Our Fall Issue Celebrates 10 Years

A Toast to Ten

Notice anything new around here? We hope so. In honor of the magazine’s ten-year anniversary, we decided it was time to shake things up. New look. New feel. New logo. But rest assured, you’ll still find the same Local Palate in these pages—we’re still, and always, committed to sharing the stories behind the people, places, and foodways that make up this diverse and dynamic culinary region. Take your time exploring these pages and you’ll find a few new columns, as well as many of our tried-and-true favorites. Thanks to associate editor Lia Grabowski, we’re going deeper into our cocktail, book, travel, and sustainability coverage and we will always have plenty of recipes to share.

As for the design, I give all the kudos to our insanely talented art director Angelique DeClercq. With an expert’s eye and keen attention to detail (not to mention an obsession for typefaces), she has modernized the Local Palate’s aesthetic while channeling the depth, engagement, and approachability that has long made this magazine sing. 

I’ve been reading the Local Palate for as long as it’s been in print—I picked up one of the first issues when I was visiting Charleston for a food writer’s conference in 2011. I remember that trip vividly because it was the first time my husband and I flew with our newborn son, Charlie, who also turns ten this year. 

Being the mom of one, and now the editor of one, here’s what I can tell you about ten-year-olds. They’re soundly on their own footing and have developed a confidence in who they are and what they want to put out into the world. They’re still rambunctious and fun-loving, but maybe a little more mature and hungrier for what life has to bring. They’re ready to tackle the world, but still love to mess around, especially in the kitchen. Oh, and they’re definitely on the verge of a growth spurt.  

This is a milestone issue for the magazine, one I’m grateful and proud to be a part of. We hope you enjoy the issue and that you’ll keep an eye out for more to come. From our Local Palate Marketplace to our Instagram Live series #TLPBehindTheScenes, to our multiple newsletters, there’s so much more of TLP to get to know, and only good things to come. We hope you join us for the ride—because as everyone on our team is learning, ten is such a fun age. 

-Erin Byers Murray
  Editor in Chief 

Looking Back

When the Local Palate founder and publisher Joe Spector arrived in Charleston after a lifetime living in the Northeast, he immediately fell in love. The architecture, history, culture, and especially the food, captivated him. After some time here, he began to understand how intrinsically food was woven into the fabric of the culture and even more, how it connected people in ways he hadn’t experienced before. He developed an insatiable curiosity for the stories behind the food and soon he asked himself: How can we share this with more people?

“It’s been an amazing ten years in many ways. The Local Palate would not be the publishing company it is today without all of our past and current employees’ hard work and dedication. As our print magazine, digital and social platforms, and events have evolved and grown, they have helped us to inspire and educate our audience about our region’s rich food culture and history. It has been a privilege to work with so many great and talented artisans, writers, photographers, and producers and I look forward to our next chapter.”

-Joe Spector
Founder & Publisher

A Fresh Look

“Since I stepped in as Art Director right before the Local Palate’s tenth anniversary issue, a redesign was part of my conversations with CEO and Publisher Joe Spector and Editor-in-Chief Erin Byers Murray from day one. For me, the idea behind the rebranding was to take the already beautifully designed magazine and help it evolve with today’s ever-changing market.

I wanted to simplify the editorial pages, adding more white space and streamlining the typographic styles throughout to draw more attention to the content and photography. When it came time to redesign the logo, I knew right away that I wanted to pull away from the all-caps style to create something that felt like a fresh, new invitation to discover the food stories of the South.”

-Angelique DeClercq
Art Director