Winners Association of Food Journalists 2015 Food Competition

Best Newspaper Food Coverage Above 200,000 circulation

First:  The Boston Globe, Sheryl Julian, Food Editor

Second: San Francisco Chronicle & The Washington Post

Third: Tampa Bay Times

Best Newspaper Food Coverage 120,000 to 200,000 circulation

First: The Arizona Republic, Debora Britz, food editor

Second: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nancy Stohs, food editor

Third: The Kansas City Star, Jill Wendholt Silva, food editor and restaurant critic

Best Newspaper Food Coverage Below 120,000 circulation

First: San Antonio Express-News, Jennifer McInnis, food and drink editor

Second: The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.), Hanna Raskin, food editor and chief critic

Third: The Charlotte Observer, Kathleen Purvis, food editor and writer

Best Newspaper Special Food Project

First: The Kansas City Star, “No Plate Like Home,” Jill Wendholt Silva, Tammy Ljungblad, Cindy Hoedel, Mary Pepitone, Barbara Hill-Meyer

Second: Creative Loafing - Atlanta, “Legacy,” Stephanie Dazey, Debbie Michaud, Cliff Bostock, Todd Brock, Angela Hansberger, Scott Henry, Brad Kaplan, Alex Lockie, Miles Macquarrie, Sucheta Rawal, Austin L. Ray, Jennifer Zyman, Wes Duvall, Rachel Hortman, Joeff Davis, Konyin Ayuba, Eric Cash, Adam Komich, Matthew Smith, Mia Yakal

Third: The Arizona Republic, “Top Home Chef,” Karen Fernau, Howard Seftel, Jennifer McClellan, Debora Britz

Best Newspaper Food Feature Above 200,000 circulation

First: Bonnie Benwick, The Washington Post, “‘Salt to Taste,’ Taken With a Grain of Regret”

Second: Jim Webster, The Washington Post, “Nutella, Imported vs. Domestic: Is There a Difference?”

Third: Jonathan Kauffman, The San Francisco Chronicle, “Pop-up Phenom”

Best Newspaper Food Feature 120,000 to 200,000 circulation

First: Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Meet Carol 'Dearheart' Pascuzzi, the Ever-Cheerful Cheese Expert of Penn Mac”

Second: Nancy Stohs, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Driven by the Details”

Third: Daniel Neman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Fair Food: All Calories? All Fat? Yes, Please!”

Best Newspaper Food Feature Below 120,000 circulation

First: Lauren Saria, Phoenix New Times, “Flour Power”

Second: Besha Rodell, LA Weekly, “Food Inc.”

Third: (Tie) Laura Rebecca Kenyon, City Newspaper, “Fondue For You, By You” Andrea Weigl, The News and Observer, “The Chef and the Filmmaker”

Best Non-newspaper Food Feature

First: John Birdsall, Helen Rosner, Eater.com, “Jeremiah Tower’s Invincible Armor”

Second: Melanie Dunea, Helen Rosner, Eater.com, “Off the Map with Italy's Best Truffle Hunter”

Third: Hugh Garvey, Playboy, “Straight Outta Comptoir”

Best Newspaper Food Website (New category)

First: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, jsonline.com/features/food/

Second: Tampa Bay Times, tampabay.com/food

Best Online-Only Food or Dining Publication

First: Eater.com, Amanda Kludt

Second: Rock City Eats, RockCityEats.com, Greg Henderson, Kevin Shalin, Daniel Walker, Becca Bona

Best Restaurant Criticism

First: (Tie) Leslie Brenner, The Dallas Morning News, Craig LaBan, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Second: (Tie) Tim Carman, The Washington Post, Michael Renner, Sauce Magazine

Third: Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post

Best Food Essay

First: Cathy Branciaroli, AmericanFoodRoots.com, “Grandfather’s Italian Pepper Seeds Take Root in America”

Second: Stephen Hoffman, Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Of Links and Legacy”

Third: (Tie) John DeVore, Eater.com, “Finding Home at Taco Bell”, Craig LaBan, The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Fresh Catches”

Best Writing on Beer, Wine and/or Spirits

First: Julie Cohen, Sauce Magazine, “Super Somms: St. Louis' Top Wine Students Prepare to Hold Court”

Second: Carrie Allan, The Washington Post, “Vermouth: New American Producers Push the Boundaries Beyond European Tradition”

Third: Austin L. Ray, Creative Loafing - Atlanta, “Red Brick Turns 21"

Best Story on Food Policy or Food Issues

First: Danielle L. Davis, TakePart.com, “How Keeping Your Food Bug-Free is Hurting Countless Women”

Second: Mariah Blake, Mother Jones, “Are Any Plastics Safe?”

Third: Richard Conniff, TakePart.com, “Meat Is Murder -- but It's People Being Killed (and Not How You Think)”

Best Food Column

First: Hugh Garvey, Carolynn Carreño, Playboy

Second: Jason Wilson, Table Matters

Third: Laurie Triplette, HottyToddy.com

Best Food Blog 

First: Raskin Around (Post and Courier)

Second: Chow Town (Kansas City Star)

Best Food Visual

First: Deb Lindsey, Bonnie Benwick, The Washington Post, “Get Cracking”

Second: Stephanie S. Cordle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Frozen Veggies”

Third: Amy King, Andrea D'Aquino, Deb Lindsey, The Washington Post, “Why We Love Smoke”

Best Food Multimedia Presentation

First: AmericanFoodRoots.com, “WWI,” Bonny Wolf, Michele Kayal

Second: The Washington Post, “From the Ground Up,” Maura Judkis, Nicki DeMarco, Melina Mara

Third: The Dallas Morning News, “Modern Texas Cuisine Emerges as a Delicious Phenomenon,” Leslie Brenner, Amanda Robinson, Lara Solt, David Guzman

Best Student Writing on Food

First: Katherine Hysmith, Boston University writing for The Boston Globe, “At Damnation Alley, Small-Batch Spirits with a Hyper-Local Twist”

Second: Shelby Vittek, Rutgers University writing for TableMatters.com, “The Way of Tea”

Third: Shelby Vittek, Rutgers University writing for TableMatters.com, “Tackling Tahini”

For more information about AFJ's awards program, see afjonline.com/awards.cfm.