Columns

An archive of all columns: Normal Country, The Hater, Hidden in Plain Sight, Incidental Eating, and more.

An archive of all columns that Vittles has ever run. Most columns are paywalled: to view them, please subscribe.

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Normal Country

Normal Country is a rotating column dedicated to the everyday food culture of the UK, looking at where regionalism can still be found and how it interacts with history, politics, immigration and urbanism.

Wigan: The Road to the Trawlerman, by Jonathan Nunn
Bradford: Paratha, mixed starter, keema masala, by Joe Cresswell
The Chaiwallas of Harehills, by Hamzah Shami
North Manchester: Where has all the tschulent gone?, by Atar Hadari
Newcastle: The Stottie Principles, by Sonali Dhanpal and Gareth Fearn
Pan-Africa in North Yorkshire, by Memuna Konteh
Dispatches from The World Champion Dock Pudding Contest, by Emily Oldfield
The Preston Model, by Marcus Barnett
Wakefield: City of Banners, City of Dinners, by Gareth Forest
Swansea: Live, Laugh, Laverbread, by Isaac Rangaswami
Stoke-on-Trent: The Stations of the Oatcake, by Andrew Kersley
Fragments of Halifax, by Ruby Tandoh
From Aleppo to Manchester, by Joel Hart
The Auntie’s Guide to Eating Out in Birmingham, by Kavita Meelu
Liverpool: Turning foreignness into familiarity, by Isaac Rangaswami
Whatever happened to the leek pudding?, by Harry Pearson
Bristol Sweet Mart: The Aladdin’s Cave of Easton, by George Hancock
Parmo Populism, by George Walker
Food on the picket line, by Gareth Forest
Charlecote Mill: Preserving heritage one chapati at a time, by Ellen Manning
Cornwall: In search of saffron buns, by Susan Ellicott
The Gujarati Sports Bars of North London and West Brom, by David Jesudason
Scotti’s Snack Bar: A home through the ages, by Isaac Rangaswami
From Ludhiana to Smethwick, grassroots run deep, by Ciaran Thapar

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The Hater

The Hater is a column dedicated to the art of hating. Each week, a different writer examines something they hate, or observes a trend of hating in the British food world.

The TV Food Man, by Ruby Tandoh
Everybody Hates Norman’s, by Tom Usher
Rich People Peasantcore, by Sheena Patel
Gatekeeping Pubs, by Jimmy McIntosh
The Gallery Dinner, by Phoebe Cripps
STREETFOODZ and other atrocities, by Katie Mulkowski
Why I hate Americans talking about tacos in London, by Chloe-Rose Crabtree
Against Curation, by Jonathan Nunn
What is the point of the recipe box?, by Thea Everett
Against Culinary Cuckooism, by Luke Dunne
McLondon, by Robbie Armstrong
The biweekly British vs American food debate, by Niloufar Hadari
What is wrong with the London restaurant scene?
Gut Feelings, by James Greig
Ultra-Processed Foods, by Laura Thomas
The SEO-ification of food, by Mina Miller
Hospitality is not Conditional, by Sharanya Deepak

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The Friday Slot

An opinion column about food and restaurants, by Jonathan Nunn

The State of British Restaurant Criticism, part 1
The State of British Restaurant Criticism, part 2
The Sohofication of Restaurants
How Elephant and Castle’s diversity was co-opted
Gastrogeography — On Jonathan Gold, Iain Sinclair and Italo Calvino
A Tribute to Hung’s
Who Influences the Influencers?
How Pie and Mash Killed Itself
Food scams
The TikTok Chinatown
Do U Even Chapli Bro?
What Even Is A Kebab?
Five Takes on Fried Chicken
Blurred Lines — The Big Bang and Partition
In Praise of Long Breakfasts
The Salt Bae Economy
Peckham Through The Ages
London Finds Itself

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Incidental Eating

A column by Ruby Tandoh, examining a different site or place or landscape where eating and cooking takes place but where it is incidental to the experience; places that are not eating destinations but rely on the itinerant, impressionable hungers that we experience as we move through the world.

Incidental Eating: Shopping Centre Corn
Incidental Eating: Seaside Donuts
Incidental Eating: Soft Serve Vans
Incidental Eating: Restaurants as Living Rooms

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Hidden in Plain Sight

A column by Yvonne Maxwell focusing on the stories, foodways, customs and traditions of the Black communities across the UK, as well as the global Black diaspora, ones that have been here for years and decades, in plain sight, yet are rarely written about.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Profiling the Restaurant
Hidden in Plain Sight: Brixton McDonalds
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Peckham Arcades
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Diasporic Christmas Menu

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The 4th Meal

A column by Feroz Gajia dedicated to the greatest of culinary institutions: the pre-packaged snack.

The 4th Meal: The British Supermarket
The 4th Meal: Crunchy Snacks

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Interviews

Long form interviews with chefs, food writers and thinkers, conducted by Jonathan Nunn (unless otherwise stated).

What is Halal Brunch? An interview with Feroz Gajia (Bake St)
What is London Pizza? An interview with Pam Yung (ASAP Pizza)
An interview with Faye Gomes (Kaieteur Kitchen)
An interview with Adejoké Bakare (Chishuru)
An interview with Brian Yazzie (conducted by Adrienne Katz Kennedy)
An interview with Manjit Kaur (conducted by Phoenix Andrews)
An interview with James Hansen (Eater London)
An interview with Collin Wallace (ZeroStoreFront)
An interview with Vaughn Tan (Vaughn Tan)
A Q&A with Jonathan Nunn on How To Eat Out
What is Greek Food? An interview on Greek Food with Alex Gkikas, Vasili’s Chamam and Dimitris Blachouras
An oral history of the UK Chowhound Board
An interview with Normah Abd Hamid (Normah’s)
A Q&A with Jonathan Nunn on How To Write
What is Kurdish Food? An interview with Melek Erdal
An interview on London’s food shops with Jenny Linford

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The Full English

A podcast by Lewis Bassett and Forrest DLG about food and English national identity.

Episode 1: Breakfast
Episode 2: Sheep
Episode 3: Tea and Sugar
Episode 4: Factory Farms
Episode 5: Modern European
Episode 6: Fish Finger Bhorta