Eater's EIC Stephanie Wu on Recipes for Success

Eater editor in chief Stephanie Wu was on parental leave when she saw Carmy and Sydney’s Chaos Menu concept come to life in FX’s hit show The Bear (“Sundae,” Season 2, Episode 3, June 2023). But that didn't stop the celebration. While the chaos concept has been around for a while, it was an Eater article by Jaya Saxena in September 2022 that helped catapult it into wider cultural consciousness. What Eater earlier described as “a brash new type of cooking, part neo-fusion, part middle finger” rippled out online, with millions of views on related TikTok videos, plus features in Tatler, Food & Wine, Better Homes & Gardens, HuffPost and more. But that’s just one way that Wu—along with a team of 75 staffers across 23 cities—ensures the Eater brand shows up in popular culture. “My North Star is, how do we serve existing audiences and how do we reach new readers,” said ADWEEK’s Hot List Editor of the Year, who joined Eater in January 2022. “It’s a tough balance: You have to produce the work they know you for, but you also cannot be so hyper-focused that you ignore where new audiences are.” Eater's coverage follows local and national trends in the food world, including recipes, ingredient explainers, cookbook spotlights and how-to service guides. Its first cookbook, Eater: 100 Essential Restaurant Recipes, published September 2023, has been spotted on display at Lord's in New York and Claude’s private dining room in London. The brand plans to publish two more cookbooks and four city guides. In November, Eater launched a line of steel kitchenware in partnership with American-made company Heritage Steel, where fans can buy a five-piece set for $330. Eater's revenue is mostly ad-funded. My North Star is, how do we serve existing audiences and how do we reach new readers. Stephanie Wu, editor in chief, Eater The team has had a busy year, publishing editorial packages such as Diner Week and Mall Food Madness, as well as its annual Best New Restaurants & Where to Eat in 2023. It has also created series like the Eater x Disability Visibility, produced by people with disabilities, on the joys and pleasures of eating, cooking and gardening. But the moment where Eater really shines, said Wu, is when there’s a chance for cross-collaboration between teams. “I see a big part of the job as getting out of the way,” she said, adding that the teams’ passions help drive the content. “I know it will take off when something lights up the Slack chat." For instance, the Pre Shift newsletter—launched by Eater and Vox Media sibling title Punch last summer—caters to a trade audience in hospitality and features stories by industry peers on creating diversity on and off menu, or the right footwear to balance comfort and personality. The average open rate is nearly 60%, per the publisher. While Eater knows that the restaurant industry follows its news, this is its first product aimed squarely at the pros. Straddling that prosumer audience opens up new ways of monetizing different cohorts, creating a much-desired media flywheel where audiences are also customers and vendors. There have been lessons along the way. For instance, Eater expanded Eater at Home (a lockdown-launched vertical re-creating the joys of eating out while people were stuck eating in) on March 5 with new social video franchises. It was adamant it would offer an alternative to the typical hands-in-pans recipe videos that proliferate social. With the expansion, it recognized from its large video audience—13.3 million followers across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram—that people tune in to be entertained rather than educated. It’s marrying that with the lifestyle elements that people love about restaurants beyond just the food: the ambiance, table setting and Venmo splitting. One video series in the fall, Give a Chef a Chicken, will see chefs rethink recipes using the rotisserie chicken staple. “I feel lucky to work every day with people who live and breathe the restaurant industry," said Wu. "They love what they do, they believe in service journalism, and their goal is to build a connection with people about what we eat and why it matters.”Check out the full Hot List here.