This edition of Full Belly Files was originally emailed to subscribers on May 26, 2023. To receive Matt Kettmann’s food newsletter in your inbox each Friday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

There are so many variables that go into journalism awards that I never put too much stake in them, but winning first place for something you wrote — or, in this case, write every single week  — certainly does not suck.

That’s right: Your Friday-morning must-read Full Belly Files was just named as the best newsletter in the state by the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA), specifically for publications with 100,000 to 400,000 monthly website visitors. (I actually think Independent.com is more than that, but whatever.)  

“Readers walk away getting insights not just about Santa Barbara food and drink news, but also the perspective and day-to-day life of a longtime local journalist navigating the regional food scene,” said the judge. “Matt’s voice shines through, and his personable tone and tidbits about his life help engage the reader.”

It’s not my first award from the CNPA, nor my first first place. Nick Welsh and I won top honors for our coverage of the David Attias mass-murder-by-car tragedy in Isla Vista way back in 2001, and I also won first place in agriculture/aquaculture reporting for this story on mussel farmer Bernard Friedman in 2015.

I may have some other firsts that I’ve forgotten in nearly a quarter-century of this work, and I definitely recall a lot of seconds and thirds along the way. And my Santa Barbara Independent teammates picked up so many firsts and seconds from our 2022 efforts that they’re too numerous to list here.

But given that Full Belly Files is a weekly push primarily about my own life and career, this one tastes a bit more savory. Which is the long way of saying: I’m taking the week off!

Thanks for reading and check your inbox next Friday for my next escapades.

Login

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Not a member? Sign up here.