While food and drink publications with well-informed, sub-edited writers will always be valued (in my opinion), it’s great to hear more from individuals who simply love eating and drinking. They’re sharing their thoughts and experiences on Instagram, TikTok and Substack.
If you’re unfamiliar with Substack, it’s a digital publishing platform where people can create communities and share writing and pictures in newsletters. People can subscribe to free newsletters or pay a fee for more in-depth editions. Name a niche and you’ll probably find it covered in a Substack.
But with so many Substacks focusing on food, it can be tricky to know which are worth subscribing to. So, to help you determine those worthy of space in your inbox, here are some of our favourites.
From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy
Alicia Kennedy is a New York-based food and culture writer. Her newsletter From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy consists of essays, criticism and interviews and is sent out once a week. Topics they’ve covered include tradwives (“When is a woman cooking just a woman cooking, and when is she holding society back?”), Indigenous peoples of Colombia reclaiming coca and Martha Stewart’s role in harnessing the power of domesticity for a better future.
Highly Enthused
Highly Enthused began as a podcast with recommendations by Australian writers Sophie McComas and Sophie Roberts before evolving into a monthly newsletter. The women take turns authoring the posts but sometimes write together. It’s not entirely food focused, but does have a section for a recommendation on what they ate and loved that month, including Lebanese stuffed silverbeet rolls, seared short ribs with kimchi and a carrot, brie and hot honey tart.
This Needs Hot Sauce
An American food Substack, This Needs Hot Sauce shares recipes and restaurant, product and book recommendations. It was started by Brooklyn-based writer and hot sauce lover Abigail Koffler in 2017 while she was feeling unfulfilled in her day job. Free editions of the newsletter go on Mondays and paid subscribers also get an instalment on Thursdays. Most newsletters include recommendations for dishes to cook and order.
Food Brood
Food Brood is a Substack by Sydney-based photographer and food enthusiast Alana Dimou who started it in October 2024. The newsletters don’t follow a format or schedule – they’re simply Dimou’s hot takes on what’s happening in the food world. Post topics include food predictions for the new year, commentary on what Dimou dubs a ‘great chicken shop cataclysm’ and McDonald’s offerings around the world.
Vittles
Vittles is more an online publication than a Substack. It has an editorial team and a URL displaying the latest articles. The London-based publication covers food and culture with an ethos of considering food as economy, inheritance and political agency, rather than just a dish on a table. Newsletter themes include six restaurants to go to in London and one to avoid, a recipe for a curry chicken and an ode to eating in bed.
Kitchen Projects
Kitchen Projects is a weekly newsletter by London-based recipe developer, writer and pastry chef Nicola Lamb. The newsletter gives readers a peek at the behind-the-scenes peek at the making of your favourite foods, mainly desserts and pastries. Some example newsletter themes are the science behind lemon curd, a guest post on buttercream by pastry chef Sophie Bamford and Lamb’s learnings about puff pastries.
Sourced
Sourced is a newsletter by chef-writer Chloe-Rose Crabtree and writer Anna Sulan Masing that investigates how ingredients are sourced. The newsletter aims to push the food and drinks industry towards change with content published in themed seasons. Recent editions have covered recommendations for what to read, watch and listen to, a deep-dive into the role trees play for successful coffee farming in India and a recipe for using all parts of a pumpkin.
Related: Uncovering the Root of Ube’s Success in Australia
Related: Why Are Sydney Restaurants Trying to Butter Us Up?
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.
