Food Journalistsin the UK

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 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 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 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.

Bill Poindexter stands out for hyperlocal food journalism that treats regional culinary traditions as community identity rather than simple dining coverage. He is managing editor of Gold Mountain California News Media and shapes the Auburn Journal’s editorial direction. His reporting presents food establishments as cultural anchors that reflect Gold Country’s evolving social fabric. He documents community food events and competitions as shared milestones, highlighting family involvement and local pride. Through his Substack newsletter Dispatches from the Road, he writes first-person narratives about everyday food experiences and local businesses. He connects food to the local economy and regional planning, showing how restaurants, bakeries, and food-related infrastructure support employment, agricultural sustainability, and quality of life.

Bliss Zechman is a journalist whose food and consumer coverage for MSN stands out for treating dining, health costs and safety as one connected system. She reports on local restaurant closures as signals of how town centers, small business owners and residents are affected, focusing on what disappears, what may replace it and how choices change for families and workers. Her work is shaped by earlier reporting on healthcare costs, including a piece following a family who sold their home to pay for diabetes medication, and by access-driven reporting from inside hospital COVID-19 units. She also issues consumer alerts on food recalls and has contributed to a News21 project on water contamination, tying environmental exposure, food quality, budgets and access to care into clear, direct, fact-driven stories.

Brandon Watson is an editor and food writer for CultureMap San Antonio who treats restaurant and bar news as part of a larger, changing dining landscape rather than isolated announcements. He covers restaurants, bars, wineries, and food events with a mix of news reporting and practical guidance on where to eat and drink now. He tracks openings, closures, awards, and quirky experiences, using vivid, playful headlines and clear detail. His work includes anticipated restaurant openings, bar and restaurant closures and moves, Tastemaker Awards coverage, and guides framed around specific moods or needs. He also reports on Hill Country wineries and experiential wine outings. A former food editor at a city newspaper and at CultureMap Austin, he brings an editor’s wide-angle view to series and roundups, linking individual venues to broader trends in the region’s culinary identity.

Brian Dillon stands out for practical, crowd-sourced advice that turns expert voices into one clear takeaway. He is an Audience Writer at the Daily Express, covering food, travel, entertainment and lifestyle. His food work focuses on simple, actionable tips, often drawing on chefs and experts to improve familiar dishes. His travel pieces highlight underrated places and experiences, with first-person detail and service points. His lifestyle reporting covers gardening, museums and books, again with clear conclusions and plain language. Before the Daily Express, he wrote for Dublin Live and Irish Star US. He reports with direct, unadorned prose and a strong focus on one main idea or tip.

Carley Espinoza focuses on branded openings and venue debuts in retail-led destinations, with a recurring emphasis on food operators as destination drivers. She is closely involved with A1 Retail Magazine’s output, where she reports on new brands joining major retail and leisure schemes and treats each opening as part of a wider placemaking and asset strategy. Her beat sits at the intersection of retail and hospitality, tracking how dessert cafés, quick-service formats and other food-led concepts anchor tenant mixes, extend dwell time and refresh established malls, retail parks and city-centre schemes. She also covers sector events and trade shows, including Spring Fair and ISE keynotes, linking exhibitor line-ups and speaker themes such as AI, leadership and cybersecurity to changing consumer expectations and store strategy. Her reporting is clear, factual and promotional-neutral.

Chris Wadsworth is the founder and publisher of The Burn, where he treats restaurant and retail news as a stand-alone beat and tracks how everyday businesses reshape community life. He reports on restaurant openings, bars, taverns and retail concepts, following new venues from early announcement through opening and operations, and returns to stories with status updates on delays, progress or problems. His coverage ranges from local concepts like Pasta di Guy to national chains such as Newk’s Eatery entering the market. Alongside food, he writes narrative and historical features on local places, people, art and infrastructure, including a hidden canal, an animal artist, mobile lounges at a major airport and residents whose stories reach wider audiences. He appears on broadcast and podcast platforms to discuss new developments and also produces long-form features for a partner magazine.

