Cityside is thrilled to welcome Tovin Lapan on board as its new Nosh editor. Lapan, a highly experienced journalist, will oversee all food-related coverage across Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside.
“I am so happy that Tovin has joined the Cityside team,” said Tracey Taylor, Cityside’s Chief Content Officer. “He totally understands our mission at Nosh — to bring an equitable lens to the wonderfully diverse and exciting East Bay food scene — and we were all impressed with the creative ideas he brought to the table for how to take Nosh, and its wildly popular coverage, into its second decade.”
For the past 18 years, Lapan, who has a graduate degree in journalism from UC Berkeley, has worked as an editor and reporter for many publications, including Fortune, AFAR, The Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report and Lucky Peach. He was a contributing editor at Travel Weekly for seven years, where he covered Hawaii travel, including the islands’ eclectic food scene, and has worked as a staff reporter at the Las Vegas Sun and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
While serving as the multimedia food reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune, he produced a video on the operations of an abalone farm, hosted a round table of diverse chefs discussing everything from food trends to how to better feed school kids, and won the San Diego SPJ’s award for best food writing for an homage to the torta ahogada.
Before starting in journalism, Lapan worked in restaurants, both front and back of house, and, he says, as a reporter, he has covered the industry “from nose to tail.”
“I’m excited to join Nosh and continue its tradition of covering food in every way it touches the East Bay, from new restaurants to food insecurity. I’m struck by the strong reader engagement and I want to hear even more,” Lapan said. “In the coming weeks I’ll be reaching out to learn what readers love about Nosh and what they want to see more of, so we can continue to serve the community and highlight the stories of the people, restaurants and dishes that help make the East Bay a special place to live.”
Lapan, who grew up in Baltimore, has traveled widely and lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for two years where he honed his Spanish language skills. He now lives in Oakland with his wife, young daughter and 12-year-old dog Samba.
Reach out directly to Lapan with feedback, tips and story ideas at tovin@eastbaynosh.org or use the Berkeleyside/Nosh tips form.
