Walansky specializes in service-driven food coverage that treats cocktails and dining as tools for celebration, focusing on how logistics, ordering options, and menu choices turn everyday meals and major holidays into shared experiences. She is a longtime food and travel journalist now writing for Forbes, where her beat centers on cocktails and occasion-driven dining. Her work includes practical, expert-driven roundups such as guides to many variations on the classic martini, shipped-meals gift lists for Mother’s Day, and accessible formats for Thanksgiving and other holidays. She reports through structured lists, restaurant features, and menu-focused profiles that highlight signature dishes and dining trends. Across outlets, she extends this approach to home cooking, grocery shopping, and recipes, and runs a newsletter that shares her current assignments and industry commentary.
Ben Hurst
Ben Hurst joins food, entertainment and cost-of-living angles, treating cooking, groceries and celebrity stories as everyday decisions for readers. He is Head of Lifestyle and Money at WalesOnline, shaping practical, trending coverage that is tightly written, headline-led and easy to scan and share. His food reporting leans on TV chefs and supermarket behaviour, turning their advice and product changes into clear tips and consumer explainers focused on value for money and household budgets. He also writes extensively about TV and celebrity figures, using recognisable names to carry stories about health, family challenges, cancer treatment and resilience. Alongside these, he produces visual, nostalgia-driven galleries and concise explainers on wide-interest phenomena, drawing on a senior newsroom background that includes executive editor, video lead and news editor roles.