Michael Deeds
Michael Deeds follows the restaurant and bar life of his region as a core lens on local entertainment and culture, treating food coverage as a way to chronicle how people actually live. He is a long-serving entertainment reporter and opinion columnist at the Idaho Statesman, where his work centers on restaurants, breweries, concerts, culture and everyday “cool stuff.” His food writing is driven less by formal reviews and more by what openings, closures and ownership changes mean for diners and neighborhoods.
Restaurant moves: openings, closures and rebrands
Deeds’ restaurant beat is defined by tracking movement: which places are opening, which are closing, and how those spaces are being transformed. He reports on national chains and independent operators with the same straightforward focus on what is happening to specific locations, such as when a former Baja Fresh on Eagle Road in Meridian is slated to become a bank. He covers brand exits from prominent districts, including the closure of a P.F. Chang’s in downtown Boise’s BoDo area, spelling out what the change means for a well-known corner of the dining scene.
Local independent businesses get similar attention, often framed around the fate of particular buildings. Deeds has followed how a Boise doughnut shop gave way to a pottery business, noting both the end of a familiar food stop and the arrival of a new kind of tenant. He has covered a Boise pizzeria building that will reopen as a curry and wings spot, focusing on how one address can cycle through multiple concepts while remaining a neighborhood anchor. When the Modern Hotel and Bar is put up for sale, he writes about the search for the “right buyer” in terms that reflect both the property’s hospitality identity and its role in the local social landscape.
His coverage also includes growth stories, not just closures.
In writing about a popular Nampa restaurant expanding to Meridian, he emphasizes the customer enthusiasm and “rave reviews” that follow, using reader reaction to underline why the move matters. A planned cafe in a former Boise home – described in terms of how it looks and where it sits among houses – shows his interest in small-scale projects that change the feel of residential streets as much as they add another place to eat.
Words & Deeds: law, lifestyle and local drinking culture
Beyond straight restaurant news, Deeds writes columns that link food and drink coverage to law, regulation and lifestyle. In a piece on a brewery’s Meridian taproom closing “driven by Idaho law,” he explains how legal rules directly shape where and how people can gather over beer. The framing is opinionated but grounded in specific consequences for the taproom, its patrons and the local brewing community, illustrating how he uses his entertainment column to decode policy for casual readers.
This column work sits alongside his broader remit covering concerts, culture and local attractions, but the food and drink sector remains central. His tone is conversational rather than critical, and he often uses headlines that foreground the everyday impact of changes – whether that impact is losing a familiar chain restaurant or gaining a new neighborhood spot. The through-line is that breweries, bars and restaurants are treated as part of a lifestyle ecosystem, not just businesses to be listed.
Restaurants as neighborhood and cultural anchors
Across his archive, Deeds writes about restaurants and bars as places that shape how neighborhoods feel and evolve. He frequently notes when a hospitality space is repurposed for a non-restaurant use, such as a bank or pottery studio, signaling a shift in both business mix and street-level character.
When a house becomes a cafe, he foregrounds the visual and contextual oddity – a restaurant among homes – to show how dining can blur with residential life.
He also pays attention to the cumulative effect of these moves on local culture. Stories about the sale of established venues or the closure of long-running locations are framed with an awareness that these places carry emotional weight for regulars. Even when he is writing briefly, his choice of subjects – familiar chains, beloved independents, distinctive hotels – signals that he treats food and drink spots as cultural markers worth tracking over time.
Long tenure on the entertainment and features desk
Deeds brings long experience on the entertainment and features side of the paper to his food coverage. He started at the Statesman as a summer intern and has since worked as a sportswriter, music critic and features editor, giving him a wide-angle view of how audiences engage with stories across different sections.
Outside the paper, his writing has included freelancing album reviews for The Washington Post and contributing lifestyle pieces to an inflight magazine, extending his entertainment and culture focus beyond his core newsroom role.
This background shapes the way he writes about restaurants and breweries: he treats them as part of the entertainment beat, connected to music, nightlife and cultural events rather than isolated business transactions. The result is coverage that sits comfortably between news and column, using clear, specific headlines and accessible language to track the changing map of where people eat, drink and spend their free time.
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.