FOOD WRITING AWARDS 2020

The Food Writing Awards were first presented in 1991 to honor excellence in food journalism. The awards were formerly named after Bert Greene (1923-1988), a nationally renowned cooking teacher, cookbook author, and syndicated food columnist. Bert was President-Elect of IACP at the time of his death in 1988, and left a lasting legacy with IACP that includes the establishment of the IACP Cookbook Awards in 1986.

FOOD WRITING AWARDS 

Beverage-Focused Column

Winner

The Buzz
Tim Ebner
Edible DC Magazine

Finalists

Slow Drinks

Danny Childs
Edible Jersey

What to Drink Next
Ray Isle
Food & Wine

Recipe-Focused Column

Winner

A Kitchen in New Orleans
Scott Hocker
TASTE

Finalists

100 Questions For My Friend The Chef

Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard
TASTE

Repertoire
Jessica Battilana
The San Francisco Chronicle

Culinary Travel Writing

Winner

Jubilee! Jubilee!

Rick Bragg
Southern Living

Finalists

A Vanishing Feast
Ligaya Mishan
The New York Times Style Magazine

From the Mouth of the Gods
Matt Rodbard
TASTE

Food Section of a City Magazine

Winner

Pittsburgh Magazine Food Section
Hal B. Klein
Pittsburgh Magazine

Finalist

The Smallest State with the Biggest Eats (A Collection from Motif Magazine)
Jenny Currier
Motif Magazine

Food Section of a Magazine, Circulation Over 500,000

Winner

Handbook
Mary-Frances Heck
Food & Wine

Finalists

EatingWell Magazine California Issue

Jessie Price
EatingWell

Midwest Living Food + Dining + Culinary Travel
Hannah Agran, Executive Editor | Timothy Meinch, Travel Editor
Midwest Living

Narrative Beverage Writing With or Without Recipes

Winner

Don’t Call it Darjeeling, It’s Nepali Tea
Max Falkowit
The New York Times

Finalists

A Beginner’s Guide to Champagne

Hannah Selinger
Wine Enthusiast

Now, There Is Zero Proof That Alcohol Is What Makes A Great Cocktail
Kristen Hartke
NPR’s The Salt

Narrative Food Writing With or Without Recipes

Winner

The Rise and Fall of the Fancy Chef Burger

Rebecca Flint Marx
TASTE

Finalists

Is There Such a Thing as Humanely Raised Veal?
Joy Manning
Edible Communities

Just Don’t Call Them GMOs
Rowan Jacobsen
EatingWell

On Hawaii, the Fight for Taro’s Revival
Ligaya Mishan
The New York Times Style Magazine

The Strange, Uncertain Fate of Alaska’s Biggest Wild Salmon Habitat
Julia O’Malley
The Nation with the Food & Environment Reporting Network

Newspaper Food Section of the Year, Circulation of 100,000 or More

Winner

Los Angeles Times Food Section
Los Angeles Times Staff
Los Angeles Times

Finalists

Star Tribune TASTE
Lee Svitak Dean and Rick Nelson
Star Tribune

The Washington Post Food
Joe Yonan, Matt Brooks, Amanda, Soto and Jennifer Beeson Gregory
The Washington Post

Personal Essays/ Memoir Writing

Winner

A Place at the Table
Kat Kinsman
Food & Wine

Finalists

Cooking in Restaurants Taught Me What Workplace Harassment Is
Emma Laperruque
Food52

Cooking in the Age of Deadly Romaine
JJ Goode
TASTE

Restaurant Criticism / Review

Winner

Restaurant Reviews by Patricia Escárcega
Patricia Escárcega
Los Angeles Times

Finalists

Fortune REVIEW

Adam Erace
Fortune

Restaurant Reviews

Tom Sietsema
The Washington Post

FOOD WRITING AWARDS 2019 

Beverage-Focused Column

WINNER

  • Mixopedia, Wayne Curtis, Imbibe

RUNNERS-UP

  • Bar Review, Robert Simonson, PUNCH
  • Jon Bonné on Wine, Jon Bonné, PUNCH

Culinary Travel Writing

WINNER

  • For The Love of White Gold, Christie Dietz, National Geographic Traveller Food (UK)

and

  • The Most Perfect Sandwich in the World, Rick Bragg, Southern Living

RUNNERS-UP

  • Oaxaca Welcomes Spirits Home with “Bread of the Dead”, Joel Balsam, National Geographic Travel

Food-focused Column

WINNER

  • Genius Recipes, Kristen Miglore, Food52

and

  • Big Little Recipes, Emma Laperruque, Food52

RUNNERS-UP

  • Restaurant Reviews, Jeff Ruby. Chicago magazine

Instructional Writing on Food or Beverage with Recipes

WINNER

  • Brewed Desserts: Baking by the Barrel, Lori Rice, Sift Magazine

and

  • Burma’s Flavor-Packed Salads, Kate Leahy,  EatingWell

RUNNERS-UP

  • What Makes Paneer Good? A Personality, Iva Dixit, TASTE Cooking

Narrative Beverage Writing With or Without Recipes

WINNER

  • What’s Your Wine, America?, Ray Isle, Food & Wine

RUNNERS-UP

Narrative Food Writing With or Without Recipes

WINNER

  • The Radical Pie That Fueled A Nation, Rossi Anastopoulo, TASTE

and

  • The Gay Man Who Brought Tapas to America, Mayukh Sen, TASTE

RUNNERS-UP

  • Your Complete Guide to Gut Health, Ann Taylor Pittman and Brierley Horton. Cooking Light
  • Bacalaitos as Familial Memory and Penance, illyanna Maisonet, San Francisco Chronicle \