Christina Manian is a freelance nutrition writer, registered dietitian, and sustainable food systems professional. She covers food through practical cooking advice grounded in nutrition science. Her work for MSN and other lifestyle outlets blends everyday kitchen questions with clear explanations of how ingredients and techniques affect health. She writes service pieces, recipes, and explainers, often focused on gut health, balanced nutrition, healthy breakfasts, and better-for-you meals. She also tackles confusing nutrition topics such as MSG and seed oils, using evidence and regulatory guidance to separate myth from fact. Her reporting is accessible and rigorous. She frames a clear question, gathers expert views when needed, and turns the result into simple takeaways for home cooks.

Christopher Hallam is a culture-focused journalist at The Star who links food, music, books and community history to show how people shape Sheffield over time. He works on the editorial side of the newsroom and previously worked in the games industry, bringing a storyteller’s eye and audience-aware framing to his reporting. His food beat centres on legacy businesses, food heritage and long-standing institutions, using photo-led galleries, archival material and clear captions to show venues as community anchors. Under the “Chris Talks Music” banner in print and audio, he conducts informal but precise Q&A and narrative interviews that foreground artist voices, creative process and audience connection. He also covers crime fiction and other books through place-based author interviews and writes retro features that use direct resident voices, timelines and human stories to explore civic memory and local history.

Courtney Pochin is a senior lifestyle reporter and specialist food writer at Metro, with a distinct focus on everyday eating, consumer food trends and how food connects to wider lifestyle and relationship themes. She tracks new food and drink trends, restaurant openings and comfort brands, and explains how changing tastes show up in ordinary lives. Her reporting on nutrition and home cooking often runs through recognisable personalities and favours clear, accessible explanations over criticism. She covers consumer news around food, drink and retail, using data-rich insights and practical guidance to show how brands, supermarkets and high street outlets treat their customers. Alongside food, she reports on health, relationships, lifestyle and human-interest stories, often built around interviews, profiles and expert input. She has written for Metro since at least 2016 and has lifestyle bylines at the Eastern Daily Press, with previous experience at the Daily Mirror and EDP24.

Dallas Express stands out for food coverage that treats recalls, prices, and nutrition research as hard news. It is an independent, locally owned news organization that says it offers direct, unbiased reporting on local and national issues. Its food reporting focuses on risk, cost, and evidence, using official data, health agencies, and corporate disclosures rather than trend pieces or chef profiles. It covers food safety and nationwide recalls, food prices, corporate pricing moves, restaurant economics, nutrition research, and food-related health risks. It also reports on local dining, branded products, and access to food, with concise, sourced briefings that stress product details, dates, and consumer impact. The reporting is factual and urgent, aimed at showing exactly which foods matter and why.

Dan Riley links boardroom decisions, factory operations and shop-front offers to show how cost pressure, technology and shifting demand reshape the bakery trade. He is deputy editor at British Baker, where he covers commercial bakery businesses, manufacturers and food brands. He reports on energy and input costs, capital spending, plant upgrades, retail closures and finance stories that reveal operational risk and sector resilience. His technology coverage explains how smart sensors, AI tools and energy management systems are adopted in production and integrated into existing lines. He also tracks brand-led growth and product innovation, from big-name spreads in cakes and doughnuts to gluten-free clean label loaves, celebrity-backed cake ranges and seasonal bakery trends. His corporate reporting follows mergers, competition issues, co-manufacturing models, new appointments and funding rounds across the bakery and wider food industry.

Diana Biederman turns Palm Beach County’s dining scene into an ongoing story about how restaurants shape local life, from everyday deals to Michelin-level experiences. She is the food and restaurant writer for the Palm Beach Post, covering food and restaurants with a beat that blends service reporting, trend features and deeper looks at the places that define the region’s identity. She focuses on fast-moving dining news, seasonal food events, chain restaurant deals, openings, closings and relocations. She reports on Michelin Guide and James Beard–linked venues, restaurants that define Palm Beach County, celebrity visits, pop culture moments and reader polls. Her stories use short, clearly structured blurbs with dates, pricing, reservation details and on-the-ground reporting, positioning her as a practical guide to where to eat and why it matters.

