The recap is free to read, but only paying TFS subscribers this week met our new W. Va. bureau chief (how many media orgs have one of those?), learned about the best baleada in Aiken, S.C., and heard from an Asheville brewery worker fired for an FB post. Don't miss out! thefoodsection.com/subscribe/

I spent years fishing for numbers to show vape shops are opening across the South at the expense of independent restaurants, and netted nothing--but was able to establish the retailers are taking over cultural space that once belonged to F&B. thefoodsection.com/sucking-up-s...

“For decades there has been a very large money spigot open to those who are willing to sow hatred, bigotry, inequality and intolerance...Not so much being a plain ol' reporter or critic, stating facts and making necessary arguments without fear or favor.” #supportculturaljournalism

I am eternally grateful to @thefoodsection.bsky.social correspondents for their storytelling acumen, commitment to accuracy, and compassion for their subjects, but I also really like when they give me a chance to write heds like this one: thefoodsection.com/future-bride...

I failed to impress my husband with this headline for a @jedportman.bsky.social pawpaw soda chat, but hoping it's a hit with the masses (or at least @jessehirsch.bsky.social) thefoodsection.com/pawpaws-for-...

Need to add more food journalism to your media diet? TFS is among the pubs participating in the Indie Media Drive this month: We'd love your support! thefoodsection.com/subscribe/

Just one reason why @thefoodsection.bsky.social entrusts its commemorative reporting to journalists who were there for the original event. Watch your inboxes tomorrow morning for Todd's coverage of how restaurants responded to the storm, and what it means for NOLA and Southern food culture today.

You can’t go home again, but you can go back to the town where you worked your first newspaper job…and get above-the-fold treatment. cdispatch.com/news/two-dec...

Hardly suprising that a story about curly fries has more twists and turns than the typical single food item feature, but the upshot is we now have a better idea of who helped make the potato shape a restaurant favorite. Good work, J.E. Gustin! thefoodsection.com/the-long-and...

Wow. If even T&L has quit shilling, you know something's gone wrong around here. Did I mention I'm moving? thefoodsection.com/macon-georgi...

I returned from #IRE25 all fired up to use AI for FOIA requests, but ChatGPT cried uncle, saying the task was too boring for anyone but a freelance journalist.

Today in TFS, Colleen Hamilton has the story of how the potential of rehabilitative programs and Georgia’s past of labor exploitation come together in a jar innocuously labeled, “Governor’s Mansion honey.” thefoodsection.com/beekeeping-f...

my most Gen X coded belief is that cities and the culture at large suffer profoundly for the near-complete death of alt-weeklies

I have no idea how @onebywillie.bsky.social and @soundopinions.bsky.social hooked up, but seeing them cross in my podcast feed is like finding out my college and high school best friends have started hanging out together.

A couple of other numbers to consider: One month of the Chron is priced at $19.96. WaPo is $17. The Food Section costs $9, and I’ll make it five bucks if you subscribe today. thefoodsection.memberful.com/checkout?cou...

How many college campuses have their own distillery? And classes that teach students how to create, market, and sell a bourbon brand? @universityofky.bsky.social does, and I wrote about it for The Food Section. thefoodsection.com/selling-scho... Use code BARTON to get past the paywall!

"Of the 14 Charleston [F&B] superstars who loom over Queen Street in a mural painted by David Boatwright, four have left the industry. Three have moved away. Two have died. But just over a decade ago [...] the people depicted on brick were inseparable from the city’s surging culinary scene."

One of the lessons of Helene is longstanding governmental inadequacies and new climate realities are a deadly combination. Typically excellent work by @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social

Thanks, Steve! And while fans of traditional barbecue may bid good riddance to the rules and fancy rigs, as @tprice504.bsky.social notes, these big events were long a source of needed revenue for small towns and nonprofits.

My least favorite phrase in retail is “comparable value.”

Just witnessed the best May Day moment I could ever hope to see: A St. Augustine tourist on a trolley barked at a groundskeeper watering a hotel lawn that he’d missed a spot—and the worker sprayed him in the face.

Emma Castleberry did such a great job capturing Tony (the headlining bear), and the city of Asheville too. Paid subscribers can Zoom with them both next week--use this coupon and your first month's free; there's no obligation to stick around for a second. thefoodsection.memberful.com/checkout?cou...

When a few well-known Southern chefs shifted away from the cultural identities that made them famous, I cycnically thought the worst at first, but reporting on their new restaurants reminded me that that the complex story of U.S. immigration doesn’t end upon arrival. thefoodsection.com/about-face/

Delighted to see @theflytrapmedia.bsky.social’s own @tinavasquez.bsky.social’s delightful read on quinceañera catering cited in @hannaraskin.bsky.social’s The Food Section ASME win! Congrats all.

