FOOD & COMMUNITY IN PHILADELPHIA AND BEYOND
EDITOR’S LETTER
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
WITH A NEW SEASON comes fresh energy. We’re all looking forward to the asparagus and strawberries that are coming to our farmers’ markets very soon.
From out the window of my home office at 11th and Tasker, I can see two new restaurant signs swaying in the breeze: The Dutch moved here from Pennsport, and the bold 3-D apricot that marks the brand new Mish Mish.
But amid all these new starts, things are ending, too. This issue of Edible Philly will be the last one I edit. As I move on to a new role after almost a decade in this one, I look forward to seeing where an infusion of fresh, incoming energy will take this magazine.
For example, this very issue is the debut of our new art director, Vicki Rees-Jones. As I depart as editor, I want to give her the warmest and most enthusiastic welcome. I hope you’ll love what she’s done with the place.
This whole issue has a forward-thinking theme. In these pages, we’re tackling all things plant-based. After transitioning to a plant-based diet myself in recent years, I can personally attest to Philadelphia’s vegan food scene.
Before I sign off here, I need to mention two special people who have been on this journey with me since 2013. Before Edible Philly ever launched, Jen Honovic Herzceg, our director of business development, sat with me in Good Karma Cafe on Pine Street dreaming about what this magazine could be. Our shared love of the Philadelphia food community became the basis for one of my favorite friendships.
And in my career, I have had no collaborator with whom I have worked as long as I have with Edible Philly’s publisher, Nancy Painter. I have enjoyed creative freedom and trust the likes of which I know I’m unlikely to ever experience again. As a writer and editor, it would be impossible to ask for anything more. She has given me the security and space to grow in my work while always having this passion project to come home to. I quite literally would not be taking these next steps in my career without her unwavering support.
I will stay in touch with them, all our fantastic contributors, and I hope you, too. I’ll still be showing off my farmers’ market haul and homecooked food on Instagram @joymanning.
Stay hungry, Philadelphia.
Joy Manning
Please address editorial inquiries to [email protected].
