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“These stories remind us that food is not just fuel, nor is travel just movement,” writes Bryant Terry in his introduction. “They are acts of remembrance, resistance, and connection.”
The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025 embodies this wisdom, offering an incredible range of stories that refine and revitalize our relationship to taste, place, and the narratives that we build around them. From tracing the history and endurance of heirloom Laotian rice to investigating how foraging is transforming a city’s restaurant culture, to meditating on the significance of Indigenous communities reclaiming their ancestral lands, these works reveal how food and travel are never simply about what’s on the plate or where we go—they are about history, identity, and the power of storytelling itself.
THE BEST AMERICAN FOOD AND TRAVEL WRITING 2025 INCLUDES: MELISSA BRODER • LIGAYA MISHAN • JEFF GORDINIER • REEM KASSIS • KAYLA STEWART • LEE ANDERSON • AND OTHERS
About the author
Bryant Terry is a multidisciplinary artist, James Beard Award–winning chef, and the author of six books, including Black Food, Afro-Vegan, and Vegetable Kingdom. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of 4 Color Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Terry holds an MFA in Art Practice from UC Berkeley and an MA in History, with a focus on the African Diaspora, from NYU.
Jaya Saxena is the co-author of Basic Witches (Quirk, 2017) and a staff writer at Eater. Her work has appeared in many outlets, including the New York Times, Buzzfeed, GQ, ELLE, Electric Literature, Catapult, the Daily Dot, The Toast, and more. She lives in New York City with her partner.
Summary
“These stories remind us that food is not just fuel, nor is travel just movement,” writes Bryant Terry in his introduction. “They are acts of remembrance, resistance, and connection.” The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025 embodies this wisdom, offering an incredible range of stories that refine and revitalize our relationship to taste, place, and the narratives that we build around them. From tracing the history and endurance of heirloom Laotian rice to investigating how foraging is transforming a city’s restaurant culture, to meditating on the significance of Indigenous communities reclaiming their ancestral lands, these works reveal how food and travel are never simply about what’s on the plate or where we go—they are about history, identity, and the power of storytelling itself.
THE BEST AMERICAN FOOD AND TRAVEL WRITING 2025 INCLUDES: MELISSA BRODER • LIGAYA MISHAN • JEFF GORDINIER • REEM KASSIS • KAYLA STEWART • LEE ANDERSON • AND OTHERS
