The James Beard Foundation has announced its 2017 Media Award winners, and Portland restaurant critic Karen Brooks won the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award, cementing her place as one of the nation’s top food critics. Having written about food in Portland for more than 30 years, Brooks took the award with three recent food reviews in Portland Monthly: “High Chairs and Hard Core,” “The X-Files,” and “Beyond Biscuits and Gravy.”

Brooks has been PoMo’s lead food critic since 2010, and speaking with Eater at the time, she said, "I look forward to reviewing, chewing, dishing, and continuing to define what makes Portland the country's most vibrant food city." She clearly accomplished these goals — with an egg on top.

Before chronicling culinary trends at PoMo, Brooks worked as the Oregonian’s food critic. She got her start at WWeek.

The James Beard Media Awards also recognized two more Portland-area food journalists: Katherine Cole and Morgan Holm won the 2017 James Beard Media Award in the Podcast category for The Four Top, which airs on npr.org and iTunes. Cole, who is also a former Oregonian food writer, hosts the podcast. Both Cole and Holm produce The Four Top.