In my kitchen, a fly swatter can be used as a spatula.

The food, great food! Hot sausages and mustard!

Depending on your mood, you can also enjoy cold jelly and custard!

— From the 1960 musical “Oliver!”

Over the past few years, I've been working on some strange and incredible stories. I wrote about a man who kidnapped himself, rode a rickety mine elevator down into the second deepest hole in America.

But the most popular story I wrote, at least in terms of subscriber numbers, was the tragic closing of a local institution in rural Arizona: Casa Grande Golden Corral.

This was very enlightening for me, and at the risk of being labeled a snob, Golden Corral would not be my first choice for dining, either at Casa Grande or anywhere else (on the 10 hour drive to a wedding we stopped at the original KFC, Sanders Cafe, in Corbin, Kentucky, and were disappointed).

During its decades in operation in Casa Grande, the buffet chain was a neighborhood gathering place where people remembered going with their families even on Thanksgiving Day, and for many, it held fond memories.

Food is so important to people: restaurants and bars are the lifeblood of vibrant downtowns and urban neighborhoods.

It can be a great community gathering place, or, as I often did, a quiet place to read (or write!) the news.

So as NWI's new food scene reporter, I'm looking forward to covering the region's many stories: chef profiles, new pizza trends (when's Utica Pizza's turn?), where to find the best animatronic-assisted karaoke, and all things grilled food related.

Covering communities in the Phoenix and Chicago areas, I've written a lot about these places – their openings and closings, pandemic struggles, staffing shortages, and Paczki's “craze.”

I'll be honest, I'm no chef. I once tried to cook hash browns with a fly swatter thinking it was a spatula. It may have turned out fine, but no one tried it and my sister threw the dish out in disgust.

But I have worked in the restaurant industry as a server and barista, and I even worked as an emcee for an “indie” quiz night in Washington DC, with my own questions and “prizes” (I even re-gifted some of my textbooks to failing students in grad school).

So I come to the region with a variety of relevant experiences, but most importantly, curiosity and enthusiasm.

As a reporter, I love the tangible, sensory nature of the job and the opportunity, or even necessity, to get out and experience events first-hand. Reporters necessarily spend a lot of time behind a screen, writing stories and making phone calls. So a dynamic routine in and out of the office helps strengthen my connection to the community, whether that's attending an important city council meeting, a court hearing, or, in my case, eating a delicious sandwich.

We hope to meet our readers at various festivals, puzzle challenges and restaurant crawls this summer and beyond, and show them what NWI has to offer.

Aaron Dorman is food scene reporter for The Times of Northwest Indiana. Reach him at 219-798-0610, aaron.dorman@nwi.com or hit the road at the next food truck or pierogi festival.