Personal Essays / Memoir Writing

WINNER

  • Behind the Comfort of Arroz Con Gandules, An Unsettling Adult World, illyanna Maisonet, San Francisco Chronicle

RUNNERS-UP

  • A Message From My Muse, Toni Tipton-Martin, Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original
  • Hot Sauce In My Veins, Therese Nelson, TASTE

Publication of the Year (Circulation of 300,000 or Less)

WINNER

  • Eaten: the Food History Magazine, Emelyn Rude

RUNNERS-UP

  • Cherry Bombe, Kerry Diamond
  • Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine, J.M. Hirsch and the editors, writers and recipe developers of Milk Street

Publication of the Year (Circulation of 300,000 or More)

WINNER

  • EatingWell, Jessie Price

RUNNERS-UP

  • Food & Wine, Hunter Lewis
  • Dill Magazine, Shayne Chammavanijakul

FOOD WRITING AWARDS 2018

Beverage-focused Column

WINNER

  • “Jon Bonné on Wine,” Jon Bonné PUNCH

RUNNERS-UP

  • “On Wine” Lettie Teague, “On Wine” , The Wall Street Journal / Off Duty, “Mixopedia” Wayne Curtis, Imbibe

Food-focused Column

WINNER

  • “Rogue Baking Tips (and Recipes)”Alice Medrich, Food52

RUNNERS-UP

  • “Season to Taste”, Mitchell Davis; Laurent Gras, SAVEUR
  • “A Brown Kitchen”, Nik Sharma, San Francisco Chronicle
  • “A Kitchen in New Orleans” Scott Hocker, TASTE

Instructional Writing on Food or Beverage with Recipes

WINNER

  • “Masa Appeal”, Stacy Adimando, SAVEUR

RUNNERS-UP

  • “For the Easiest Duck Confit at Home, Go Sous Vide”
  • Daniel Gritzer, Serious Eats
  • “Trailblazers”, Elaine Johnson, Sunset Magazine

Narrative Food Writing with or without Recipes

WINNER

  • “Special Report: Oysters (an 8-part series)”, Jenn Hall, Edible Jersey

RUNNERS-UP

  • “Inside Patel Brothers, the Most Beloved Indian Grocery Store in America”, Priya Krishna, Bon Appétit
  • “The Immigrants”, Rick Nelson, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Narrative Beverage Writing with or without Recipes

WINNER

  • “The Story of Heady Topper, America’s Obsession-Driving Double IPA”, Sam Riches                                                                Foodandwine.com

RUNNERS-UP

  • “Hazard Signals”, Carrie Allan, Imbibe
  • “How an LA Bar Built One of the World’s Greatest Stockpiles of Rare Spirits”, Garrett Snyde, PUNCH

Culinary Travel Writing

WINNER

  • “Why Should a Melon Cost As Much as a Car?”, Bianca Bosker, Roads & Kingdoms                                                          

RUNNERS-UP

  • “In Good Hands”, Francis Lam, AFAR
  • “Four Million Pots”, Leslie Pariseau, SAVEUR

Personal Essays/ Memoir Writing

WINNER

  • “The Laws of Return”, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, SAVEUR

RUNNERS-UP

  • “Mystery Meat”, Emily Peterson, Edible Philly
  • “Pâté Revisited”, Rosie Schaap, Thrillist
  • “East, West, Then Backward: Falling for Groundnut Soup in Ghana”, Sara’o Maozac, Serious Eats

Publication of the Year

WINNER- Circulation of 300,000 or Less

  • The Coastal Table, Karen J. Covey

RUNNERS-UP

  • Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine, Editorial staff of Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine
  • SAVEUR, Adam Sachs

Publication of the Year

Publication of the Year- Circulation of 300,000 or More

WINNER

  • The Washington Post Food, Joe Yonan; Bonnie S. Benwick and Matt Brooks                                                      

RUNNERS-UP                  

  • Cooking Light, Hunter Lewis
  • EatingWell, Jessie Price

FOOD WRITING AWARDS 2017

Beverage-focused Column

WINNER

  • “The Pour”, Eric Asimov, The New York Times

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “Beer Column”,Fritz Hahn, The Washington Post
  • “Five O’Clock Somewhere Series”, Ivan Flores; Saba Imtiaz; Michael Snyder; Charles Rollet, Roads & Kingdoms

Instructional Writing on Food or Beverage with Recipes

WINNER

  • “Wild for Watercress”, Laura Russell, Fine Cooking

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “Kebabs and Comfort: Soldiers Find Solace in Seattle’s Afghan Food Scene”, Naomi Tomky, Thrillist
  • “When It Comes to Thanksgiving, There’s No Such Thing as Too Easy”, Anna Stockwell, Epicurious