Ed Cumming uses food to understand people, status and modern life, treating meals, gadgets and dining rituals as character studies rather than recipes. He is a senior feature writer and columnist at the Telegraph, where he has a long association and covers food alongside wider feature work. His beat is food, health and the culture of eating, including allergies, medical trends and the rules and anxiety around what people eat. He reports on how taste, status and social class play out through what people cook and buy, and how hospitality is staged at weddings, business lunches and other events. His cross‑outlet features on arts and entertainment share the same approach, using long‑form narrative, reported detail and a conversational tone to reveal what everyday choices say about contemporary life.

Emily Laurence Sardinha connects everyday food choices, wellness habits and serious health conditions with clear, evidence-based guidance, using expert voices and patient stories to show how small decisions shape long-term outcomes. She is a journalist, freelance writer and certified health coach whose work for AOL sits at the intersection of nutrition, preventive medicine and lived experience. Her reporting uses food stories to explore heart health, cholesterol, blood pressure, brain health and longevity, grounding trends like olive oil shots in research rather than hype. She explains disease risk and emerging treatments by consulting multiple specialists and organizing their insights into plain-language sections on symptoms, mechanisms and options. She also writes about missed diagnoses, eating disorders and teen issues, blending first-person narratives, clinical insight and service journalism so readers leave with specific screening tests, warning signs, realistic habit changes and questions to ask a doctor.

Emma Henderson connects everyday food and drink coverage with a clear focus on sustainability and cutting down single-use plastics. She is a freelance food and drink writer and editor whose work combines practical shopping advice and taste tests with reported features on how food is produced, wasted, stolen and celebrated. Formerly an editor of product review and food verticals at The Independent, she now writes across titles on food, travel and environmental impact. Her core beat includes detailed consumer guides to supermarket staples, zero waste and single-use materials in the kitchen, chef interviews, food-world investigations and travel writing on regional food scenes. She reports through interviews, structured testing and step-by-step explanations, using clear, direct prose and practical detail so readers understand what to buy, how to cook and store it, and why their choices matter.

Emma North specialises in seasonal shopping coverage that helps readers stay cool, comfortable and prepared for warm weather. She writes for Metro, producing detailed, product-led pieces that show how specific items make hot temperatures more bearable in everyday life. Her work centres on heatwaves and summer, from food and drink appliances like an ice cream and slushie maker to sandals and other accessories for hot days. She also covers comfort-led fashion, including co-ord sets, light trousers, shirts and shorts chosen with rising temperatures in mind. Footwear and clothing are assessed on how they feel and perform in daily wear. Alongside this, she reports on wearable tech with a wellbeing focus, explaining battery life, health insights and practical features that help readers manage routines in busy or hot conditions.

Hannah Twiggs is a food writer who treats what we eat as a social and economic story as much as a culinary one, connecting food to money, restaurant culture and community life. She is Food and Drink Editor at The Independent and helps lead IndyEats, the masthead’s food and drink vertical and newsletter. Her beat centres on food, value and the cost of eating out, charity kitchens and hunger relief, restaurant etiquette and dating, trends, social media and home cooking. She reports through reported features, recipe-led guides and opinion columns, often speaking to chefs, sommeliers, restaurateurs, charity organisers and community cooks. Her work blends consumer journalism with service writing, showing readers how to enjoy restaurants without overspending, cook generously on tight budgets and understand how charity dinners and grassroots kitchens use food to tackle hunger and build solidarity.

Heather Newgen is a reporter and writer at Eat This, Not That who centers her coverage on chain restaurants and everyday eating, using chefs, dietitians, physicians, and other specialists as primary guides. She turns expert insight into clear advice on what to order, what to cook, and how food choices affect health and weight management. Her work includes chef-driven roundups of standout menu items and brands, stories on occasions like holiday dinners or grillside gatherings, and service pieces on snacks, meals, and habits that shape disease risk and long-term health. She also writes expert-backed how-to guides for cooking and entertaining, translating professional techniques into stepwise tips for home cooks. Beyond Eat This, Not That, she contributes reported lifestyle and health service journalism and draws on extensive experience as a reporter, field producer, and writer.

