At the end of December, I transitioned from my role as part-time Food section editor at the Austin Chronicle to freelance restaurant critic. There are many reasons behind that transition that I won’t go into here, but, ultimately, I’m super excited to have the (relative) freedom to explore and tell the stories that interest and excite me.
I have been pretty unhappy with the state of food media for a little while now. Voices and stories have taken a backseat to breaking news about what restaurant is closing and what new restaurant is going to open in that space and who has filed liquor license applications and building permits. At the same time, influencers post TikTok videos and Instagram reels, saying “I checked out X restaurant/food truck and tried this dish and it was really good.”
Me? I want to know more about the sunflower seed pasta inspired by a chef’s childhood playing baseball.
So, I’m launching a new newsletter. This newsletter, actually! It’s called Central Texas Dish. My vision for this newsletter is to share a curated selection of stories of Austin and Central Texas food purveyors, explorations of different foodstuffs and foodways, and suggestions for where to dine and drink. I may throw in some art and culture stuff from time to time, because I like more than just food, and there’s a whole world of stories out there to tell.
I plan to open up Central Texas Dish to tiered subscriptions on June 1; a basic subscription will include a biweekly Friday Night Bites recommendations newsletter. Higher tier subscriptions will include rankings and roundups (bagels! Mexican hamburgers! breakfast sandwiches!) and monthly narrative features. There will be photos! And, I hope, eventually, contributors!
I hope you’ll subscribe for free now, and, when the time comes, upgrade to a paid subscription and support a slow media approach to who, what, why, and how folks are making food in Austin and its surrounds.
Watch for my first official piece early next week!
Stay hungry,
Melanie