Mario A. Cortez Joins SF Chronicle as Food & Wine Reporter
The San Francisco Chronicle’s new food reporter is Mario A. Cortez, a bilingual journalist who has been traveling California for five years.
Cortez hails from Eureka Times-Standard, where he edited the sports section, covered daily news and shot photos for the Humboldt County newspaper. He began his career reporting on issues facing San Diego’s marginalized communities at La Prensa San Diego, a now-shuttered Latin weekly, before rising through the ranks to become arts and culture editor. As a freelance writer in San Diego, he focused on Latino issues — and food, writing authoritative guides to tacos and burritos stuffed with fries at Eater San Diego.
His reporting has earned him honors from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists and the San Diego Press Club for articles such as an Eater report on a restaurant family’s move from Tijuana to San Diego and an article from San Diego Reader on cross-border travelers bringing beer from the United States to Mexico during the pandemic.
Cortez will report to Food & Wine Editor-in-Chief Janelle Bitker and will cover restaurant news, write about all things edible and follow the Bay Area’s growing food tech scene.
“Chronicle’s food team is an unusual beast,” Bitker said. “We needed a reporter with proven insights, but also able to focus on longer, more ambitious features. And of course, we needed someone with a passion for food. Mario quickly established himself like the rare person who could do it all.
Cortez grew up in the Tijuana-San Diego border region and graduated from Humboldt State University. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
About the San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco Chronicle (sfchronicle.com) is Northern California’s largest newspaper and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by Hearst Corporation in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and received six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Follow us on Twitter at @SFChronicle.