Announcing the Food in Print Magazine Fair!
All your favourite food magazines in one place
Recently, there has been a lot of talk in the media world about ‘the return to print’ – a kind of back-to-the-land movement for people sick of the phrase ‘I’ve started a Substack’. This media shift is certainly A Thing – one that we are a part of – although British food media has been lucky enough to enjoy a decades-long unbroken tradition of excellent independent print magazines and journals. These publications have always offered an alternative to both newspaper supplements and online blogs, and include everything from the legendary food journal Petits Propos Culinaires (started in 1979 and still going strong), through the eras of A La Carte and Tim Hayward’s Fire & Knives, all the way up to today’s rich and diverse ecosystem of zines that fill in the many gaps legacy media fails to cover. The only thing that this scene has lacked is a centralised space in which to connect the many engaged readers of food media in the country with the publications they might be interested in reading – and buying.
Therefore, we are very excited to announce that we are teaming up with two of our favourite food publications, Pit and FatBoy Zine, to put on the first ever Food in Print Magazine Fair, which will bring together food publications from around London and the rest of the UK. The fair will take place at St Giles Cripplegate in the Barbican on 11 April 2026. So far, fifteen publications and their editors have confirmed their attendance, but the Food in Print Magazine Fair is open to anyone publishing print materials that involve the topic of food, no matter how small. We hope that it will be a unique opportunity for readers to discover new publications, for publications to find and collaborate with each other, and to encourage more people to make the move to print.
To make the fair as accessible as possible, Pit, FatBoy, and Vittles have collectively taken on the cost of the fair: it will be both free to attend and free to apply for a pitch. If you are a food publication and wish to sell your magazine, please contact us via this form and we will get back to you. Spaces are limited; however, there will be an opportunity for anyone unable to attend to send magazines to us and for us to sell them on your behalf. There will be refreshments (TBC!), current issues and back issues of your favourite mags, a very special guest coming from New York (see below!), and the final twenty copies of the elusive Vittles Issue 1 (on a first-come, first-served basis – no reservations).
Many thanks to Chris O’Leary from FatBoy Zine; Holly Catford, Helen Graves and Robert Billington from Pit; and Ruby Tandoh. See you there!
About the Food and Print Fair Attendees
Vittles
That’s us!
Pit
Founded by editor Helen Graves, photographer Robert Billington and art director Holly Catford in 2017, Pit has evolved into a bold, thought-provoking magazine that challenges the obvious narrative across a wide spectrum of food topics. Each themed issue uncovers the most interesting and unusual food stories from around the world through people, traditions, techniques and ingredients. We’ve cooked a giant goat shawarma for thirty people in a South London snowstorm, themed whole issues around sausages and MSG and travelled the world through Sicily, Morocco, Malaysia, and Zanzibar in search of dinner. We are constantly on the hunt for untold stories – the ones where we dive into the world of Turkish barbecue at chef Hasan Semay’s family home or learn about the importance of frozen hash browns to kushiyaki from Japanese food expert Tim Anderson.
FatBoy Zine
FatBoy Zine is an indie publishing project and a greedy attempt to document Asian food and culture. Now spanning six issues, each theme of FBZ varies between specific locations and cultures to more abstract themes about identity and belonging. FBZ combines talented visual artists with insightful writing and delicious recipes. It was founded by London-based creative director Chris O’Leary (he/him). FatBoyZine
Petits Propos Culinaires
Petits Propos Culinaires (PPC) was founded in 1979 by Alan Davidson, editor of the Oxford Companion to Food, and his wife, Jane, also a food historian, aided by a circle of friends including Elizabeth David, Richard Olney, Claudia Roden, Jane Grigson, Harold McGee and Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz. PPC quickly became the UK’s pre-eminent food history periodical. During the journal’s forty-seven-year history, it has focused on publishing original research, especially historical articles dealing with Anglophone and European food cultures, the history of cookbooks as a genre, biographical studies of culinary personalities, and lexicographical investigations. Alongside academic articles, it has always found a space to record memoirs and oral histories and to publish opinion pieces, photo-essays and even original fiction.