Narrative Food Writing with or without Recipes

WINNER

  • “My Dinners With Harold”, Daniel Duane, The California Sunday Magazine December 1, 2016

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “The Barnacle Queens of the Spanish Seaside”, Matt Goulding, Roads & Kingdoms
  • “What Comes After”, Jeff Chu, Entrepreneur

Narrative Beverage Writing with or without Recipes

WINNER

  • “Jack Daniel’s Faces Its Past: Help From a Slave Distiller”, Clay Risen, The New York Times

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “Napa’s Water War With Big Wine”, Stett Holbrook, The Bohemian with the Food & Environment Reporting Network
    “Where Are All of the Weed Cocktails?”, Alyson Sheppard, Playboy.com

Culinary Travel Writing

WINNER

  • “The Crossing”, Kim Cross, Cooking Light

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “An Island Apart”, Darra Goldstein, Photography and sidebar copy by Ellen Silverman, EatingWell
    “Pride of Peru”, Betsy Andrews, Rodale’s Organic Life

Personal Essays/ Memoir Writing

WINNER

  • “Churnin’”, Carol Penn-Romine, Best Food Writing 2016

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “Discovering Mutton in Emma: The Quest to Please the Principals’ Palates”, Dan Macey, Emma in the Snow/Sarah Emsley blog
  • “The Great Hanukkah Clanging”, Nadine Epstein, Moment Magazine
  • “Sleep Noma”, Joshua David Stein, Tasting Table

Food-focused Column

WINNER

  • “From Grandmother’s House to Hers; Shamelessly French; Korean Comfort Food; Casa Calamari“, Francis Lam, The New York Times Magazine

RUNNERS-UP               

  • “Food & the Amazon Rainforest”, Nicholas Gill, New Worlder
  • “Smoke Signals”, Jim Shahin, The Washington Post

Publication of the Year

WINNER

The New York Times, “The Breakfast Issue”; “The Restaurant Preview”; “An American Feast”

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Cooking Light, Hunter Lewis
  • EatingWell, Jessie Price

FOOD WRITING AWARDS 2016

Beverage-focused Column

WINNER

  • Spirits Column, by M. Carrie Allan, The Washington Post

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Jon Bonné on Wine by Jon Bonné, PUNCH
  • Sip Column, by Sara Schneider, Sunset Magazine

Instructional Writing on Food or Beverage with Recipes

WINNER

  • What Most People Get Wrong About Making Hummus Column, by Maureen Abood, The Washington Post

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Over Easy, Developed by Chris Morocco, written by Sarah Copeland, Real Simple
  • How to Make Ravioli, by Michael Tusk, Fine Cooking Magazine
  • The Secret to Better Brownies, by Sam Worley, Epicurious

Narrative Beverage Writing with or without Recipes

WINNER

  • What Edna Lewis Knew, by Francis Lam, The New York Times Magazine

RUNNERS-UP               

  • The Fisherman’s Dilemma, by Paul Greenberg, The Food & Environmental Reporting Network/California Sunday Magazine
  • A Refugee Cooks His Way Home, by John Birdsall, Food & Wine
  • The Secret Life of Cheese, by Mark Hay, Roads & Kingdoms

Narrative Beverage Writing with or without Recipes

WINNER

  • A Tale of a Shipwrecked Wine, by Ray Isle, Food & Wine

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Brewing Better Together, by Corie Brown, Entrepreneur Magazine
  • Long Island Wows Wine Advocate, by Eileen M. Duffy, Edible East End

Culinary Travel Writing

WINNER

  • In Search of Ragu, by Matt Goulding, Roads Kingdoms

RUNNERS-UP               

  • The Mistress of Portugal’s Alentejo, by David Leite, Leite’s Culinaria
  • Top Hut, by Susan Reid & Sift Magazine, Sift
  • Uncharted, by Lisa Hamilton, The California Sunday Magazine, with Food & Environment Reporting Network

Personal Essays/ Memoir Writing

WINNER

  • Chefs for a Day, by Chris Colin, Sunset Magazine

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Brown Butter Apple Tart, by Phyllis Grant, Food52
  • Is it Time to Table, Farm-To-Table?, by Corby Kummer, Vanity Fair

Food-focused Column

WINNER

  • Sunny Side Up; More Than a Name; With Sugar on Top; The Sweetness of Mexico, by Francis Lam
    The New York Times Magazine

RUNNERS-UP               

  • 10 Rules of BBQ; Guide to dining in OC’s Little Saigon; Review of Twenty Eight; Review of Sushi Roku and TwentyEight, by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Frankenrecipe, by Rhoda Boone and Matt Duckor, Epicurious

The Culinary Trust Award for Food Writing That Makes a Difference

WINNER

  • Good Seed, Bad Seed, by Barry Estabrook. EatingWell

Publication of the Year

WINNER

  • EatingWell, Jessie Price, Editor-in-Chief

RUNNERS-UP               

  • Fine Cooking Magazine, Jennifer Armentrout, Editor