Thursday, July 21, 2011
Food media Eater Atlanta launches today, with Jennifer Zyman at the helm
Posted by Besha Rodell @BeshaRodell on Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 8:29 AM
Back in April, the site that started in New York in 2005 put out an ad for an Atlanta editor, alerting the rest of us that the organization was planning an Atlanta-specific site. Today, joining sites in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland OR, and Miami, Atlanta has its very own Eater site. Houston and Dallas are also getting new Eater sites today.
I spoke to Eater's founder and president Lockhart Steele (did his parents want a dang soap opera star for a kid or what?), who explained the focus on Atlanta as a broader strategy to tackle the South in general. He also said that Eater National editor Raphael Brion (seriously? What's UP with these dude's names?) "came back gobsmacked by how good the food scene" is in Atlanta after visiting for the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.
Steele said "The real challenge was finding a local editor on the ground, who knows the restaurant scene in and out."
That person turned out to be Jennifer Zyman, who emerged as one of Atlanta's first serious food bloggers and has become integral to CL's food & drink coverage in recent years (and who is - full disclosure - a close personal friend of mine).
So what can we expect from the new Eater site? "We're interested in breaking news," Steele told me. ""We're not afraid to get gossipy. We're interested in the experience of dining out." There will be no recipes and no original restaurant criticism, although the site will round up what the city's critics are saying. You can also expect previews of new places. "We want to cover the entire lifespan of a restaurant," Steele says. "From the time it's a glimmer in the mind of a chef to when it opens, through the reviews, to a year into its life and beyond."
The launch of Eater Atlanta means a lot of things. Most importantly, it means that on a national level, Atlanta is considered one of the most important food markets out there. A sneak peek at the site showed links to other food news around the web, gossip, Atlanta food media commentary, and other delicious tidbits. At the top of the page, a list titled "where to eat" names Miller Union, One Eared Stag and LeRoy's Fried Chicken, among others.
Congrats, Eater. Congrats, Jen. Congrats, Atlanta. A dude named Lockhart Steele (and his buddy Raphael) thinks you're hawt.
Comments (3)
Showing 1-3 of 3
Latest in Omnivore
-
Customer chains himself to Aurora Coffee in VaHi 10
Hell no, he won't go
-
Atlanta food events, May 20-24: Farm-to-table cuisine, Michael Feinstein dinner, and more
Atlanta food happs
-
Pop-up farmers market Monday in Grant Park
Grant Park hosts pop up farmers market today due to yesterday's bad weather
- More »
Search Omnivore
Top Commenters
