Rick West
Rick West uses food coverage as a way to tell stories about local life, focusing on how new restaurants, food brands and culinary traditions fit into the fabric of the communities he covers.
Community food openings and the local dining scene
West reports on new food concepts coming into the area, treating openings as community events rather than simple business transactions. In his coverage of a popular ice cream brand expanding from Ohio into the suburbs, he frames the story around what the arrival means for local diners and the surrounding neighborhood, highlighting accessibility, family appeal and the draw of a recognizable brand. In Lake County he has written about Detroit-style pizza as an underappreciated genre, using the opening of Squares Pizza Pub as a hook to explain the style, the menu and the experience diners can expect when the restaurant launches. His food stories typically combine straightforward descriptions of what is being offered with context on location, ownership and how the business adds to the existing dining mix.
Food as part of everyday community coverage
Although he is a staff photographer who covers communities around Kane County daily, he frequently incorporates food, dining and hospitality into a broader community beat. He has reported on the Gail Borden Library’s work to digitize “The Elgin Dairy Report” from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, treating the archival project as both a history milestone and a window into the region’s agricultural and dairy past. In features that touch on community gatherings and local organizations, food often appears as a practical detail that signals how people come together, whether it is a Salvation Army corps organizing a busy holiday season to provide a merrier Christmas for hundreds of residents or a library exhibit opening that draws families into a shared space. The through-line is that food is rarely isolated from its setting; he uses it to show how institutions, events and people intersect.
Human-interest features with lifestyle and culture threads
West’s food coverage sits alongside a steady stream of human-interest stories that give a fuller picture of the communities he documents. He has profiled a former firefighter who turned a bedtime story about backyard chickens into a children’s book, focusing on the personal path from public service to creative work and the way the book is starting to reach readers through local and online sales. He has written about the Gail Borden Library’s 150th birthday, explaining how the institution has evolved and what its anniversary means for residents who use it as a daily resource. His stories about museum talks, public art unveilings and new gathering spaces show a consistent interest in how local culture is made and experienced, whether through books, exhibitions or shared spaces that often include food and drink.
Visual storytelling and long tenure on the community beat
West’s food and feature reporting is grounded in his primary role as a photographer, a position he has held at the Daily Herald since 2000. Many of his pieces are built around strong visual elements, from photo galleries of the outlet’s best images of the year to coverage that uses photographs to anchor short, direct narratives about events and people. He regularly documents fire departments, civic ceremonies and neighborhood happenings, including stories such as a North Aurora fire engine being donated to a community college program, where the visual of the apparatus is central to the narrative. This long-running visual presence shapes his written work on food and lifestyle: openings, exhibits and books are presented as things readers can picture themselves attending, eating or using, with clear, uncluttered prose that mirrors the way he composes images.
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.