Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution dining critic and food writer Meridith Ford Goldman has been named the editorial director of the Atlanta-based marketing and public relations firm, The Reynolds Group.
In an exclusive interview with Atlanta magazine Tuesday morning, Goldman and Reynolds Group owner Mary Reynolds spoke publicly for the first time about their new working relationship.
“Mary and I have known each other for a long time and our relationship has evolved organically over the years,” Goldman told us.
In her new position, Goldman will help The Reynolds Group (whose restaurant clients include Anne Quatrano‘s Bacchanalia, Quinones and Floataway Cafe, BLT Steak at the downtown W hotel, Tom Colicchio‘s Craft and Craftbar and Richard Blais‘ Flip Burger Boutiques) align their chef and restaurant clients with national publications and media outlets.
Goldman will also strategize new service developments, including editorial coaching and writing for clients, along with using her social media savvy to help to grow social media utilization for TRG clients.
Goldman’s trained taste buds will continue to get a work out, sampling new menu items for TRG clients.
She also plans to keep a hand in writing via her just-launched food-centric website, lifeislemonade.com
“It’s no secret that the newspaper industry has changed significantly in the past few years,” Goldman explains of her decision to depart the AJC after six years.
“The budgetary changes in the industry changed the job of dining criticism, along with many other positions. Traditional newspapers, as we know them, won’t be around in 20 years. The AJC was changing in a way that it was no longer creatively satisfying for me. I had a wonderful run there. Working with Mary and The Reynolds Group opens up exciting new avenues for me to explore.”
In recent months, the two native Atlantans discussed possible ways of working together in a new capacity.
Reynolds says Goldman’s credentials as a dining critic and food writer, along with her former career as a chef instructor at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, made her an ideal addition to her growing team.
The Reynolds Group now services clients in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama and Florida. The company recently opened a second office in Charleston.
“We’ve truly become a national company that happens to be based in the Southeast,” Reynolds explains. “Meridith certainly had many options open to her. I’m honored she chose us.”
