Aleta Watson is an award-winning journalist who spent six and a half years as a food writer and restaurant critic for the San Jose Mercury News food and wine section, which was nominated for James Beard awards twice during her tenure. She lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California and now splits her time between freelance writing and this blog.

Her national food writing awards include:

• 2008 Honorable mention for specialty feature writing from the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors
• 2006 Second place for restaurant criticism from the Association of Food Journalists
• 2004 Third place in food feature writing from the Association of Food Journalists

She’s a member of the Association of Food Journalists and the International Association of Culinary Professionals.