Offcuts
Offcuts is a series of zines celebrating the techniques, history, and culture of offal cooking, crafted by chefs Sophie Hambling and Madeleine Sanders. The series rehabilitates forgotten cuts in an unashamed manual, presenting a detailed photographic guide to offal preparation, broken down by organ and animal. This straightforward guidance is for cooks who love offal and aims to change the minds of those who don’t. Exploring one offcut at a time, the series helps you to navigate nose-to-tail cooking, bridging the gap between eating offal in fine-dining settings and translating this into a domestic setting. Showcasing recipes from chefs and writers worldwide, these shared stories and experiences contribute to their growing community, while shedding light on why we should be more resourceful and also look towards the systems underpinning how we get our meat.
chicken + bread
chicken + bread is an independent magazine and cultural platform dedicated to celebrating food as art and centring the narratives of people of colour. Through our print magazine and events, we explore the stories, creativity and cultural histories behind what we eat, creating space for voices often overlooked in mainstream food media.
Table Magazine
Table Magazine is an independent annual food and travel magazine dedicated to thoughtful storytelling from the world of food. Through features on chefs, producers and journeys across different cultures, the magazine explores the people and places shaping the food industry today, with a strong focus on sustainability and mindful practices. Designed as a coffee-table publication, Table embraces a slower pace. Its features are reflective and immersive, encouraging readers to pause, savour the stories and take time for themselves. Blending food, travel and personal perspective, the magazine celebrates the beauty of slowing down and reconnecting with the rhythms of good food, meaningful travel and everyday rituals.
FILLER
FILLER is a self-published food magazine by Holly Eliza Temple, exploring personal experiences and narratives of our relationship with food through each issue’s theme. Issue 09, ‘The Body’, examines the bodily (and out-of-body) experiences of food – from the familiar gestures and rituals of cooking, to the dietary beliefs or superstitions instilled in us by others, or ourselves. What does it really mean to ‘listen to your body’ and what does it say when you do? After nine issues, FILLER continues to grow and respond to the food publishing landscape. In 2026, the publication will expand into an independent publishing house, producing standalone publications and curated collections beyond a periodical format in order to platform more voices with greater flexibility, care and editorial attention.
Toothsome
Toothsome is a small, independent magazine about food and conviviality. We publish our print magazine bi-annually, and we also run a Substack where we have a more frequent rhythm.
Texture
Texture is an independent print zine exploring food, identity and culture through a deeply personal and experimental lens. From home kitchens across London to speculative materials grown from food waste, the publication examines how taste is shaped by memory, migration, labour and place. Through interviews, homemade condiments, overlooked kitchen labour, recipes and experimental food materials, the zine challenges fixed ideas of what food should look, taste or feel like and who gets to define it.
TOMATO EGG
TOMATO EGG is a zine that blends the cultural narratives and creative works of the Chinese diaspora in London through the universal medium of food – specifically, the traditional dish of tomatoes and scrambled eggs. This publication not only explores the dish itself, but uses it as a metaphor to delve into broader themes of identity, nostalgia and home, creating a tangible experience that invites readers to explore the insightful stories shared by Asian creatives based in London.
Guzzle
Guzzle is an Irish art and food publication founded in Dublin and now based in East London. Each issue takes a prevalent topic and tasks artists and writers with uncovering what our eating habits reveal about it: nostalgia in times of uncertainty, love in a period of global disconnect, home when place feels increasingly difficult to define. It has been sold in eighteen cities across eleven countries, appeared at international book fairs and taken shape as curated dinners and art exhibitions. Issue three launches this month with A Hunger for Home.
CHEESE
An independent magazine with global roots, CHEESE puts people and produce at the heart of the stories. The content ranges from engaging and thought-provoking essays and personal histories to photo stories: it is fun, researched and personal, and explores the unique all through the wonderful lens of cheese. Founded by Anna Sulan Masing, Apoorva Sripathi and Holly Catford.
Tonic
Tonic is a premium biannual independent magazine exploring the global culture of drink through long-form storytelling, travel and photography. Combining drinks journalism with cultural reporting, Tonic appeals to readers interested in craft beverages, hospitality, travel and the creative communities.
and a special guest from New York…
Cake Zine
Cake Zine is a literary print magazine that explores art, history and pop culture through food with work from emerging and established writers. The team is based in New York City and Paris.
Yay! Print is not dead! Such uplifting news.
Yessssss can’t wait