James Russell tracks how new food brands enter retail and leisure destinations, showing how hospitality, retail, and catering meet in practice. He covers food and restaurant news for Hospitality & Catering News, focusing on brand launches and regional debuts in established venues. His reporting documents which operators are opening, what they offer, and the significance of early openings in new regions. He anchors stories in specific brands and sites, from sweet-focused cafés to noodle-led fast-casual outlets, to show how they add to the local hospitality mix. His pieces highlight the diversity of food propositions and how new entrants broaden choice for diners and visitors. He also examines how shopping centres and similar destinations use food operators to strengthen their offer, capturing the interplay between landlords, destination managers, and brands.

Jenny Milam is a list-driven lifestyle writer for AOL whose pieces connect everyday habits, technology and culture through clear, numbered guides. She focuses on how digital platforms, social media and AI shape daily life, turning research, history and pop culture into practical tips on behavior, attention, emotion and thinking. Her work includes explainers on avoiding political outrage on social media and the long-term implications of AI on cognitive function. She also uses nostalgia to explore life before the internet and earlier eras, showing how norms change over time. Beyond technology and culture, she builds service lists for family movie nights, screen-free festivals, and product roundups for grilling accessories and home entertaining, all under AOL’s MediaFeed banner. Her reporting is structured, straightforward and geared toward helping readers act on what they learn.

Josh Barrie is a food and drink writer whose work centres on the character of everyday eating and drinking, using first-person reporting to show how cafés, bars and restaurant brands feel in practice. He writes regular food and drink columns for The Standard, including “On the Sauce”, and contributes a regular column to The New European, alongside food and drink pieces for other newspapers and magazines. His beat is restaurants, bars, chains, chefs and home cooking, with a focus on modest venues, bacon and eggs breakfasts, bar culture, and the business and branding of eating out. He reports through short, sensory descriptions and close observation of pricing, atmosphere and ritual, mixing criticism, humour and detail to judge care, consistency and value for everyday readers.

Jungmin Seo is deputy news editor at The Caterer, distinct for treating food and hospitality as a whole system shaped by staff conditions, critics, executives and new tools. She covers the hospitality industry, focusing on how restaurants, hotels and food businesses respond to pressure from workers, critics and changing conditions. Her reporting blends operator testimony, industry appointments, obituaries and executive interviews to show how decisions play out in kitchens and on restaurant floors. She writes widely on staffing and working conditions, food media and restaurant criticism, and strategy in food and beverage operations, often using social channels to source case studies. Alongside leading online food coverage, she runs executive Q&As and supports campaigns and events on hospitality’s future, keeping attention on how industry shifts and external shocks affect day-to-day practice in restaurants, hotels and bakeries.

Katie Wheatley is an award-nominated senior reporter at the Northampton Chronicle & Echo. She stands out for campaign-led reporting that gives a clear voice to businesses, hospitality venues and the people behind them, while also using food stories as practical service journalism. She covers food, businesses and hospitality, with a real beat built around recipes, profiles and community-focused features. Her work often centres on named cooks, bakers, owners and organisers, and she writes in a straightforward style that explains what they do, why it matters and what readers can use or try. She also leads sustained campaigns on issues such as litter and business closures, and has written features across sister titles and digital platforms.

Katie Workman covers food through everyday family life, focusing on recipes and stories that make home cooking feel comforting, celebratory and low stress. She is a longtime food columnist for the Associated Press, with her work carried by The Independent, and the author of two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking. Her beat is family-friendly cooking, seasonal and holiday meals, and classic American comfort foods, seen through how they fit into real routines at home. She reports with a mix of interviews, personal reflection and practical guidance, tying approachable recipes to specific moments, emotions and traditions. Even when profiling chefs or exploring regional dishes, she keeps the focus on what works for non-professional cooks and how readers can adapt ideas for their own tables.

Kenzie Mastroe is a food and lifestyle editor who treats supermarket staples and store-bought products as real tools for everyday home cooking and family life. She works at SheKnows, shaping food and lifestyle coverage with service pieces, shopping content, and family-focused features. Her beat centers on accessible home cooking, packaged foods, and the way grocery choices fit into daily routines with kids. She writes plain-language rankings of mass-market items like BBQ sauces and jerky, and co-authors approachable recipe stories, from tomato dishes inspired by Ina Garten to stove-top popcorn guides. She connects food to family rituals, including back-to-school stories on bilingual children’s books and emotional development. She also hosts multimedia conversations on farm-to-fork sustainability, drawing on past experience as a writer and editor for eHow and as an award-winning video editor and television professional.

