Experience

Freelance
Food, travel & lifestyles writer
November 2005 - Present

Highlights

  • Regularly contributed to the Washington Post Food section’s Foraging and Good To Go columns

  • Wrote essays and tested recipes for NPR’s Kitchen Window series

  • Researched and wrote about a third of Northern Virginia Magazine’s annual 50 Best Restaurants package in 2018 and 2019, in addition to writing the magazine’s monthly DC restaurant review

  • Produce food, travel and features content for Arlington magazine

  • Other clients have included Food Network; Livestrong.com; TLCme.com; Michelin; Nashville Lifestyles Magazine; USA Today’s GoEscape magazines; Baltimore Weddings; and Time Out

Zagat
DC online editor
October 2013 - March 2018

  • Responsible for populating the DC site with six posts per day, covering openings, closings, chef changes, dining out suggestions, chef profiles, roundups of best DC burgers, brunches, etc.

  • Generated all story ideas; sourced a photo to run with each; wrote, edited and entered them all into the CMS; created headlines that optimized SEO; and hit the publish button for 42 stories per week

Washingtonian
Assistant food & wine editor
January 2008 - August 2011

  • Wrote a monthly Dining on a Shoestring restaurant column plus other restaurant reviews for the Dining Out section; generated story ideas; wrote trend pieces for the Best Bites section

  • Coordinated the 100 Very Best Restaurants and Cheap Eats packages in addition to reviewing and writing about a quarter of each package; contributed write-ups for all other food packages

Museum Magazine Contributing editor
October 2008 - October 2010

 

The Gazette
Lifestyles editor/production manager
September 2003 - November 2005

Assistant Managing News Editor
September 2002-September 2003

Education

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. — BA in English

University of Sunderland, Sunderland, England 
One-year study abroad program that focused on literature

Volunteering & Mentorship

Chef Coordinator,
March of Dimes

Since 2017, I’ve volunteered as the sole recruiter of local chefs to participate in the organization’s annual Signature Chefs Gala. Each year I’ve been involved, we have broken the previous year’s donation record.

Food Judge 

Drawing on the expertise I gained through more than a decade of restaurant reviewing and recipe testing, I have served as a tasting judge for such events as Lamb Jam, Taste of Georgetown, Richmond’s Broad Appetit and Devour Phoenix. I’ve also helped publications outside of DC with choosing outstanding restaurants for their annual awards.

Mentorship 

  • Participated in Washington Business Journal’s Bizwomen Mentoring Monday, for which I answered questions for women interested in journalism careers alongside prominent women from various professions

  • Served on RAMW panels for the restaurant community, speaking on such topics as how publicists can effectively pique the interest of food journalists and providing tips on food photography