How to Become a Food Writer: 3 ICE Grads Share Their Experiences

While I have written about restaurants, it’s never been from the perspective of evaluating the food. My area of interest and expertise is culinary culture: everything from flavor trends and cooking advice to grocery shopping tips and profiles of businesses and changemakers in the food and beverage industry. Restaurant criticism is, in fact, a very small part of what food writing entails.

“Most stories about life include food in some way or another,” says , an Ģ����Ƶ graduate (Culinary Arts ‘14) who is also a full-time food writer. “There are so many stories that take place around the table and in the kitchen.”

This is perhaps why food writing takes so many forms — and why the connection between culinary school and food writing careers is so clear. 

Should You Go to Culinary School to Become a Food Writer?

My path to becoming a food writer took a scenic route. Though it most definitely begins with a passion for food and cooking, I didn't enroll in culinary school right out of high school. First, I pursued an undergraduate degree in English. From there, I enrolled at ICE, which is where I made connections in the restaurant industry that led me to food writing. This wasn't my plan when I started culinary school, but I'm glad it was the outcome.

There are, however, ICE students and graduates who have food writing in mind when they enroll. For them, attending culinary school to become a food writer was a smart means to a desired end. 

“I went to cooking school to be a food writer. That was always my goal,” says cookbook author and writer Dina Cheney, who graduated from ICE's Culinary Arts program in 2003. “I never intended to work in a restaurant or to be a caterer."

Cheney knew she wanted to write cookbooks and work in food media even before choosing to enroll at ICE. She has now authored six cookbooks.

Kanter saw the same value in culinary school. 

“I attended ICE because I knew that most food publications value a culinary degree,” she says. “I already knew at that point I wasn't cut out to be a chef, but I had a feeling the knowledge and experience would be invaluable.”

Understanding Different Types of Food Writing

Food writing isn’t just one thing. It can be first-person narratives or journalism-based, as in writing reported articles in both long and short forms for online and print media. It can include writing recipes for magazines and newspapers and cookbooks. And it can be writing reviews of restaurants, dishes, or products. All of these can be enabled and strengthened by skills learned in culinary school.

Writing about food can also mean writing about travel, home and garden, lifestyle, and health and wellness — all of which are closely linked to food — and can even lead to a journalism career with a broader scope.

“Today, I call myself a service journalist with a focus on lifestyle and health,” Cheney says.

Why Culinary School is Important for Food Writers

Regardless of the type of food writing you're interested in doing, a culinary school curriculum can be instrumental to the process of becoming a food writer.

“It was indispensable,” Cheney says. “Without this education, I couldn’t have become a recipe developer or cookbook author.”

A deep understanding of cooking techniques and the processes by which flavors and textures develop are crucial to recipe writing. So, too, is an understanding of global cuisines. Being creative is important, and culinary school allows opportunities to flex those creative muscles, but being skilled and precise is arguably more important when it comes to writing recipes.

“Culinary school made me a much more confident cook,” Kanter says. “This has had a major impact in my writing, as I just have so much more knowledge about my food, where it comes from and how it's made.”

How to Get Started in Food Writing

To become a food writer, an awareness of food media is critical. However you consume media, make sure you’re tuned in to the kinds of publications that regularly feature food and beverage stories. These may be trade and industry focused or consumer focused. 

The ICE blog is a good starting point because of its broad spectrum food coverage, from recipes and restaurant guides, to recipes and chef and alumni profiles. Editorial outlets that produce both print and online content include , , and , among numerous others. In the online-only category of food content publishers, personal favorites include , , and . 

Additionally, most newspapers and magazines that aren't food-centric include a food vertical, so there's really no limit to the publications you can pitch story ideas to.

I personally subscribe to three different newsletters to find pitch opportunities. They aren't food-specific, but food stories often intersect with other topics, and I've found many writing opportunities through these: , , and , which is a great resource for new writers as well. Other job board opportunities can be found via and , which primarily connects journalists to industry specialists for expert commentary, but also includes job postings.

Make Connections — and Maintain Them

Making connections with other food writers is also important.

“Are there other food writers whose work you love? Tell them,” Kanter says. “Share their work. This is the best way to make genuine connections, and you never know what these connections might lead to.”

Diversify Your Portfolio

It's possible to be a food writer in a full-time or part-time position within a media organization, or to be a freelance food writer and create content for multiple outlets and/or your own platforms and channels. Many food writers do both throughout their careers.

Also be aware of the function of social media when it comes to food writing.

“The food media landscape has changed dramatically over the past 20 years,” Cheney says. “Today, it’s more about influencing and social media than writing, per-se. Consider supplementing food writing with content strategy, video production, or other income streams. Or pursue a related career that allows you to write, like marketing or PR.”

Food writing opportunities are typically available in the form of job postings or pitch calls — editors actively seeking stories on a particular topic. You can subscribe to various job boards and newsletters that catalogue these opportunities on a regular basis. You don’t need to be an established writer in order to land an assignment. If you have a story to tell and can write a strong pitch about why it's important, you're already ahead of the game.

“If you love food and you love writing, just start writing,” Kanter says. “Start a blog or a Substack and just get your thoughts out there.”

Being in the regular habit of writing also helps — so you're prepared when an opportunity presents itself. I wrote a daily blog during my time in culinary school, and was working on a memoir project when I got my first food writing job, which has led to, among other things, writing for ICE.