The Last Bite
The Last Bite is an electronic publication exploring the realms and possibilities of food criticism. It was created as my thesis project for my Master's Degree in New Arts Journalism at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it came together
My concept for The Last Bite was to create a new venue for food criticism that takes the best forms of criticism from various outlets such as Instagram, websites like Chowhound, Yelp, and Pinterest, and creates a stronger form of criticism that showcases great writing, great photography, and most importantly, great food.
The Last Bite explored the food and dining culture of a selected city through professional restaurant reviews, photo stories, and thought-provoking pieces about dining and food culture. As a hub of culinary activity, Chicago was the first city that I chose to be featured in The Last Bite.
As my graduate thesis project, I spent a year researching, writing, designing, and producing The Last Bite. I applied for and received a grant to conduct research through The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and began my research by reading current and historical food criticism articles, understanding how the art of critiquing food and writing reviews has (and has not) changed over the years.
My goal with The Last Bite was to showcase food as art, and also bring more traditional art writing into the world of food and hospitality. To me, food is art, and I felt it was important to have writing in the publication that reflected this as well.
I worked with two advisors on my thesis, and had many willing classmates accompany me to restaurants to conduct food reviews, taking copious notes throughout every visit. I then contacted each of the restaurants directly to source photography and quotes.
My original plan was to make The Last Bite a continuous series, publishing an issue every month about a different city, and I chose a digital format to aid with publishing costs and accessibility. Though the magazine has not continued on past my graduation, it remains a passion project that I hope to rekindle and publish again someday soon.
