It's been a rough few weeks in the world of food journalism — The final nail in the coffin of Gilt Taste was struck today with the food products being folded into the Gilt Home section. Grub Street collapsed all of it's city verticals into one, Seattle Weekly restaurant critic Hanna Raskin's position was been eliminated. Longtime and revered restaurant critic Robert Sietsema was let go by the Village Voice in New York City, which led to the principled resignation of Tejal Rao, fresh off her James Beard award win. In a bit of good news, the 2013 AFJ Awards list of finalists was announced today. (Rao and Raskin are both finalists. The first, second and third-place awards will be announced at the awards banquet Sept. 19 at AFJ’s annual conference in Park City, Utah.
Finalists below are listed in alphabetical order. More than three finalists in any category
indicate one or more ties. Good luck everyone.
Best Newspaper Food Coverage, above 200,000 circulation:
Boston Globe, Sheryl Julian, Food Editor
Philadelphia Daily News, Laurie T. Conrad, Food Editor,
The San Francisco Chronicle, Miriam Morgan, Food Editor
The Washington Post, Bonnie Benwick, Interim Food Editor
Best Newspaper Food Coverage, below 200,000 circulation:
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA, Cheramie Sonnier, Food Editor
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bob Batz, Jr., Food Editor
San Antonio Express-News, Karen Haram, Food Editor
Best Newspaper Special Food Project:
The Kansas City Star, “Edge City,” Jill Silva, Food Editor
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “On Our Plate,” Nancy Stohs, Food Editor
Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Taste 50,” Lee Dean, Food Editor
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Steve Hoffman, “Letters from France”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “This Is Pittsburgh Food,” Bob Batz, Jr., Food Editor
Best Newspaper Food Feature, above 220,000 circulation:
Andrea Adleman, The Washington Post, “The Psychology of Cupcakes”
Katy McLaughlin, The Wall Street Journal, “Get Your Goat On”
Greg Morago, The Houston Chronicle, “Barbecue Nerds”
Best Newspaper Food Feature, 125,000-220,000 circulation:
Cindy Hoedel, The Kansas City Star, “Rabbit Revival”
Jackie Loohauis-Bennett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Creating More Than a Stir”
Jill Silva, The Kansas City Star, “Growing Change”
Best Newspaper Food Feature, below 125,000 circulation:
Drew Lazor, Philadelphia City Paper, “Acts of Will”
Stacy Schultz, Sauce Magazine, “A Second Shot”
Katherine Shilcutt, Houston Press, “Chef Endures Cancer, Loss of Sense of Taste”
Best Non-newspaper Food Feature:
Nadia Arumugam, The Atlantic, “Expired”
Todd Kliman, Washingtonian, “Everywhere at Once”
Chad Robertson, Food Arts, “Baker in the Rye”
Best Restaurant Criticism:
Bobby Ampezzan, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ian Froeb, Riverfront Times
Tejal Rao, The Village Voice
Laura Reiley, Tampa Bay Times
Best Food Visual:
Joaquin Herrera, The San Antonio Express-News, “S.A. Food Savvy?”
Francisco Kjolseth, Salt Lake Tribune, “Winged Salute to July 4th”
James Nielsen, The Houston Chronicle, “The Great State of Barbecue”
Richard Stokes, Reno Magazine, “Savor Summer”
Best Food Essay:
Darra Goldstein, The Wall Street Journal, “A Bribe-Worthy Chicken Dish”
Todd Kliman, Washingtonian, “Champagne & Sippy Cups”
Marge Perry, Newsday, “Cupcakes That Say Love”
Best Writing on Beer, Wine and/or Spirits:
Jon Bonne, San Francisco Chronicle, “Restoring a Napa Legend”
Wendy Goldman Rohm, Playboy, “The Talented Mr. K”
Jason Wilson, TableMatters.com, “When Wine Talk Gets Weird”
Best Story on Food Policy or Food Issues:
Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, “Foie and Its Discontents”
Andy Mannix and Mike Mullen, City Pages, “Milk Money”
Hanna Raskin, Seattle Weekly, “Peaches and Dreams”
Best Food Column:
Kellie Hynes, Sauce Magazine
Martha J. Miller, EthnoTraveler Magazine
Hanna Raskin and Dan Person, Seattle Weekly
Best Food Blog, Multiple Writers:
Phoenix New Times
The Salt, NPR
Inside Scoop, San Francisco Chronicle
Best Food Multimedia Presentation:
Feast magazine, Hannah Radcliff
Indy Week, D.L. Anderson and Victoria Bouloubasis
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Gretchen McKay and Steve Mellon
Best Student Writing on Food:
Stephanie Parker, University of Montana writing for The Kaimin, “Investing in a
Little Produce”Shelby Vittek, Drexel University writing for TableMatters.com, “My Endangered
Dinner”
Shelby Vittek, Drexel University writing for TableMatters.com, “Old Nordic”