TALKING ABOUT FOOD

Why I love the hospitality industry. A lot of the love comes from the fact I love to eat and drink. I also believe that food is integral to our identities and that we use food and cooking as a way to build home;  this is particularly important for migrants, but for all who leave home (even if 'home' is down the road) we use food to build a space of belonging. But a big part of why I love hospitality are the same reasons why I love the theatre and the arts worlds. I think you can change the world through storytelling, and I think that essentially theatre, art and food are storytelling. And, the important part of telling stories is the element of sharing. We share stories to connect with each other. We paint pictures to tell stories, we write poetry to connect emotionally each other, and we share food to feel part of a community. (Food is also emotional).

I was planning to end this writing project after a year, therefore November 2015. Why? Because I like a project, I like a beginning and middle, and an end. I like to evaluate and consider. I like to round up, round off and pontificate my learning. I recently had an interview, and my interviewer said that I was clearly very goal focused - and I agree, I am happy to muck in to do whatever needs to doing to achieve what was set out to be achieved - and this was a project for me to listen, watch, learn and write about it. But as I was pondering what to round off with about this year in food, wine and London, I realised that I was still thinking, I was still oscillating between different ideas and had come to no conclusions. Therefore I have decided to go against my nature to sum things up, and instead - continue writing. I'll continue writing on a monthly basis, about how food, wine and the location of London intersects in my life.