Laura Ratliff uses food as a way into wider stories about how people experience cities, travel and culture, writing newsy, service-driven features for Time Out across multiple U.S. editions. Her beat centers on restaurants, playful brand launches and dining tools, often expanding to books, art, museums and the logistics of getting around. She explains how tools and concepts work, why they matter and how readers can use them, with clear, practical detail. She writes about immersive reading retreats, pop-up and niche bookstores, participatory art and archive projects, major museum openings and civic cultural events. Her travel coverage links destinations, transport, rankings, airports, airlines, celestial events and traveling exhibits to simple guidance. She also writes service pieces on hospital facility fees and everyday systems and costs, consistently demystifying complex structures through accessible, well-structured reporting.

Liv Clarke is a tourism writer who reports first-hand on travel and food, showing readers where to go, what to eat and how places feel, from traditional markets to international city breaks. She is the Tourism Writer for the Manchester Evening News and an NCTJ-trained senior reporter who joined the team in 2021. Her beat covers UK and world travel news, Manchester Airport, and places to visit and things to do in Greater Manchester and across the North West. She focuses on markets, food halls, cafes and hidden day-out spots, treating food and drink as central to any trip. Her pieces mix on-the-ground reporting, tasting notes, trader and local voices, clear route and setting descriptions, and service detail on closures, routes and airport changes. She also writes reflective holiday features rooted in her own travel memories.

Louisa Kung Liu Chu brings a chef’s experience and a reporter’s eye to her work as restaurant critic at the Chicago Tribune, where she focuses on how cooks, diners and the wider food world intersect in Chicago’s restaurants. She reviews by eating like a regular guest, traveling across the greater Chicago area, waiting in lines and sitting in dining rooms to see service, atmosphere and food as readers do. Her criticism centers on specific dishes and technical execution, with close attention to texture, seasoning and composition. She writes in clear, descriptive language, noting strengths and weaknesses to give diners a practical sense of a meal. Her beat spans restaurant reviews, food features and service coverage, plus stories on chefs, food books and Chicago food history, all shaped by past work as a chef and food reporter and by a James Beard Award nomination for her reviews.

Michael Palan stands out for hands-on taste tests of new fast-food and chain-restaurant items, using his own table to judge whether a product is worth ordering. He is a food writer at The Takeout and also writes for Tasting Table, Food Republic, Mashed, Chowhound, Explore, Looper, and The Daily Meal. His beat centers on menu innovation, limited-time offers, and seasonal promotions, with a focus on fast-food launches, chain reviews, food history, fountain drinks, and anything fried. He also draws on visits to test kitchens at KFC, Chili's, Moe's, and McAllister's and conversations with chefs including Dominique Ansel, Kardea Brown, and Shaun Hergatt. His background includes 25 years on award-winning film and television projects, photography published by New York Magazine, and work as a former Subway Sandwich Artist.

Nicola Roy specialises in expert-led, practical guidance that helps readers solve everyday problems around food, cooking and the home. She is a Spare Time writer on Reach’s Under 35 team, producing lifestyle service pieces for WalesOnline, the Express, Bristol Live, the Daily Record, Somerset Live, Devon Live, the Manchester Evening News and other regional titles. Her core beat is food safety and kitchen know-how, along with simple, repeatable recipes and ingredient swaps. She also covers home and garden fixes, from waste disposal and weeds to decorating warnings. Roy reports by anchoring each article in clear advice from specialists and chefs, breaking methods into small, usable steps and explaining both risks and reasons so readers can make calm, informed decisions that save time, money and worry.

