The Editor of the Michelin Guide Website Wants to Hear from You

If you know how to write freelance pieces about restaurants and chefs, the editor of the Michelin Guide United States website wants to hear from you.

Editor Aaron Hutcherson started a food blog, The Hungry Hutch, almost 10 years ago, during a former career on Wall Street. He went on to become a chef and still posts twice a month. But now he manages a network of freelance writers from pitch through editing and publishing for Michelin Guide United States. (He’s also the editor and social media manager for Robert Parker Wine Advocate, which is owned by Michelin.)

“There’s still a lot of people who don’t know that this site exists,” he admits. In addition to assigning and editing pices, he writes a couples of pieces per week. “When I have the time and energy to invest in the piece I really enjoy it.”

Here’s Michelin Guide website editor Aaron Hutcherson on what subjects he looks for:

Aaron Hutcherson left a career on Wall Street for food media, starting a blog, becoming a chef and now, editing the Michelin Guide’s US content for the website.

Q. What kind of stories do freelancers write on the Michelin website?

A. It’s a little bit of everything. Our main categories are chef profiles, restaurant openings and ingredient-focused pieces. We had a piece about the health benefits of oysters. Someone wrote about chefs collaborating with José Andrés at Minibar. We’ve done a couple of winemaker profiles.

Sometimes we have features on other related subjects, such as restaurant employee turnover, or on an organization called ZeroFoodprint that helps restaurants become ecofriendly.

We only cover New York, Washington, Chicago and the state of California.

Q. Obviously, since it’s the Michelin guide your interest is primarily chefs and restaurants.

A. Yes. There are more general food pieces. We don’t do any first person essays from freelance writers, unless they happen to be chefs.

Q. Do you want writers to submit photos as well?

A. We ask them to help us source photos, such as from a PR firm, but it’s not required.

Q. Who reads your website?

A. Anyone who is interested in restaurants or restaurant culture. It could be home cooks as well, and travelers who like to eat well.

Q. How many freelance pieces do you buy in an average month?

A. Twelve to 15. My colleague also works with some freelancers.

Q. How do you like to be pitched?

A. By email: Aaron DOT Hutcherson AT RobertParker.com. I usually get back to people within the week.

Q. Any last words for freelancer writers?

A. Do your research. Read through the website to see what we’ve written about. Look under Dining Out, People, Features, and Dining In.

Don’t pitch me something that we’ve already written about. We don’t want the same story that’s been written about Thomas Keller. It has to be something new or novel. And all the lists are taken from the guide itself, so we don’t take restaurant lists, such as “best restaurants” kinds of listsicles.

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