By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Wine is food — or so the saying goes — and that means that wine coverage should be at least a little a bit about food too I think. We've already added a Long Island restuarant critic and a cheese editor to our ever-expanding food department,

Matt likes to cook, especially for others, and he especially loves cooking with fresh, local ingredients. Thanks to his green-thumbed wife, Regina, that sometimes means extremely local — just a quick trip to the backyard.

A web developer at 13WHAM-TV by day, Matt also enjoys home brewing, camping and hiking, home renovation (he hopes to finish his kitchen renovation project, someday), woodworking and a solid cup of diner coffee.

For the NYCR, Matt will write about his kitchen adventures with local ingredients, the people behind those ingredients and — I hope — some of his home brewing exploits.