The Poor Taste Editors
A Baltimore native, Editor-in-Chief K. Tighe was introduced to the world of food appreciation through rounds of Maryland Crab Cakes and National Bohemian beer. Now residing in Los Angeles — by way of Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Berlin — she spends her days chasing after food trucks and cobbling words together. Before founding Poor Taste, Tighe was the Editor-in-Chief of Venus Zine and an adjunct instructor of journalism at Chicago’s Columbia College. Her writings on food, music, and culture have been featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Chicago magazine, and numerous other publications. Tighe is also the Managing Editor for Splashlife, a pro-social organization working to become the AARP for the Millennial generation. Her favorite tastes are garlic, duck fat, and anything cut from the underbelly of the swine. Her least favorite tastes are lemongrass, ranch, and anything blue (except for Maryland blue crabs, of course).
Thaddeus Phipps is Poor Taste’s Creative Director and a Nutella enthusiast. He has spent the last fifteen years behind record store buy counters in San Jose, San Francisco, Chicago, and now in his hometown of Los Angeles. Thaddeus spends his days championing the underclass and his nights at the drawing board. His illustrations have appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian and on many a bathroom stall wall. After three years, he’s about halfway through his graphic novel, Sam Stick: Private Dick. He’s currently working his way through the year 2011 by posting a new illustration every day. His favorite tastes include medium-rare steak, peanut butter, and carnitas tacos. He thinks bell peppers should be cast into the sun, never to blight the earth again.
Poor Taste‘s Culture Editor Arwen Petty lives and works in San Francisco as a writer and editor. She spends most of her time reading, dancing, watching zombie movies, and drinking magnificent amounts of beer. You can catch her on Twitter @arwenrenee.
Alexander Moysaenko is Poor Taste‘s News Editor. He hails from a wooded, southwest valley of Cleveland, OH — home of the burning river — and thinks of it often. His passion for food (and talking about it while eating) was first evidenced by somniloquy, face down in a bowl of pilaf; he firmly believes that sleep is second to sensory experience. Alexander has lived in Chicago for the past six years and is currently completing his MA in Writing & Publishing at DePaul University. His work has appeared in gutters, on friends’ bathroom walls, and on certain websites. Top five spices/herbs, if under duress to name them: basil, black pepper, cilantro, coriander, garlic. Bottom five spices/herbs: urban detritus.
Alyssa Noui, the product of parents from Algeria and Japan, is an inventive home chef and Poor Taste‘s Eating In Editor. She’s donned aprons at ice cream parlors, soup kitchens, “just-because” dinner parties, and as an after-school cooking instructor. From an early age she cultivated an appreciation for handmade quality, close contact with food growers, and intuition in place of measuring cups. Inspiration from her travels across America and the globe helped develop a home-cooking style that blends rustic and exotic flavors — she rarely serves the same dish twice. She learned to treat ingredients as though they were her kids by wiping off any dirt and learning through play. When experiments go awry, there are always kosher mini marshmallows. Her last meal would consist of single malt (make it a double) Scotch, Ethiopian steak tartare, and green figs. Follow her on Twitter @suppingood
Drinks Editor Chris Kornman discovered a passion for liquid culture at the age of three, brewing his first batch of hard cider by hiding apple juice under the couch for a few months. He eventually expanded his palate for, among other things, ale in England, pisco in Peru, and coffee in Chattanooga. He studied briefly at Oxford University, and as a result of what must certainly have been a clerical error, he holds a degree in English and Music. He roasts, blends, brews, tastes, and writes in Chicago.
Cynthia Salaysay is Poor Taste‘s San Francisco Editor and a writer. Therefore, she is probably starving right now. If not for food then for exactly the right word, if not the right word then for French fries — extra crispy, with a fresh toss of salt at the table. As a child, she watched the Frugal Gourmet and the Swedish Chef, rolled lumpia with her mother, shaved ice with her father. As a grown up, she worked in restaurants and interned at local farms. She lives in Oakland, CA, where she will probably live for a good long time because it’s cheaper than SF, sunnier, and the food is, arguably, just as good. Favorite tastes: lychee, duck. Unfavorite tastes: canned green beans, feet cheese.
