Letter is late because I had to go to the dentist so I thought I’d show teeth for this letter. 🥵😅
In February of 2020, Bon Appetit* published a focaccia recipe that had a chokehold on American kitchens. Every person on my Instagram timeline posted photos of their fingertips in the squishy yeast-risen dough, and I had it served at less than a dozen, but more than five friends’ dinner parties. A little over a year prior, Alison Roman published a recipe for a chickpea and coconut milk stew that took the internet by storm, even resulting in its’ own hashtag on Instagram: #TheStew.
For both of these recipes, Instagram and ease played a key role in virality. Millennials were hitting a key moment where home cooking was becoming an entertaining activity, rather than a necessity also aided by a pandemic that really kicked things into gear). During this same time, General Catalyst backed cookware startup Great Jones* (shortly after, brands like Our Place and Caraway launched). Diaspora Co.’s brightly-packaged turmeric and black pepper were in every magazine’s gift guide. I’m actually finding it a little difficult to write about this period in food media because it was so untethered to brands – the castle was being held up by personalities (Dave, Claire, Samin). Molly Yeh got a show on FOOD NETWORK. A Google exec in 2020 told me in a meeting once that there were Bon Appetit stars charging more than Gigi Hadid for an Instagram Story. Graza hadn’t even built a fundraising deck yet.
A lot of people who are reading this know what happens next. People left their mothership publications and day jobs, and became individual creators.
The proverbial lights went out on the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen stage. This still stings for fans of the YouTube channel, which speaks to the power of their brand at the time. I read a post this morning on Reddit that was only made four months ago, “Every personality had a character that contributed to the group. You'll notice that every one of them that branched off on their own have quirky flaws that don't hit as nice when you watch them in a group where those quirks weren't noticeable. I remember thinking Brad was so hilarious when you pair him with other personalities, but then when you watch his own show, I was like ahh this is a little bit too much Brad for me.”
Great Jones imploded. Instagram CPG brands like Fly by Jing, Truff, and Fishwife took over our kitchens (see: my Shoppy Shop story for New York Magazine). Before, if you liked cooking, you probably liked everything to do with cooking. Starting a brand or career in the food space was considered humble, wholesome, and impressive. Today, it’s a way to get dissected on the internet and have questions asked about your intentions and ego (like all public endeavors). A friend reminded me this morning of all the "Who is behind that brand and what do they stand for and what kind of mini series are they producing on TikTok?" content we read about… everyone.
This all mirrors what is happening elsewhere in the media, and that is a conversation for another newsletter. But something that is clear to me is that these new individual creators must develop business instinct – figure out distribution and brand on their own, have a wicked sense of self-promotion – or they hire a team to help. Looking around, it does appear that Substack is where the Puck is heading towards in terms of food media. Sure, you can make a one-minute pasta video go viral, but can you write well enough that I allow you into my email inbox weekly? It sounds intimate because it is!
If the best food editors were found in the offices of Conde Nast (4 Times Square, not 1 WTC, you know better), the best food TikTokers were found at 2am in someone’s walk-up apartment kitchen, and the best food writers on Substack are coming from everywhere.
I spoke to some of the most exciting writers on the platform about why they chose to expand their empires on Substack, and their thoughts on the current state of food media. While speaking to some of them, I came across this post about a food writer who left the platform, which was interesting. Based on their answers, Substack should seriously be paying me for this commercial. News is at the bottom of the letter, below the paywall, today.
*I worked for both Bon Appetit and Great Jones for periods of time, which anyone who has had more than two drinks with me is well aware of.
