Michael
Michael writes for Shore Local Newsmagazine, focusing on food stories that are rooted in local community life. He combines approachable recipes, restaurant spotlights, and event coverage so that food is always tied to shared experiences rather than treated in isolation. His work is shaped by a beat that runs through home cooking, dining out, and the gatherings that bring people together.
Community-focused recipes and holiday entertaining
Michael’s food coverage emphasizes recipes that fit into specific celebrations and social occasions. In his work on crowd-pleasing dishes for a star-spangled celebration, he presents cooking as a practical way to host and connect, highlighting accessible ideas that suit group gatherings rather than chef-driven experimentation. The focus on “crowd-pleasing” food reflects a preference for familiar flavors and formats that will work for a wide range of guests, making his recipes useful tools for home hosts planning seasonal parties.
He writes in a clear, service-oriented style, giving readers straightforward guidance they can use for holiday entertaining.
Spotlighting local restaurants and food-centered outings
Beyond home cooking, Michael often turns his attention to local restaurants and nights out, treating dining spots as anchors for memorable experiences.
In his coverage of Carmella’s in Mays Landing, he frames the restaurant as “at the top of your list” when looking for an excuse to dress up and enjoy a night out, underscoring the role of food venues in creating special occasions. The emphasis is on atmosphere and the overall experience as much as the menu, positioning restaurants as places to celebrate and spend time together.
He also writes about food-driven events such as a first-ever pizza tasting contest where guests voted for the best pizza while supporting a nonprofit fundraiser, showing how local dining intersects with charitable causes and community engagement. Taken together, these stories mark him out as a food writer who consistently connects restaurant coverage with the social and civic life around it.
Events coverage and reflective editorial letters
Michael’s bylines extend into broader events and editorial pieces that still keep an eye on how people gather and participate. His work on a Jr. Ranger Competition for children aged four to twelve highlights family-friendly programming that encourages a love of nature and turns that passion into something real, reinforcing his interest in experiences that are both enjoyable and formative. He also contributes to the “Letters from the editor” section, writing reflective columns that consider how “a little distance can change everything,” and placing local developments in a more thoughtful context.
These editorials show a more contemplative register, but they remain grounded in everyday community life, mirroring the same concern for how people come together that runs through his food and events coverage.
Across recipes, restaurant features, fundraisers, and editorials, Michael’s work at Shore Local Newsmagazine is distinguished by its consistent emphasis on food as part of shared community experiences. He writes for readers who cook at home, dine out, and attend local events, giving them practical ideas and stories that connect what they eat to how they gather.
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.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.