Twenty-Five Years with Matt Kettmann

Matt Kettmann and his family | Credit: Courtesy

This week, we are celebrating 25 years with our Senior Editor Matt Kettmann! You often see him in our pages bringing you food and drink news from around Santa Barbara, and if you follow his newsletter Fully Belly Files, you get to hear about his travels and food adventures that stretch around the world.

Kettmann said, “I started at the Indy as an intern back in the spring of 1999, and was hired as a proofreader for $7 an hour that September, 25 years ago! That was back when we still did almost everything on paper, and had to wax the finished pages in the flat room.

“Almost nothing is the same now, except the paper’s commitment to honest journalism that helps keep Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara. The biggest change for me is that I now spend much of my time writing a weekly food and drink newsletter called Full Belly Files — a far cry from jamming out news briefs about crime and county planning that I did as a reporter decades ago!

“This year’s Burrito Week lineup is delicious and diverse, but it would be fun to see even more cuisines get into the mix. How about the Empty Bowl noodle wrap or the Secret Bao-rrito next year?

“Visiting Kevin Reimer’s fruit tree garden for last week’s Home & Garden issue was a highlight of my year. I grow about a dozen fruit trees myself, but seeing 200-plus of varieties I’ve never even imagined was mind-blowing.

“We had a great summer, topped off with a romp that circled the Pyrenees through Spain and France, seeing old friends and making new ones. I wrote all about it in a recent Full Belly Files. See independent.com/kettmann.