Hey there, CityBeat readers. Back in February, I joined the team here as the arts & culture reporter, but slowly gravitated toward covering our city’s local food scene more than anything else.
It’s no surprise, given that in one of my first articles, I wrote that “my real passion — and my favorite thing to write about — is food.” And before I worked here, I was active in the hospitality industry for some time; if you ever did any bar hopping in Over-the-Rhine, there’s a solid chance I’ve poured you a drink or served you food before.
In my time writing about the dining & nightlife scene at CityBeat so far, I’ve covered several amazing pop-ups, restaurant and bar openings and relocations, wild nightlife events, business anniversary celebrations, limited time events, the local queer community, award-winning restaurants, and written plenty of lists. I was also the only writer in town to judge EVERY dish at this year’s Taste of Cincinnati festival, and extensively profiled this year’s three local James Beard finalists as part of our May CityBeat print edition.
Now that Case Fenner has joined our staff as the arts, culture and events reporter, it’s time for me to transition to covering what I love full time. I am now CityBeat‘s official dining & nightlife reporter. You’ll still see me covering what I used to here and there — it’s not like the arts ONLY happen in the daytime, of course — but with our city’s culinary scene popping off more than it ever has right now, there’s no better time for me to step into this role.
In this new position, I’ll be doing more of what I’ve already done: covering restaurant openings and closings, events, business trends, labor stories related to the industry, checking out cool pop-ups and detailing new collaborations. Mostly, though, I’ll just be eating and drinking as much as I can handle while letting CityBeat readers know about the best of the best.
Chefs, restaurant owners, bartenders or anyone doing something cool in the industry: feel free to reach out to me at kmitten@citybeat.com. I look forward to hearing from you all.
