Bring Us Something Fresh

“Did you watch Masterchef: The Critics?” seems to have been the number one question I was asked over the last week or so. Far more than “are you doing Dry January/Veganuary?” or “Did you love/hate Saltburn?” (That’s another story…)

I wouldn’t have predicted that getting five restaurant critics together for a one-hour cookathon would be of *that* much interest to people outside the food and hospitality world but I’ve been surprised. And having not watched it when it first went out (I’d had a spoiler after sitting with Jimi Famurewa at a dinner in December), I caught up with it at the weekend.

It was – as you’ll probably know – pretty fun and entertaining. Who’d have thought that they’d all get so emotional about wraps, rice and chocolate puddings?

If I (or maybe you) had thought about it in advance, I’d have suggested getting William Sitwell into a top restaurant for kitchen service… for the full Masterchef experience. Too late now, dammit.

But what I really want to say today is less warm and fuzzy and more heartless. I don’t want any more of the aforementioned Dry January/Veganuary/Regenuary/lo-cal/reboot/whatever press releases. They’re instant deletes, I’m afraid.

This time of year, more than ever, coverage of seasonal stuff is planned well in advance – the break in publishing routines means features and interviews you’re seeing now were probably done well before Christmas. If it hasn’t been covered already, it’s not going to be. 

Bring us something fresh (spoken like a true jaded food fan). And that doesn’t mean a deluge of Valentines’ stuff.