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Matti Gellman

Matti

Matti Gellman is a Food Reporter for The Baltimore Banner. Originally from New York, she was raised by parents who expressed love through food. She joined the Banner in October 2023, intent on being a watchdog for residents looking to access safe, quality food across Baltimore. She has a special interest in reporting on the area's growing food deserts and barriers to food security. Her work can be seen in ProPublica, the Kansas City Star and Crain Communication's Modern Healthcare. In 2023 she was awarded with the Society of Professional Journalists' 2022 New America Award for her coverage of refugee communities in Missouri.

The latest from Matti Gellman

Take that, Delaware: The orange crush is Maryland’s official state cocktail
Orange crush drinks are the official cocktail of Maryland. Take that, Delaware.
Different flavors of crushes at Wicked Sisters in Hampden.
Puerto 511 restaurant owner opens another hidden gem in Fells Point
Empa511, the new empanada restaurant in Fells Point from the owner of Puerto 511, is easy to miss, but the food is hard to forget.
Empa511 serves a creative range of empanadas such as Anticuchera, Mixta and Tradicional, served with a side of tangy caretillera sauce.
As tariff anxieties rise, more Marylanders are ‘subscribing’ to local farms
Farmers are seeing more people subscribe to their direct to consumer programs, known as CSAs, as concern over food prices and trade plays on Marylanders' anxieties.
Emma Jagoz, owner of Moon Valley Farm, shows the growth of various vegtables that are halfway through the season, including rainbow swiss chard, on March 24, 2025. Moon Valley Farm in Woodsboro, MD, on Monday, March 24, 2025.
A new sheriff’s unit is being created to enforce Baltimore’s liquor laws
A new unit in the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office aims to enforce the city’s liquor laws and crack down on unlicensed sellers.
Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates calls for greater accountability in enforcing  the rules of the city's liquor board at a press conference on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.
Rize + Rest cafe to close but says ‘this isn’t goodbye’
Rize + Rest, the eatery known for its biscuits, breakfasts and trendy dinners, is closing with hopes to move from its intimate Patterson Park confines to a larger space.
Nana’s Famous Biscuits at Rize + Rest cafe includes one with marinated chicken breast, egg and chili honey.
Kava root tea is coming to Maryland. It’s calming, bitter and controversial.
Root City is opening in Mount Vernon with kava-infused mocktails and traditional drinks, despite continued questions over the plant's effects.
A bowl of kava garnished with a piece of pineapple at Root City Kava Bar & Lounge in Baltimore.
A fermented food community comes together in Baltimore for a gaseous new festival
Amid a rising interest in fermenting foods, producers and businesses from across Maryland are coming to teach Baltimoreans the “fermented arts.”
A fermented veggie flight at HEX Superette.
Tariffs and labor shortages threaten to crack Maryland’s crab industry
The few remaining crab processors across Maryland are facing sweeping tariffs and labor shortages in an already struggling seafood industry.
Crabpots stacked alongside a marina in Crisfield.
He left Baltimore to prove tea lattes could sell. Now he’s back with his own shop.
A matcha-themed cafe that came to Baltimore as a pop-up in February as getting a permanent home in Remington.
Equitea owner Quentin Vennie makes a matcha drink during the opening party for his pop-up shop in Remington earlier this year.
‘The Mall in Columbia has become a different world’: Restaurateur blames crime for closures
Bennie's Pizza owner Desmond Reilly alleges the closures of his Howard County restaurants The Walrus Oyster & Ale House and Chicken + Whiskey are because of crime at the Mall in Columbia.
The owner of Walrus Oyster & Ale House at the Mall in Columbia is blaming the restaurant's closure on increased crime at the mall.
This may be one of the hardest reservations to secure in Baltimore County
Konoko in White Marsh has seen incredible success. Can its owners replicate the magic in Baltimore Peninsula?
Braised oxtail at Konoko, located on The Avenue at White Marsh.
How a West Baltimore food hall is bringing community back to North Avenue
West Baltimore food hall The Mill on North promises to bring traffic, meal options and a sense of community back to neighborhoods along North Avenue.
The Mill on North, a new food hall in West Baltimore, features seven food vendors and a cozy atmosphere convenient to Coppin State University.
Souvlaki ‘temporarily closed,’ Hampden location up for lease
After more than 10 years in Hampden, Souvlaki has “temporarily closed” its location on the Avenue, as well as the owners’ other local restaurants.
Souvlaki, a Mediterranean restaurant in Hampden.
The state knew about toxic chemicals in Perdue’s wastewater. Residents had no idea.
Perdue and Maryland state officials found "forever chemicals" in the wastewater at the Wicomico County facility more than a year before telling the plant's neighbors, emails show.
Residential properties abut the Perdue Agribusiness factory in Salisbury.
Newborn’s alleged listeria-related death from ice cream sparks $30 million lawsuit
A woman whose baby died from an alleged listeria infection is suing Seven Mile Market in Pikesville as well as multiple ice cream makers for selling a contaminated product.
Pikesville’s Seven Mile Market is named in a lawsuit accusing the retailer of negligence for selling listeria-contaminated ice cream to a woman in 2023.
Micah Smith leaves behind a family and the Baltimore music community he changed
Beloved by his community and family, gospel crooner and traveling musician Micah Smith died April 4 at 41 years old.
Micah Smith, a 41-year-old crooner and acclaimed musician, died April 4, 2025.
Award-winning Baltimore County chef brings seafood restaurant to Fallston
Chef Zack Trabbold, chef of The Local On The Avenue in White Marsh, is opening a seafood restaurant in Fallston.
Chef Trabbold's red snapper, which will be served at Natalie's Seafood Kitchen is scallion-marinated and pan-fried with jumbo lump crab, fried rice, harissa beurre blanc, sesame and an unagi drizzle.
Ocean City tram canceled for summer as fatal collision probe continues
Ocean City has been investigating tram safety since a fatal collision with a 2-year-old last August. The beach town won't run trams this summer.
Slow shutter speed is used to capture people walking down the Ocean City Boardwalk.
Baltimore Beltway crash after traffic stop leaves three dead, police say
A Baltimore County car crash left three people dead Saturday night.
The Maryland State Police logo.
Chick-Fil-A test kitchen Little Blue Menu to remodel, lay off 91 people
Chick-Fil-A's viral test kitchen in College Park will lay off nearly 100 people in prepation for a remodel that begins May 1.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 06: A sign hangs outside of a Chick-fil-A restaurant on May 06, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. Chicken prices have risen sharply this year as suppliers struggle to keep up with demand, fueled in part, by the popularity of new chicken offerings from fast-food restaurants.  (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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