Crisp Packet Turns One 🌞 (Thank You + Some Exciting News)

Welcome to Crisp Packet, a weekly dispatch of sharply observed, hunger-driven lifestyle recommendations, shared like a torn-open bag of ready salted in the pub. Sign up here:

I’ve said it before, but I’d love to take this chance to say thank you for subscribing to Crisp Packet. After 53 newsletters, I feel like I’ve found my voice again after spending the last 15 years writing solely for other people and other publications. It’s been so freeing and fun to focus on the people and places that are important and interesting to me – and I’m thrilled to have found a community of subscribers who enjoy these same things. I’m sending an extra enormous thank you to my paid subscribers, who make the long hours and love I pour into this thing even more worthwhile. Your support from week one means the world.

Over the last 12 months, work has taken me to Cadaqués, Cape Town, Cornwall, Greece, India, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Paris, New York, Nice, Norway, Peru, Rome, Scotland and Wales (write-up coming soon). Writing here has got me regular commissions for Olive and the Standard. I’ve got to know some amazing people through the Substack platform. And it’s shown me just how wonderfully supportive PRs are, even when you’re writing for a much smaller audience. I’m still finding my feet when it comes to taking advantage of everything being freelance offers (I’m still very much stuck in a 9am-6pm, five-days-a-week mindset and my fingers sometimes appear to be glued to my keyboard). But I’m excited for year two of doing my own thing and already have a content calendar bursting with ideas.

I also want to publicly thank Tobias, my other half, who is officially the World’s Best Subeditor™. He always reads my work before I press schedule/publish, whether that’s at midnight or 6.30am, and listens to my rambling ideas and aspirations – and for that I’m eternally grateful. In keeping with my intention to unglue my fingers, here’s to a few more lunchtime swims and afternoon cinema trips on the horizon…

Crisp Packet is getting a glow-up. I’ve been working with one of my closest friends on a redesign of the newsletter and my homepage – and I can’t wait to show you all. Keep your eyes on your inbox first thing on Friday morning… One thing I can tell you: there will be stickers for paid subscribers.

And on that note… Next week, Crisp Packet will be going paid. Since launching last August, I’ve been treating this weekly email with the same editorial care I’ve given to anywhere I’ve worked, spending at least a full day on each newsletter (my popular Greece guide took three). It’s been rewarding to see it steadily grow. I won’t be pulling the shutter down on all my work (there will always be one completely free post each month), but paid subscribers will be able to read every single piece in its entirety, including every entry in a massive London restaurant guide I’ve been working on for the last few months. They will also get access to my Google Map, which is filled with hundreds of restaurants, museums, hotels and (crucially) coffee shops from around the world, complete with notes of what to order and see for each.

Monthly subscriptions will be £6 per month and yearly subscriptions £60 (which means you get two months free). To celebrate my one-year anniversary, anyone who subscribes during the month of August will get 30% off a yearly subscription (£42 – five months free). I’d love for you to join me…

I’m returning as the Standard’s guest restaurant critic next week. It will be in the newspaper across London (and online) on Thursday, so make sure you pick up a copy. You can read my first review of Tavern in Shoreditch here.

Finally, when I first announced the launch of Crisp Packet, a family friend thought it would be weekly reviews of crisps. (Sorry to disappoint you, Chris!) In his honour, here are some of the best bags I’ve eaten over the last 12 months…

And to give you a taster of what you can expect going forward (don’t worry, I’m not expecting anyone to pay for crisp reviews!), here are some of my favourite – and most-read – pieces from the first year of Crisp Packet…

Coming soon on Crisp Packet: a new look! My mega guide to London restaurants! And access to my Google Map, where you’ll be able to find all my worldwide recommendations!