Janelle Schroeder is not only Poor Taste‘s Chicago Editor, she’s also a self-proclaimed sugar-aholic. Janelle can’t turn down a baked good if her life depended on it and she looks forward to eating her way through every Chicago-area bakery. She is originally from the West Coast and loves all things involving Mexican food and sunshine. While finishing her master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University, Janelle is simultaneously mastering the art of the homemade cinnamon roll.
Poor Taste Editor-at-Large Emily Savage is a San Francisco-based journalist and lifelong vegetable fiend. Her work has appeared in SF Weekly, J. the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, SOMA magazine, Metro.Pop, and Venus Zine. You can follow her ramblings on Twitter @tofuandwhiskey or check www.emilyannesavage.blogspot.com. Her favorite tastes are peanut sauce, red wine, roasted pine nut hummus, and anything with rosemary or cayenne. Her least favorite tastes are uncooked mushrooms and most store-bought marina sauce.
Poor Taste Editor-at-Large Jolene Torr lives in San Francisco with her pet bunny and Her Beloved, both of whom she makes googly eyes at. She’s written for Juxtapoz, Venus Zine, SOMA, SF Weekly, and Art Slant, covering the things she loves: art, music, film, and booze. Before she tweets and deletes, follow her oft drunken jibber jabber @jolenetorr.
Raised in Fargo, North Dakota, the first meal Editor-at-Large Jackie Varriano made was chicken seared in a pan with almost every spice on the shelf. Upon consuming, she instantly declared herself a first rate chef. A week later, after substituting salt for sugar in a cookie recipe, she rescinded her declaration and decided to become a writer. Still obsessed with both, she balances writing about all things food and music with creating in the kitchen. Over the past five years Jackie has served as an associate editor at Uptown Neighborhood News and Moonshine Ink as well as freelancing for City Pages and Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Jonathan Shipley is a freelance writer and Poor Taste Editor-at-Large living in Seattle with his young daughter. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, Lexus Magazine, Venus Zine, Diner Journal, Touring and Tasting Magazine, and other publications. If he could eat breakfast at restaurants three times a day, he would. Favorite Taste: Pancakes Least Favorite Taste: Shellfish
The Poor Taste Board of Advisors
Eric Almendral is a Los Angeles-based designer, illustrator, and food truck expert. He has served as the Art Director for Filter magazine, Metromix LA, New Times Los Angeles, and FW Weekly. His illustrations have appeared in many publications, ranging from the New Yorker and the New York Post to the Zap2it.com. He is currently gallivanting around the Mid-Atlantic states in search of great food. Upon his return to the LA area next month, he will give EIC K. Tighe a duck taco or a better bio.
After graduating from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago with a degree in Film & Video, David Lewis founded the PR company Riot Act Media. There David cut his teeth by focusing on public relations and media marketing campaigns for independent artists and musicians. Riot Act gave him the skills and abilities to work with clients of all shapes and sizes from Virgin, HBO, and Capitol Records to venerable Indies such as Lovitt Records, Suicide Squeeze, and Jade Tree. David’s artist roster was equally diverse, from punk squawkers like The Bouncing Souls, indie-rock next big things like Minus The Bear and Dr. Dog to Patton Oswalt’s Comedians Of Comedy and Chicago small press Featherproof Books. In 2008 David moved into higher education and has since been featured on All Things Considered, PBS, and New City discussing the virtues of arts and music careers. He brings that same entrepreneurial spirit and passion to McNally Smith College of Music, providing workshops, guidance, advice, seminars, and encouragement to the school’s burgeoning talent.
Leah Urbom is a Chicago-based editor and writer who spends her days as a site editor in the weird-filled halls of Groupon and not as many evenings as she would like in the kitchen, free-pouring superfluous amounts of garlic into pots and adding wine to things that probably shouldn’t have wine added. Nurturing a deep passion for cream-based pasta sauces, cheese, and all things pork (trendiness be damned; Chicago is the epicenter of the pork movement, and it’s glorious), she wants to enjoy food for what it is, minus the attitude. That being said, she also harbors a burning resentment for anyone who overuses dill. Favorite taste: goat cheese-encrusted pork belly pie — it’s not a real thing, but it should be. If you know of a place that serves it, or you want to make her one, please get in touch. Least favorite taste: pineapple.
Based in Chicago, Stacy Warden has been a freelance editor and writer since 2006. Warden has contributed to several metropolitan publications including the Chicago Sun-Times, Centerstage, and BizBash Media, among others. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in professional writing from Grand Valley State University and is currently working toward a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing.