About Katy Budge!


As a freelance food and wine writer based on California’s Central Coast, I’ve covered various aspects of the local food/agriculture/beverage industries for over 25 years.

For most of those years, I wrote a weekly “Local Flavors” column for The Tribune newspaper covering restaurants, chefs, and food products. I am a regular contributor to Edible San Luis Obispo, a member of the Edible Communities family, and have worked as a freelance writer/editor for the Vineyard Team in their ongoing efforts to promote sustainable winegrowing. I’m also a contributor to Big Wide World, a travel magazine and sister publication to ESLO.

Here at my blog, CasaFestiva.com, I am “Exploring the Culture of Cuisine” via posts about all things edible and drinkable, such as my fairly new Cooking Ex-Libris project, and travel-related “Forks in the Road” posts about notable places I’ve encountered in my culinary journeys.

I am particularly interested in sustainability, especially as it relates to food policy, agriculture, and social justice.

Join me in “Exploring the Culture of Cuisine” by subscribing to my CasaFestiva.com newsletter and following me on social media!

6 thoughts on “About Katy Budge!

        1. Congrats on retirement! I’ve been doing food writing for quite a while now. Got into it via wine writing, which I don’t do much of anymore. Got into all of it just by being in the right place at the right time! Also, they say “write what you know.” Ha!
          How did you happen upon my blog?

          1. Well, I was emailing with Margot Miflin and I started asking about other team members and she said she wasn’t sure what happened to you other than “you may be afoot writer on west coast.” So, I started looking around and I found you.

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