Your say / Bristol
‘Bristol’s close-knit food community deserves to be celebrated, not shat upon’
After my morning coffee, stroopwafel and Wordle, I spent the first part of today reading through Bristol24/7’s annual food and drink guide which will be published in July.
If I do say so myself having edited the first few editions of EatDrink24/7, it has always been a wonderful celebration of our city’s famous food and drink scene; featuring recommendations from people across the hospitality industry.
It warms my heart to see the mutual admiration, the love and the support from restaurateurs, chefs, baristas and brewers for their fellow professionals.
Bristol’s close-knit food community deserves to be celebrated and that’s what I know EatDrink24/7 does.
(Not so subtle plug: come and celebrate the launch of this year’s guide on July 8 at Wiper & True in St Jude’s, where among other treats there will one-off collaborations between Box-E and Squeezed, and Big Nath’s and Danny’s Burgers.)
But I’m going to take my rose-tinted glasses off now because if you pay even a cursory glance to the goings-on in Bristol’s food and drink scene, you will likely have probably read an article called ‘The true cost of influencing’.
And it has set the cat among the pigeons.
I don’t want to wade into those murky waters but what I will say is that life is too short for petty squabbles.
People who love food, and have camera phones and editing software, are mostly hobbyists who perhaps enjoy a free meal or round of drinks every now and again. (So long as they are not deceiving the average punter with paid-for advertising illegally masquerading as genuine enthusiasm.)
I don’t pay much attention to influencers. I know that Blank Street is opening on Park Street soon without watching somebody drink a matcha inside the yet-to-open cafe.
But I appreciate the role that influencers play within Bristol’s food and drink scene. Don’t hate the player; hate the game.
As a printed product that fits snugly onto your bookshelf at home, EatDrink24/7 could well now be seen as an anachronism in this age of algorithms.
With inky fingers, I would beg to differ of course.
There is still a place for print and for longer reads. There is a place for an 800-word restaurant review or 3,000-word investigation alongside a snappily edited Insta reel lasting less than a minute.
I hope that we all want Bristol’s food and drink scene to shine brightly in the national and international firmament.
But those who big up this very small world, be they writers or content creators, photographers or TikTokkers, should be celebrated not shat upon. We all have a role to play.
I have got into online spats in the past. Mostly on Twitter in the good old days, where I was often referred to disparagingly as a cafe blogger. And what’s wrong with being a cafe blogger?
So let’s support one another. Share your top recommendations far and wide. Remember to put ‘ad’ at the very start of those reels or story captions if you have been paid to create them or have got your food for free.
Bristol is collaborative and supportive. Let’s help build each other up rather than tear each other down.
This is an opinion piece by Martin Booth, Editor of Bristol24/7
Main photo: Martin Booth
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