Olivia Peluso examines food trends through historical and cultural lenses, showing how culinary phenomena reflect wider social change. She reports on food as cultural history, documenting how viral cakes are repackaged panaderia staples that link immigrant foodways to modern consumer culture. She treats restaurants, bars, and cafes as community centers and cultural repositories, focusing on forgotten queer enclaves and the role of food spaces in identity and memory. Peluso covers urban development through culinary scenes, connecting sanctuary city policies, food access, and neighborhood transformation. She tracks viral food events like Cake Picnic™ to understand how communal food moments foster connection and exclusivity. She also reports on preserving culinary heritage, from the lasting power of cookbooks to projects that use art, music, and food events and digital archiving to keep local culture alive.

Rachel Dunkel turns product roundups into practical guides for everyday living, using years of hands-on testing to show readers how kitchen tools, travel gear, beauty staples and lifestyle upgrades fit into real routines. She is a former editor and contributor on BuzzFeed’s shopping team, where she continues to publish staff and contributor commerce pieces, and she also writes vetted shopping guides for a major business publication and digital lifestyle outlets. Her beat centers on food-adjacent shopping, travel and outdoor gear, beauty, fashion and under-$25 finds, with lists that mix cooking gadgets, luggage organizers, camping equipment, skincare tools and subscription and book-related gifts. She reports in a straightforward, service-first style, building themed lists around specific problems or moments and explaining in clear terms how each tested item can solve pain points or quietly improve everyday life.

Regina Sexton brings a historian’s eye to food coverage, using everyday dishes, brands and rituals to show how food, culture and society intersect. She is a food and culinary historian, university lecturer and programme manager in food studies and Irish foodways who writes for RTÉ on the history and culture of food and appears as a broadcaster on food topics. Her RTÉ Brainstorm essays treat familiar foods like ice cream and Easter eggs as entry points into longer stories about social change, technology, advertising and domestic life. On RTÉ Radio 1 and The History Show she explains Irish food culture, linking present‑day products and markets to past foodways and archival sources. Her academic work on traditional foods and local food cultures and her roles in food safety and guilds underpin reporting that treats food as a serious subject while staying clear and accessible.

Rupert Hohwieler is a senior staff writer at The Spirits Business who treats spirits and cocktails as part of a wider culinary ecosystem, not just as isolated drinks. He covers the global drinks industry with a focus on how food, cocktails and bar culture intersect. His work ranges from daily trade news and product and marketing round-ups to longer features on food-led mixology, culinary cocktails and venue programmes. He reports on category shifts, launches and ready-to-drink tie-ups, mapping how brands shape consumption and strategy. He also covers bars, cocktail books, competitions, marketing campaigns and events, connecting brand activity, bar teams and festivals. Across news, on-trade coverage, launches, marketing and category features, he writes for a specialist industry audience with a practical focus on what brands, bars and events are doing right now.

Sarah Campbell stands out for coverage of Scotland’s changing food scene that joins restaurant criticism with cultural commentary shaped by her island heritage and knowledge of local food traditions. She is Food & Drink writer and restaurant critic at The Herald. Her work focuses on Scottish food traditions, regional specialties and historic venues such as Glasgow’s 200-year-old Gallowgate pubs, and on chefs who reinterpret heritage ingredients. She reports on how immigrant communities and celebrations like Diwali add to Scotland’s culinary tapestry. Her restaurant reviews assess both cooking and a venue’s role in the wider dining scene, including whether it works as a romantic destination or as a remote hotel where travel is part of the experience. She also tracks industry shifts such as tipping culture and shows how food helps newcomers build community.

Silvana Franco is a freelance food writer, editor and stylist at The Telegraph. She stands out for simple, achievable recipes that maximise flavour on modest budgets and with little fuss. Her beat is home cooking, with practical comfort food, seasonal dishes and repeatable recipes for everyday meals. She often uses short ingredient lists, clear techniques and familiar supermarket ingredients. Her work includes bacon and other comfort-food coverage, summer desserts and weeknight dishes built around limited time and ordinary equipment. She has over 30 years of experience and has written and styled food for other UK outlets and major recipe sites. Her reporting style is direct and reassuring, with an emphasis on pleasure, value and accessible cooking.

