In Our Summer 2015 Issue

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Our Third Year, I Promise We'll Keep on Dishing

Dear Reader,

It’s been a wild ride since our summer issue hit the streets in May of 2013. The previous October, returning back to my home town after a decade away, I quickly understood that everyone I talked to about our impending launch fell into two camps.

The first group immediately understood what an Edible title meant for the city—that there finally would be a magazine completely devoted to the local and sustainable food movement gaining such strong momentum. In talking with them, I realized that our arrival was actually three or four years too late. There was so much to talk about, history and relationships already at play. The food stories kept coming like a zucchini harvest—and we tried to bake them into everything. In our third year, I promise we’ll keep on dishing.

The second group wasn’t as much in the know as far as nationally-recognized food magazine titles go (my parents among them)—but they were equally intrigued and supportive. We’re a city that loves food, after all. In the past few years, Milwaukee has gained national notoriety as a culinary destination—we’re no longer just a stop enroute to Chicago. We might haute up our cuisine, but we remain grounded in cooking and enjoying good food together.

That’s our strength as a city, I think. At our core, we’re still humble and blue collar. The spotlight is both flattering and uncomfortable—it forces us to grow in ways we might not necessarily be ready for. This is true for the city, and the food movement, and for our publication.

Now Edible Milwaukee finds ourselves in the same position as many of the businesses we profiled in this year’s fall issue [“Growing Pains for Local Entrepreneurs”], facing the need to expand. The 15,000 issues we distribute for free thanks to our community partners were snatched up in a month. Beginning with our summer issue, I’m proud to announce that we will print more magazines—our readers are asking for it. We’re gone on the road, near and to the furthest parts of our territory, which inspired the theme of the issue you’re about to read: Food as fuel to do fun things.

We rounded up food trucks into a guide for your summer noshing needs. We explored downtown waterways with the Milwaukee Kayak Company. We have a produce report of what’s in season at your local farmers market. Sanford D’Amato, of Sanford Restaurant fame, guest chefs for us with a story about corn and a recipe. We took a bento to the beach, tiffins on a trek and a picnic into the park, and we explored how food gives flavor and depth to life’s milestones.

Our columnists discuss dehydration (of granola and jerky, that is) and day drinking (gotta stay cool somehow). Finally, Judge Derek Mosley invites us all out to breakfast, to one of the top soul food restaurants in America. Get out there this summer, folks—there’s so much to eat and explore.

-Jen Ede, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief