Hello, how are you? I am dandy, thanks for asking! I’m pleased as punch to introduce myself as the new editor at large of Edible Brooklyn. It’s a funny thing to be here — without this magazine, I would never have been a food journalist for the last six years.
Flash back to 2009; I was living in Astoria but seeing a young woman in Bed-Stuy. On my long, insufferable train rides to and from her apartment (interborough dating is rough business), I’d borrow magazines from her coffee table. I’ll give you three guesses as to which local food mag I read most!
If it wasn’t for a tiny ad in Edible Brooklyn, I would never have learned of Edible Queens, a brand-new magazine out that September. I found the closest pickup location (a shoebox sushi hut) and grabbed an issue.
Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert were on the cover; I reveled in a little hand-me-down Queens glamor. Soon I had read every article, then exhausted all the online content. But before that moment, I found a small typo on the website. On a late-night whim, I emailed the publisher about the error. “Oh and by the way, do you need any editing help?”
It still amazes me that this trick worked; I somehow parlayed a wee typo into a job as Edible Queens’ deputy editor. I had been a newspaper reporter for years but had zero experience in food journalism. Sure, I liked to eat and was a fair home cook, but these are slim credentials. Fake it til you make it, I suppose.
That job led to freelance food writing for the Village Voice and Wall Street Journal. Then I moved to San Francisco and became restaurant critic for Oakland’s alt-weekly newspaper, then the San Francisco Examiner. Next stop was the illustrious Modern Farmer magazine in upstate New York. I was the mag’s first staff writer, eventually becoming senior editor.
Which brings me to today. I’m thrilled to come back into the Edible fold, where this whole crazy ride started out. Were it not for this fine family of food publications (say that 3 times fast), I could still be writing about school board meetings and Kwik Stop robberies.
To be quite honest, I always looked up to Edible Brooklyn back in the day. I felt like Edible Queens was the scrappy little upstart, scrambling to be taken seriously; its Brooklyn cousin, by contrast, was sophisticated, established, beautiful and sleek. Still is, in fact!
It’s a great publication with a significant history in the borough; I’m honored to be here.
Digital editor’s note: We’re very excited to welcome Jesse to the Edible Brooklyn team and have even more updates to share with you in the next week or so. Stay tuned.