Stacey Smith is a senior food and drink editor whose core work is rigorous, comparative product testing for readers’ everyday choices. As Senior Food & Drink Editor at Good Housekeeping and the Good Housekeeping Institute, she oversees reviews across coffee pods, veg boxes, natural wine, tequila and other supermarket staples and treats, focusing on how products taste and perform in real life. She writes as a taster and tester, using clear, sensory language to turn tasting notes into straightforward recommendations grounded in kitchen and table use. Her guidance often ties products to seasons and occasions, from Easter wines to freezer finds for heatwaves, assessing how well they support gatherings and moments of respite. She also holds the same cross-brand senior food and drink editor role at Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire, and is the founder of food-focused outlet Crummbs.

Theodora Kaloudis is a freelance recipe developer and food stylist known for practical, test-kitchen-based recipes that make pantry staples feel easy and seasonal. She works at Simply Recipes and has worked in test kitchens, honing recipe testing and development, menu planning, and food styling. Her beat is accessible home cooking, especially quick dinners, holiday recipes, and low-stress make-ahead meals. She covers seasonal transitions, New England summer cooking, freezer-to-table dinners, budget-friendly meals, and recipes built from limited ingredients like boxed spaghetti, cake mixes, chicken breasts, and stuffed peppers. She also explains why techniques work, from fluffy scrambled eggs to no-cook summer meals and cake recipes without mixers. Her reporting favors simple instructions, time-saving swaps, and tested home versions of viral recipes.

Tracy Robb is a producer and segment writer for KSTP-TV’s Twin Cities Live, shaping the show’s food-forward lifestyle mix of recipes, local style and entertainment. She crafts segments and digital pieces that blend home-friendly recipe coverage with short features on authors, entrepreneurs and performers tied to the program. Her food work centers on clear, approachable recipes for everyday cooking, often highlighting ingredients, local products or guest chefs. She also follows small-business and entrepreneurial stories, such as post–reality TV updates, focusing on founder journeys rather than deep financial analysis. In book and author content, she produces brief, descriptive segments that frame new titles and book club picks as accessible recommendations. Her entertainment features introduce comedians and other personalities through concise bios, current projects and concrete takeaways for viewers.

Vanessa Alcala stands out for community-focused food reporting that highlights new local dining establishments in the Statesboro area. She is a summer intern at digital news outlet Grice Connect. Her work centers on introducing readers to emerging restaurant concepts with an emphasis on accessibility and community impact. She documents new restaurant openings, such as Qdoba Mexican Eats in Statesboro, with attention to menu offerings, specific dishes, and operational details. She helps readers navigate changing dining options through clear explanations of how each place works. Alcala uses on-location visits to campus eateries and local festivals to capture authentic dining experiences. She approaches stories as community storytelling, connecting food businesses to neighborhood dynamics. As an emerging reporter, she is building professional journalism skills and her work appears alongside other student journalists at university-affiliated media organizations.

Xanthe Clay is a long-standing food writer and columnist at The Telegraph whose work is defined by supermarket taste tests, practical home cooking advice and direct analysis of how and what people eat. She focuses on consumers, testing everyday products, challenging received ideas about diets and food ethics, and offering recipes and techniques for real kitchens and real budgets. A former chef with leading roles in food-writing organisations, she brings hands-on technical knowledge and a wide view of the food world. Her beat includes supermarket value-for-money comparisons, frugal home cooking, equipment debates, nutrition claims, sustainability, ethical questions and dining trends from micro restaurants to vegan menus. She reports by running structured tastings, cooking recipes herself, probing supply chains and using a plain, unvarnished tone that helps readers make informed choices.

Zahna Eklund is a reporter whose food and lifestyle pieces hinge on one low-cost, practical tip that promises a clear, specific result at home. She covers food and everyday lifestyle for WalesOnline, focusing on home cooking hacks with everyday staples, simple changes that make chicken juicier, and small tweaks that make basic meals taste better. She also reports on food storage, freshness and cutting waste, such as ways to keep avocados from turning brown and extend the life of cut produce. Within WalesOnline she works on social news, turning online tricks, viral ideas and common kitchen habits into short, clear service pieces. Her reporting is structured around one strong claim, everyday ingredients, and direct, solution-oriented advice that readers can test quickly in their own kitchens.