About Helio Ray Convert Station – Our Story, Team & Mission

✦ Our Story

Born in a Tokyo Izakaya in 2018

It began with a late-night ramen conversation in Shinjuku. Three food writers — Kenji, Sofia, and Priya — had each been traveling and writing independently for years, but that night, over steaming bowls and cold Sapporo beer, they realised they were all trying to do the same thing: explain the world through its food.

Helio Ray Convert Station launched the following spring from a shared apartment in Meguro. The first articles were rough, the photography unpolished, and the website built on a borrowed laptop. But the writing was honest, the research was deep, and readers responded.

By 2020, Helio Ray Convert Station had 50,000 monthly readers. By 2022, half a million. Today, with a team of twelve writers and contributors across six continents, we remain committed to the founding principle: food is not just what we eat. It is who we are.

"Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are." — Brillat-Savarin

✦ Our Team

The People Behind the Plate

Three food obsessives who left careers to travel the world eating — and never looked back.

Co-Founder · Japan & Asia Editor

Kenji Matsuda

Co-Founder · Africa & Europe Editor

Sofia Amara

Half Moroccan, half French, entirely obsessed with food markets. Sofia grew up between Marrakech and Lyon — two of the world's greatest food cities — and has been writing about food culture since she was nineteen. Her coverage of African food traditions has won two journalism awards and changed how international media talks about the continent's extraordinary cuisines.

Co-Founder · South Asia & Americas Editor

Priya Nair

A Kerala native who spent a decade cooking professionally in Mumbai, New York, and Lima before turning to food writing. Priya brings a chef's eye for technique and a traveler's appetite for adventure to every article. Her series on India's ancient spice routes won the James Beard Foundation's food journalism award in 2024, establishing Helio Ray Convert Station as a serious voice in culinary media.

✦ Our Values

What We Believe

🌍

Curiosity Over Comfort

We believe the best food experiences are found outside the comfort zone — in markets that look intimidating, in dishes that sound unusual, and in conversations with vendors who don't speak your language.

🤝

Respect First

We approach every food culture as a guest, not a judge. We eat what is placed before us with gratitude, we ask questions before making assumptions, and we celebrate difference rather than ranking it.

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Depth Over Breadth

We would rather understand one dish completely than write superficially about twenty. Our articles are researched over days or weeks, not hours — because food deserves the same intellectual rigour as any subject.

🌱

Sustainable Travel

We champion food systems that work with nature and sustain local economies. We support small producers, local restaurants, and food cultures that protect biodiversity and community wellbeing.

💚

Community Focus

The best food stories are human stories. We centre the people who grow, cook, and serve food — not the food alone — because understanding the maker is inseparable from understanding the meal.

✨

Honest Writing

We never accept payment for positive reviews. Our recommendations are based solely on personal experience, and we are transparent about any press invitations or sponsored content. Trust is everything.

✦ Press

What They're Saying

The Guardian

"The most authoritative voice in food travel writing today."

Condé Nast Traveler

"Essential reading for any serious food traveler."

Food & Wine

"Their market guides are the gold standard of the genre."

Eater

"Helio Ray Convert Station changed how I plan every trip I take."

We Eat.We Travel.We Write.