Yep, not about to play it cool on this one. If you want to find out what kind of food journalism is worthy of an Ellie, subscribe at thefoodsection.com

Boy, if I was a chef in Savannah--or anywhere else in Georgia--I'd be pretty mad about the whole state (save Atlanta) being left out of contention for Michelin's first regional guide to the American South.

Until I edited Daniel Walton's story, I assumed cannabis cuisine was flourishing in places way ahead of the South on legalization. But chefs in those states have to contend with strict rules on infusion, so culinarians in hemp-farming states are the trailblazers. thefoodsection.com/southern-che...

As barbecue has converged toward one universal style, purists have agonized over meat cuts and styles. But what happens to side dishes in the face of homogenization? Thank goodness @farhanmustafa.bsky.social took to the Corn Stick Circuit to find out. thefoodsection.com/beating-unif...

So happy to see my sister-in-law stand up for Michigan kids and oppose DOE cuts. Hooray for the schoolteachers (who need way more than our heartfelt cheers.) www.cbsnews.com/detroit/vide...

Hurricanes have a habit of flattening culture and wiping out community values, since they clear space for outsiders and their money-making ideas. As such, I'm so heartened by the restaurants which have opened in Asheville since Helene, and the people behind them. thefoodsection.com/on-the-wings...

Today in The Food Section, Syrian immigrant writer Karim Shamsi-Basha visits a Birmingham, Alabama bakery, and meditates on how the meaning of remembered tastes can change in the face of geopolitical shifts. (Plus, fresh pita pix!) thefoodsection.com/take-me-home...

Co-sign.

The second line parade for Pableaux starts Saturday at 2 p.m. Earlier today, The Food Section published a tribute from his friend @wcurtis.bsky.social that explains why so many people are traveling from so far away to join it. thefoodsection.com/how-to-build...

This may be the best of this genre I've ever seen.

Historic preservation efforts don't usually center on restaurants, but a downtown Charleston neighborhood figured out how to protect the spirit of a Black-owned business slated to be replaced with a high-end development. Today in TFS: thefoodsection.com/fabulous-cha...

Contacted by two of our writers this morning, upset they can no longer access government sites/data they need for stories they're working on

Thank you for sharing, @barryyeoman.bsky.social Amid all the very real concerns about consumerism, it's worth remembering that material culture is meaningful and posessions are personal.

Writers are asked to suggest headlines when they pitch, but few make it as far as the first draft--"Welcome to Halalabama" is a great exception. Love @juwayriah.bsky.social's reporting on new dishes consistent with state's palate and stringent Muslim dietary codes. thefoodsection.com/welcome-to-h...

Pleased as ever to have The Food Section reprint Fingers' coverage. Always a treat to work with @hannaraskin.bsky.social.

I can't improve upon one reader's response to this morning's newsletter, authored by our wine columnist, @davidwbrown.com: "Boy howdy, that is a fine piece of writing." thefoodsection.com/new-orleans-...

Nicely done, @timcarman.bsky.social and @emilyheil.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/01...

I went to the closing sale at the Tupperware factory in Hemingway, South Carolina, and all I brought home was a branded sweatband set and lots of thoughts about the company, which was a symbol of both thrift and excess. Check it out: thefoodsection.com/putting-a-li...

Since this post was sitting atop my feed, can't resist plugging TFS' new Nightcap newsletter, a super-informed, quick-hit Charleston F&B gossip column debuting Monday. Sign up! thefoodsection.com/want-to-hear...

This is such a great story from @whattastesgood.bsky.social, grappling with the eternal Bible Belt question: "What if restaurateurs were finally allowed to serve liquor--and they didn't?"

Such a pleasure to hear @deardara.bsky.social name read on @backlisted.bsky.social (even if I thought I was the only food writer over here listening.)

Happy king cake season to those who celebrate but especially to @hannaraskin.bsky.social who penned this classic: thefoodsection.com/larry-ragusa...

The Food Section is back with a binge, as Wendell Brock explores what a critic can learn by eating every item on a restaurant's menu. Check out his reporting from Two Fish Myanmar Cuisine in Clarkston, Georgia, and toast 2025 with a cup of falooda. thefoodsection.com/sweet-dreams...

Love to see it!

How’d your year in eating go? The Food Section’s got a game for that—and it’s one you can’t lose. Happy holidays! inquisitive-biscochitos-6f6226.netlify.app

I wish there was an easy mechanism for micropayments, but absent that technology, paywalls are crucial. You can read more here about why The Food Section’s erected them (along with a bunch of free-for-all stories!) thefoodsection.com/our-best-sto...