THE PLAYERS:
: Video producer turned chef turned runway model. You can read more about him in this profile I wrote for HighSnobiety last year.: LA-based chef and restaurateur (I’ve been to baroo, haven’t been to Shiku yet). Every Thursday she shares family recipes, and on Sundays she writes about the state of hospitality.: Private chef and recipe developer based in LA. I’d tell you some of the people she’s cooked for, but then I’d have to kill you. I’ve known Sara since I was 13, and have been lucky enough to experience her recipes since high school. : Co-host of How Long Gone, just joined Substack last month and is already gaining quite a following. To get a feel of his writing, I’d suggest starting here.: Four-times James Beard nominated chef and the owner of Stissing House (their Instagram is pure sugar and butter porn) and co-owner of King and Jupiter.: One of the most passionate bakers I know who creates things with batter and dough that look like they belong in The Met. I experienced this at her home during the holidays and it left me speechless.: Sam is the newest to me of this crew, but a few of my readers told me this week that they love her letter. She’s a produce Liaison for some of the top chefs in Los Angeles, and writes about produce and her love of individual ingredients beautifully.THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE GAME:
You had an existing large following on Instagram, why did you decide to build a community on Substack?
“Substack provides a platform for me to give further context to recipes, share updates and dive into general food topics I’m passionate about. It’s also given me the opportunity to start building a voice and craft a skill that does not come naturally.” - Pierce Abernathy
“I had stories I wanted to share, whether it was about trying to reopen our restaurant or about Korean food culture. Social media, like Instagram, is one way to tell stories but it's become increasingly video-focused and algorithm-based. I am not a video content creator nor have the energy or time to focus on gaming the algorithm. I do like to write and as I was discovering incredible voices on Substack and spending more and more time reading people's newsletters, I realized I had found the ideal platform for the way I want to tell my stories. I could say as much as I wanted to say without being cut off by word counts. I could add photos or not. And I could find people who, like me, love to read and engage more deeply and sincerely with each other. - Mina Park
“I started my newsletter in 2019 (originally on tinyletter, then migrated to substack when I reached the 5,000 subscriber limit there) in a random fit of mild frustration because I kept feeling like all my quippy little sentences that I was including in my recipe write-ups for my food media job at the time were getting cut in the final edits and being watered down for something more generic and boring. So, I launched a substack where I could write freely in my authentic voice for people who are there to read what I want to talk about. It also allowed me to develop the exact recipes that I wanted to be making as opposed to pitching them elsewhere. Now that I think of it, the annoying edits that I was getting at my job were probably why I decided to name the newsletter ’This Shit Rocks.’ Try and cut the expletive, I dare you!!!!!!!!!!” - Sara Tane
“I don’t think I’m building a community. It’s just a collection of my thoughts, and I'm grateful for my small but growing audience. I don’t plan on creating a VIP lounge or private Discord; I want people to be excited when I arrive in their inbox. I’m on Twitter, but rarely post because it feels weird now. I like Substack because I can fire off a bundle of tweets, and they can sit there without being individually judged based on their performance. I love that I don’t feel compelled to check how posts are performing, at least for now.” - Jason Stewart
“I have more to say than I'd say in a photo caption, and when I started The Best Bit I was on maternity leave and needed a project / way to imitate the connection I feel in restaurants.” - Clare de Boer
“Substack allows you to share long form recipes with lots of detail, which is not possible on an app like Instagram where writing up a recipe would be a caption plus 4 to 5 comments which was not easy for people to follow. Substack allows for you to write out step by step directions with photos throughout the recipe which is super helpful when making something you've never made before.” - Paris Starn
“I originally made the Instagram account because I found that the chefs I was working with were a lot more responsive to photos with short, funny descriptions than to long availability lists. They see enough lists. Friends and contacts outside the food world were always asking me questions about produce, what to buy, how to choose, and why. To take the intimidation factor out of all the choices at the market, to encourage people to support farmers and try new things, my Instagram could only go so far.
Given that my interest and “superpower” has always been getting people excited about produce, farmers, and the market, I had to try writing about it. Substack seemed like the one place where I could deep dive into the things that piqued my interest and hopefully affect the bigger picture of my goal.” - Sam Rogers