Melanie Hansche

About Melanie Hansche

I\'m a senior editorial leader at an iconic national food magazine with a hands-on side hustle as a restaurateur. I\'ve created food and lifestyle content for over 24 years across multiple platforms on two continents, and once ate at all the top five restaurants in the world in one week (for fun), stood in line for two hours for Hong Kong\'s best dumplings (for lunch), and judged the International Biscuit Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee (because biscuits).Currently Editorial Director, Special projects at Food & Wine, I\'ve worked variously as a food writer, magazine and cookbook editor, restaurant critic, and radio presenter. Before joining F&W, I was the editor-in-chief of the natural living brand Organic Life at Rodale and oversaw the company’s test kitchen. Prior to arriving in the US, I spent seven years at one of Australia\'s most successful food brands, donna hay magazine, as its executive editor, and also served as a copy editor at Australian Gourmet Traveler. At the start of the global pandemic, I held down my role at F&W and successfully pivoted my restaurant Tucker, an Australian cafe, to a provisions store overnight. I understand what it means to innovate, adapt, and create while also reassuring and leading two teams through crisis. I opened my second restaurant, Kabinett, in December 2022, an irreverent and thrilling wine bar with Australian and Bavarian roots.

Experience

1. Deputy Editor

   Food & Wine

   Feb 2018 — Present · New York, NY, US

   As part of the senior leadership team, I support our editor-in-chief to develop, execute and manage our content strategy across print, special editorial platforms and events.+ As the lead editor on our Travel and Home content, I\'ve developed a content strategy for both verticals increasing overall coverage, reader service and synergies with our brand partners that has resulted in winning new business, increasing ad revenue and helping build the travel category as the brand\'s strongest generator of revenue.+ I play an active role in fostering a positive, kind, respectful, inclusive and equitable team culture, managing and mentoring four junior editors.+ I am the main liaison between editorial and the print, sales and marketing teams, I work closely with our international editions on their covers and lineups, and project manage two big editorial platforms—World’s Best Restaurants along with our sister brand Travel + Leisure, and the F&W Best New Chef Mentorship Program.

Education

• University of Technology Sydney

  Graduate Diploma, Journalism

  2003 — 2005

• Macquarie University

  Bachelor’s Degree, Political Science and Government

  1996 — 1999

Skills

• Balancing Budgets
• Magazines
• People Skills
• Online Publishing
• Creativity
• Proofreading
• Custom Publishing
• Recipe Editing
• Copywriting
• Problem Solving
• Managing Deadlines
• Cookbook Editing
• Team Leadership
• Editing
• Publishing
• Communication Skills
• Collaboration
• Editorial
• Public Speaking
• Leadership
• Copy Editing
• Food Writing