Category Archives: Writing Samples

Inside my quarantine kitchen

I’ve always enjoyed cooking at home, but when the pandemic spread and the city began to shut down, homemade meals felt more necessary. Boy, was I ever glad that I knew how to cook. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my mom and grandma helping where I could. ItContinueContinue reading “Inside my quarantine kitchen”

Society of Professional Journalists award

This news is coming a little late, but I guess late is better than never. Earlier this summer, I won a Society of Professional Journalists award for a Salt Lake magazine piece I did last year. I took home the second place prize in the Best Magazine Writing category for my story documenting Chinese diasporaContinueContinue reading “Society of Professional Journalists award”

Chinese Americana: Prologue

If you asked me what I was working on last year, chances are I talked about how I was driving to small Utah towns searching for Chinese restaurants. I spent hundreds of miles on the road and the project took me months to complete. I didn’t really know what I would find or how IContinueContinue reading “Chinese Americana: Prologue”

Leftovers | Handle

A couple of months ago, I posted a photo of an interior shot of Handle in Park City, Utah, which was featured in Utah Style & Design. But I think some of the food pics and portraits that I shot turned out pretty well, too. The featured photo — a fried cauliflower dish made to evokeContinueContinue reading “Leftovers | Handle”

A fond farewell to a friend

I don’t shoot many landscapes but this has got to be one of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken, mostly because of the sentimental value. My dear friend Michael Yeh, who was born and raised in Salt Lake, was moving to Houston. We were planning on making the 22+ hour drive together and I hadContinueContinue reading “A fond farewell to a friend”

The Pago & Finca sessions

I met Scott Evans for coffee one day last winter and it turned into an impromptu interview. We were talking about my upcoming projects and when told I was going to write a story about Salt Lake dining, I realized that he would definitely need to be included. Evans currently runs two successful restaurants with completely different concepts and he has moreContinueContinue reading “The Pago & Finca sessions”

The Copper Onion photo sessions

As I mentioned in my previous post, I worked on a story where I tried to trace the people and restaurants that are responsible for shaping the Salt Lake City dining scene the way it is today. No such story would be complete without Ryan Lowder and The Copper Onion. Lowder spent a stint at theContinueContinue reading “The Copper Onion photo sessions”