Wednesday just got more delicious
Carol Deptolla's dining coverage merges with food.
Like a perfect wine and food pairing, today’s section marries two deliciously compatible topics: food and dining.
If you love food, you cherish a humble home-cooked casserole as much as you appreciate a finely executed chef masterpiece. At heart, there is no difference — it’s all food.
And so starting today, Carol Deptolla’s dining reviews and other dining features will appear in this newly renamed Wednesday section, rather than on Friday. The good news for readers? You’ll have two more days to make your weekend reservations.
For nearly 10 years, Deptolla, a Milwaukee native, has guided Journal Sentinel readers through the ever-growing, ever-changing local restaurant scene. Her start as a critic followed 24 years of experience as a journalist and a lifetime of love for good food.
An accomplished cook herself, Deptolla learned to prepare German favorites like rouladen and red cabbage at her mother’s side. She still relishes the rare chance to whip up a batch of jam or bake a pan of her mother’s fruit kuchen. Before her time as a dining critic, Deptolla wrote recipe-based food features for the Journal Sentinel.
With her move to this section, you can expect to see some creative new approaches to dining coverage.
Side Dish, Deptolla’s meaty column of restaurant news, will continue to be served up in Weekend Tap on Fridays. For up-to-date restaurant news, follow her on Twitter, @mkediner, or check the Journal Sentinel’s business pages.
For quick links to all manner of food and dining stories, “like” the Journal Sentinel’s Food & Dining page on Facebook. And remember to turn to the recently published Milwaukee 50, including Deptolla’s annual Top 30 Restaurants, for suggestions on where to eat. You’ll find it at jsonline.com/top30.
Comments, tips, ideas, questions? Contact me at (414) 224-2382 or nstohs@journalsentinel.com or or Carol at cdeptolla@journalsentinel.com or (414) 224-2841.
Staff wins food awards
The Journal Sentinel took home three awards earlier this month in the Association of Food Journalists’ Annual Awards Competition.
For Best Newspaper Food Coverage in the under-155,000 circulation division, the paper placed second, after the San Antonio Express-News. Said the judges of the Journal Sentinel’s food and dining pages: “Another nice section, with a lot of content and a particularly nice set of recipes.” “Good local coverage.”
The story “Bringing Wisconsin fish to local tables,” which I wrote in 2016, tied for third place for Best Story on Food Policy or Food Issues. Said the judges: “Important and current topic. Great details. Interesting information about obstacles to get local fish.”
Finally, the Journal Sentinel’s interactive “Beer Near: A Guide to Wisconsin Breweries,” which is both a web feature and mobile app, took third for Best Digital Food Presentation. The guide was created and produced by Kathy Flanigan, Erin Caughey and Michael Andre.
The judges said of the comprehensive guide: “Good use of map graphics to identify breweries and make it easy to find what you're looking for in a quick guide format.” “A truly useful interactive map that one can imagine both locals and tourists finding extremely helpful — not to mention outof-the-way breweries. A big plus is the fact that the interactivity is organic to the piece and not just tacked-on, as so many are.”
The awards were presented at the association’s annual conference, held this year in Philadelphia. For complete contest results, visit