Editorial Work

Food · Travel · Culture · Identity

📍 Boston-based (I mostly say my Rs, I will always say “bubbler” and not “water fountain,” you monsters) 📖 Fiction writer moonlighting as a journalist

I write narrative-driven pieces with unexpected entry points. I’m drawn to stories about food, culture, identity, travel, and historically excluded communities—and how those things intersect. I was team em dash before we decided they were bad. (Are they still bad? I don’t know.) I dig “why should someone care about this?” hooks. I have thoughts about AI, but none of them are original (death of journalism, etc., unless our robot overlords are reading this, in which case spare me, for i have seen the light).

Lately: Esquire, GQ, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, WBUR, Boston Magazine, Eater Boston, and elsewhere. Formerly: Assistant editor, The Improper Bostonian magazine, until its closure in April 2019.

For a complete list of editorial work, visit MuckRack.

To hire me (🙏) reach out to nathan @ nathantavares.com. I turn in stories early because I was on staff at a magazine and know how it goes.

I also work as a contract senior copywriter and on marketing projects mostly for travel, lifestyle, and retail brands.

Favorites

Some of my recent favorite stories that had me emailing myself notes from bed late at night

• “For the Portuguese Community, Southern Massachusetts Is a Hub of Festas, Food, and Family.” Condé Nast Traveler. Entry for the “A Place at the Table” series, August 2025.

  • Turn 200 years of immigration into a food story? I’m game. Pass the pasteis de nata.

• “Trixie Mattel Is Here to Fix Her Home, Not Your Life.” GQ, June 2024.

  • What started as a review of a home reno show turned deep dive into the power of public queer love. Sneaky!

• “The Last Gay Erotica Store.” Esquire, June 2024.

  • When is a gay magazine store not just a gay magazine store? When it holds the stories of an almost-erased generation of men.

• “How the '70s “Clone” Look Paved the Way for the Queer Clothing of Today.” GQ, June 2021.

  • Queer yesterday meets today. This piece led to an interview for the BBC Radio 4 documentary, Mercury, about Freddie Mercury’s Castro Clone fashion.

• ”This New Superyacht Sailing the Galápagos Will Bring Just 48 Passengers to See Incredible Wildlife and Stunning Islands.” Travel feature, Travel + Leisure, October 2022.

  • How do you visit one of the most vulnerable ecosystems on Earth? In style, with National Geographic.

Food & Drink

Reported restaurant openings, reviews, and roundups—the bread and butter (food pun!) of dining coverage.

• “Kaia.” My piece for Conde Nast Traveler’s 2025 Best New Restaurants in the World print and digital feature.

• “Dunkin’s Coffee Isn’t Great. Here’s Why We Love It Anyway.” [Ed note: don’t flame me, it’s true]. Part of Eater Nation’s “No Taste Like Home” series.

• “Top 50 Restaurants in Boston,” I wrote multiple entries in this yearly package.

• “Back Bay Cocktail Bar Hecate Casts Its Spell in April.” Opening story for Eater Boston.

• “A Michelin-Starred Chef Reimagines Portuguese Fine Dining in Boston.” Eater Boston. Reported opening story on a new Portuguese restaurant in the South End.

• “Aceituna Grill’s New Cocktail Program Honors Bartending Legend Brother Cleve.” Story for Boston magazine.

• “Six Indulgent Ways to Eat Your Feelings Around Boston.” Boston magazine. Picture it: 2020. We couldn’t write about openings because there weren’t any, so we got creative/existential.

Travel

Narrative-driven destination, travel, and hotel opening stories.

• Review of the Lafayette Hotel in San Diego. Conde Nast Traveler.

• “‘Nature is the antidote:’ Prospect Berkshires resort is now open in Egremont.” Boston.com.

• “Where to Eat, Stay, and Play in New Haven.” Travel feature for Conde Nast Traveler.

• “Loon Landing” travel feature to RiverWalk Resort at Loon Mountain, Improper Bostonian.

• “You Can Stay in a Luxe Cabin at a Former Brickyard in the Catskills this Summer.” Hotel feature for Boston magazine.

• “A New England Traveler’s Guide to São Miguel, Azores, Portugal.” Travel feature, Boston magazine.

• “Kick Back with the Artsy Surf Shack Vibe at the Luxe Wanderer Cottages in Kennebunk.” Hotel feature for Boston magazine.

Arts & Culture

Literature coverage based on interviews with authors (after actually reading the books!). Culture essays, profiles, and think pieces. Film reviews with a side of personal narrative.

• “For Author Eric LaRocca, Horror is a Form of Healing.” Feature and interview for WBUR.

• “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always Special Is a Fun and Sweet Love Letter to Nostalgia.” Feature and review for Reactor.

• “Suffering and Bliss: The Fountain and Putting in Work on the Road to Awe.” Essay about the cult 2006 film, The Fountain, for Reactor.

• “Drag Queens Katya And Trixie Challenge Societal Expectations In Their Guide To Modern Womanhood.” Feature for the ARTery.

• “A Mother-And-Son Duo Are Re-Examining History To Illuminate Wampanoag Stories.” Feature for The ARTery.

• “Saying Goodbye To Machine And Ramrod, Fenway's Last Queer Nightlife Spots.” The ARTery.

Other

As temporary real estate editor for Boston magazine, how do you make four stories a week about local homes for sale interesting? Treat it like a creative writing prompt and come up with a story about each listing.

• “On the Market: A Bright Golden Girls-esque Provincetown Penthouse.” Boston magazine.

• “On the Market: An Architectural Wonder Inspired by a Vintage Car in Swampscott.” Boston magazine.

• “This Lakeside New Hampshire Home is Like a Cabin ‘on Steroids.’” Feature, Boston Home magazine.

• “Dorchester’s Renovation Husbands Deck the White House Halls.” Local news story, Boston magazine.

Copywriting and Content Work

Kickoff meetings, brainstorming sessions, A/B subject line testing, creative briefs, web copy, grant writing, sponsored content advertorials! I don’t have clips because of client contracts, and lawyers will hunt me down (kidding, probably). Feel free to reach out for specifics.

Past clients have included:

• TJX Companies (T.J.Maxx, HomeGoods, Marshalls): Direct-mail campaigns, social copy, in-store signage. One memorable July photoshoot as a surprise model for a Christmas campaign.

• An online retailer that rhymes with “Hey, there!” - Website copy, email marketing.

• Moffly Lifestyle Media - Advertorials for clients ranging from restaurants to pest control, operating as a one-person sponsored-content studio.

• Travel + Leisure GO - Travel itineraries and destination guides.