TALKING ABOUT FOOD

Pillow talk is a series of short ponderings - those little thoughts you have just as you are going to sleep at night, waking up in the morning, or after an afternoon nap.  #PillowForYourThoughts Tastings and Adjectives - Sunday afternoon reflection on how you approach writing about things when you're trying to communicate what the experience is like, in particular, cocktails.

I write for CODE Quarterly, various thought pieces about where the industry is today and looking to ask questions around where we are heading. Here is a round up of all the pieces I have written for CODE Quarterly, thus far.

The ace thing about London? The ease of travelling, in general, but of course to Europe. And Munich, you've been gorgeous.  This was my first trip to Munich. I've been going to Berlin once or twice a year since 2012 (and have been as a few times before that), it has been really interested to see the eating and drinking scene change, and I was curious to see what Munich was like.  Of course there are always going to be wonderful restaurants in cities like Berlin and Munich, but those are generally outside my income; what I am interested in is the development of the average, everyday eater. Berlin has great cafes, and bars, but the ‘wine bar’ and thoughtful but affordable neighbourhood restaurants wasn't really there the first few times I was in Berlin. This contrasts to what is happening in London (this is of course due to the difference economies and indeed structure of London in comparison to Berlin). But in Berlin it has been growing in the last year or so. I...

Earlier in the year I wrote about how technology is changing the restaurant industry for CODE Quarterly and I spoke about the american ticketing system Tock, since then The Clove Club have taken on the system. Ticketing systems within restaurants is a topic that elicits strong opinions for and against, and has many in the industry curious about how it can work.  I doubt there is much argument that it is something that will work in some establishments and not in others, but how big is the range of where it will work? Places that are akin to The Clove Club in it’s set menus structure, such as Lyle’s and Typing Room, are not employing the system and seem to have made a conscious decision not to.

  I feel like in the last few weeks there has been a focus on meat. Beyonce made a ‘big (anti-climactic) announcement’ that she was a vegan; then confirmed she does eat meat on occasion. The Chinese ‘dog eating’ festival dominated headlines and was counteracted with articles about how our (the west’s) consumption of meat is very problematic - for the animals, for the environment, and for our health.  Hadley Freeman wrote a great, well balanced piece this weekend about the increase in healthy-eating gurus; which I could rant on about, in particular the fact that it’s a scene dominated by privileged, white women, who are also ridiculously beautiful. I mean, who has time to be that good, unless you have the financial luxury to focus on those things and don’t have to run around just trying to survive? (I too would do daily yoga and make delicious foods if I wasn’t juggling multiple jobs, yet still dipping into my overdraft… for starters, where would I do my daily y...

I’ve been thinking a lot about networks recently, specifically to do with working and careers, for a number of reasons. Firstly because my part time job is working for a corporate global law firm, where I work on the alumni team. Our job is to create meaningful networks across the globe. In particular what I have been thinking about is how networks link into real time and real spaces. What does this have to do with London, and food and wine - my main passions in life and this blog? Bear with me, I will get there. Why I have been thinking about networks in this way is due to a work project I am on to build a new website and database - so a lot of time thinking about how to build a virtual space that will create strong, positive connections across time and space, across various different people, ages, expertise, whose only tangible connection is that they spend time together in an office, some where in the world. My conclusion was we needed to create something that wasn't so...

"Wine is not a solitary drink. It is essentially sociable, and one of the greatest pleasures it has to offer is the sharing of it..." -  The World Atlas of  Wine , 7th edition Twitter has been playing on my mind of late. I mean, it’s always on my mind – which is kinda the point. Twitter has an omnipresence and my thumb is addicted to the swiping movement.  The immediacy and intimacy of social media makes me a voyeur. Which I love, and hate – in equal measures. I wonder what Lacan and Mulvey would say about it all. It means that when meeting someone in person, I can say, non-murderoulsy, but still creepily “I know what you did last summer”. I don’t know how I feel about that.  I eavesdrop (twitter-drop?) on conversations between people I follow, and so I know details of people who have no   idea that I even exist!! And I’m ok with this. Most of the time. I don't what that says about me?! When looking at my phone the world narrows, it fe...

“To me hospitality is an industry that has always been about people, and bringing people together” I guess this is an extended 'About Me' post... I’ve mentioned before that’ve worked in hospitality, so I thought I should probably break down what I mean by this. And it seems appropriate to discuss it after I posted about working in hospitality over the December/Christmas period.