The Best American Food Writing 2020
Edited by J. Kenji López-Alt (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $16.99)

Although not exclusively, most of the 24 articles and essays in The Best American Food Writing 2020 explore the experience of people of color—chefs, food writers, diners, and more—in the world of American food.

It is a topic that has always been relevant, but recently, it is more pointedly so. These voices have always been there—it’s just that now, hopefully, they are being heard by more of us.

I have worked in food publishing for almost 30 years and, regrettably, have been ignorant of many of the contributions of people of color outside of high-profile Black chefs such as Edna Lewis and Leah Chase.

These perspectives are long overdue, and so welcome.