When last we left you, DCist relied upon three freelance editors to guide our coverage of food, music, and arts. They did a tremendous job … on top of their day jobs. But given how pivotal those sections are to what we do here, the time had clearly come to bring them in house.

When we set out to fill this position, we knew we needed a unicorn—someone who has both big picture vision and editorial persnicketiness.

Enter Lori McCue, a brilliant, whip smart editor who joins us from The Washington Post’s Express (where I once had the pleasure of working with her before). You might recognize her byline from the D.C. Dream Day series, or detect her witty voice from the paper’s always on-point celebrity gossip section.

Lori grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, so she’s used to living in swamp-like conditions. She loves trying out new recipes, has somehow talked herself into enjoying running, and has never met a food she didn’t like. Learning about sports has been her New Year’s resolution for the past four years—maybe one of these days it’ll stick.

We asked Lori to submit a memo about her vision for the arts and food sections. She nailed it so thoroughly that I’ll just reprint a piece of it for you here:

Reading a DCist article should feel like a trusted friend (with great taste) is telling you about something you need to know over coffee. DCist is conversational, but never blathery. It genuinely believes in D.C. creators and institutions, and consequently holds them to a high standard — and isn’t afraid to challenge and be critical of them when called for.

We can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

Oh, and be sure to follow her on Twitter.