Read My Writing

Essays and criticism from the coalface of restaurant culture – with an insider’s eye and a taste for food history

Writing on restaurant culture – from the inside and through the quirky lens of our food inheritance

How Beefeater changed Britain – and why it died

A history and a lament

The Spectator

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Why does Labour have a problem with flexible working?

It will result in less jobs

The Spectator

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Greggs new chicken sausage roll says a lot about modern Britain

High streets, loss and bland meat tubes

The Independent

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Greggs new chicken sausage roll says a lot about modern Britain

High streets, loss and bland meat tubes

The Independent

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A civilised drinker’s guide to Soho pub etiquette

Vertical drinking and Brits

The Spectator

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Who was the real Bourdain?

The new Tony movie tells a story that Anthony himself never uttered

The Spectator

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London's best pub

And all the characters inside it, including a ruff-wearing cat

Substack

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A Polish war hero, and two restaurants in Hammersmith

A gulag survivor created an institution

Substack

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Why brown food isn’t always best

Colour tells us nothing about nutrition so why do we still care?

The Spectator

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Bureaucracy is killing festivals

But also we've changed: Instagram, identity and interest rates

UnHerd

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Curtain-twitchers have killed Soho

Blair wanted café culture but gave Nimbys their power

UnHerd

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5 times the government picked a fight with pubs and lost

The government loses most of the time

Substack

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Bovril’s infallible power

As a cultural asset, it really does keep Britain going

The Spectator

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Bovril’s infallible power

As a cultural asset, it really does keep Britain going

The Spectator

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Modern cruises have stripped travel of its adventure

The viruses you can get at the buffet

UnHerd

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This isn't how restaurants win

The campaign for a restaurant VAT cut is loud, and is burning goodwill

Substack

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Len Deighton taught British bachelors to cook

The late novelist's culinary competence

The Spectator

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Len Deighton taught British bachelors to cook

The late novelist's culinary competence

The Spectator

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It’s time to end the tyranny of service charge

Gordon Ramsay's 20% service charges

UnHerd

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Tip off: here’s how to fix infuriating service charges

Restaurants are finding ways around laws

City A.M.

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Tip off: here’s how to fix infuriating service charges

Restaurants are finding ways around laws

City A.M.

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Confessions of a failed restaurateur

30 years of bad governments sealed my fate

UnHerd

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Confessions of a failed restaurateur

30 years of bad governments sealed my fate

UnHerd

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Britain is dining out on delusions

We need to start facing some hard economic truths

The Critic

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Britain is dining out on delusions

We need to start facing some hard economic truths

The Critic

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Noma ccandal punctures myth of the enlightened restaurant

On co-founder René Redzepi

UnHerd

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Noma ccandal punctures myth of the enlightened restaurant

On co-founder René Redzepi

UnHerd

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Some Of The Worst Food I Have Ever Eaten

A visit to an depressing influencer market

Substack

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Some Of The Worst Food I Have Ever Eaten

A visit to a depressing influencer market in Central London

Substack

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£58.50 “Fish and Chips” – A Review

This new Chelsea brasserie takes liberties with traditional food

Substack

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£58.50 “Fish and Chips” – An In-Depth Review

This new Chelsea brasserie takes liberties with traditional food

Substack

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London is Losing a Cult Restaurant – Why Am I Not Sad to See it Go?

A cult restaurant that delivered on flavour

Substack

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London Is Losing A Cult Restaurant – Why Am I Not Sad?

A cult restaurant that delivered on flavour, and nothing else

Substack

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