You’ve been covering the food scene in Vermont for quite a number of years now. What have you seen change the most dramatically since you first started writing about it?

“The thing that always sticks out is when I started writing for the Free Press in the early 2000s, I wanted to write about local farmers and food producers, and how chefs were using local ingredients. I remember one of my early editors said, ‘No, you need to tell people how to make dinner.’ And I was like, ‘I can do that, but that’s not really what is interesting to me.’

“The food page used to be what people called the ‘women’s page,’ and it was things like six ways to make dinner out of a can of tomatoes and a pound of ground beef. Which was useful, and I did some of that. But I have always been as interested in the people behind the food as I am in the food itself.

“That led me to stories about how people pursue their passion…whether it’s growing food, crafting it, cooking it, or making sure it gets to people who aren’t getting it. There’s much more understanding now of the whole food system, and more interest from readers in knowing how their food gets to them and who the people are along the way.

“I can only speak for Vermont, but we are lucky. We have many people who care deeply about that, and that’s been very rewarding.”

What do you wish readers understood more about how food journalism works?

“I think people don’t always understand how journalism works…that we do our very best to go out there, research, get multiple sides of a story, and share that with readers.

“We don’t accept anything free. We pay for all of our meals and our food, which can be challenging in a small community because people know you and try to give you free food. At a certain point you’re like, ‘I’m paying for the meal,’ but you don’t want to be rude.

“People often ask if I’m a food critic. There are some aspects where we try to be more critical, but it’s a small community. I have never relished the idea of going into a small restaurant where someone is trying to make a living and declaring it’s not good. On the other hand, we are here to serve the reader, so you do want to give people a sense of what they’re going to get.

“I feel like my job is to describe what it is and what they’re trying to do…and did they accomplish that? I sometimes feel you can be more critical of a place that’s charging a lot of money, because are you getting value out of that?

“And while people think, ‘Oh, you’re a food writer…how fun!’ And yes, I love my job and feel very, very lucky to do it. But going out to eat for work is not like just going out to eat. I have to take notes. I can’t have that second cocktail…I have to pay attention, I have to tell my husband he can’t eat until I’ve taken a photo. Shout out to my husband…he is a very patient man, and I appreciate him very much!”

How do you decide what’s worth covering…and what’s not? And what advice would you give to diners looking to discover great spots beyond the obvious names?

“Almost everything is worth covering. For Seven Days, we have statewide readership, but a concentration in northern and central Vermont, so geography matters. I don’t want to frustrate readers by writing about great places that are far away. We just did our big food issue, and the cover package was seven restaurants and one bar. Most of those were out of Chittenden County, except for one in Winooski. So we try to spread out and see a lot of places, but depending on the season…are we able to get there as reporters, and can readers get there? So geography is one thing.

“We also try to have a mix: restaurants, small food producers, beverage producers, agriculture, hunting…all the ways people procure, find, and make food and beverage. We also cover food security and some policy, often working with our news team.

“I worried at the beginning that I would run out of ideas, but I’m so lucky to be here in Vermont. There are always amazing people innovating and cooking, and community gatherings around food.

“We also try to cover smaller places. I’m writing about a little diner in Cambridge right now…Erica’s Village Diner. It’s not fancy, but it’s great. The fries are hand cut, the sandwiches are well crafted.

“It amazes me how even places that are close can still be under the radar. Paul Trombly of Fancy’s just made the James Beard finalist list (for Best Chef/ Northeast), and I adore Paul. I love his food. I love his approach. And I’m still telling people about him. He’s on my top three places I think everyone should go. It’s in Burlington, but it’s in the Old North End, so it’s not on everyone’s radar. So even places that are close, if they’re not downtown or high profile, can still fly under the radar.”

Bonus Question: Are there things you personally love that don’t get enough respect…or trends that everyone else seems to love that you don’t quite get?

“My colleague Chelsea Edgar, who’s not a food writer, just wrote a ‘small plates takedown’ that was hysterical. But I actually love small plates! I like to taste a lot of things and share, and I pretty much won’t go out to eat with someone if they’re not a sharing person. Because it’s a rare dish where I really want to eat only that. So I just want to go on record…I love small plates, but I understand why other people don’t. She wrote a hater’s guide, and I would write a lover’s guide!”