Safe to say, after publishing two whole blog posts, I have been significantly more “light touch” recently. I can confirm that this is because I have returned to my lifestyle of overpriced alcohol and using the excuse of “supporting local businesses” to make myself feel okay about it. Yes, I was there on Super Saturday when the pubs reopened. No, I was not in Soho, I was at my absolute favourite local pub that I have missed so very dearly and I am delighted to report they have locked down the recipe to social distancing, making me feel safer than any supermarket outing in the last 6 months. Entering August, I continue my charitable pursuits as I “Eat Out to Help Out”, thankful that the hospitality industry is back in business.
In times of the “old normal”, living in London meant that my biggest outgoing after rent was eating and drinking out. Eager as any other “young professional” to thrive in the rat race of generation rent, I lived a life aimed at throwing money at avocado on toast instead of the equally viable activity of saving money in the pursuit of home ownership. Fortunately, my reckless behaviour has had its benefits as having lived in Fulham, Camden and Whitechapel (read Shoreditch if I am trying to impress you), I have been on the receiving end of some of the best* bars and restaurants this wonderful and exhausting city has to offer.
Perhaps its my millennial obsession with Instagram or maybe Maslow would say I am just filling my basic physiological needs, but I really do love food. I have never understood people that “see food as fuel”, for me, food is an experience. In fact, a friend of mine once told me that she is entertained just from watching how much I enjoy food and that’s almost the best compliment I’ve ever received (For reference, my best compliment was when I got told if I went on First Dates I would become a national treasure). Yes, the title of this blog post is referencing that song released in 1965 because it is still a banger and if you replace “magic” with “delicious food” then I am using it to describe my feelings in a completely (un)poetic way. My hedonistic passion for consumption has got me thinking about the evolution of how we experience food and drink, or, if you want to use buzz words, the “disruption” in this industry.
In more recent years, the lines between “eating out” and “eating in” have become increasingly blurred. The classic example here is HelloFresh. HelloFresh are a subscription service that deliver you all the elements of a delicious recipe to your front door. If you haven’t heard of them yet, you really must be living under a rock because they have now even reached the Isle of Man which is true supply chain sorcery as the Isle of Man government actively discourages market competition from the mainland.
Why do subscription services work?
On a personal level I initially thought the success of subscription recipe boxes was because they provide all the ingredients in the recipe that you would never actually buy yourself such as flaked almonds and ready made red wine reduction, offering a restaurant quality meal in the comfort of your own home. Consequently, it feels like an indulgence. An indulgence you can take full credit for, because you still cooked it.
Having been referred to try HelloFresh for free by a slightly older millennial, I was under the impression that the subscription recipe box service was reserved for the successful (read: ‘wealthy’) city manager that I aspire to be, living a charmed suburbia lifestyle and zero time to go to the supermarket. However, on closer inspection, turns out these services are a financially viable substitute for supermarkets (and takeaways) in providing weeknight meals.
Who do the likes of HelloFresh, Gousto and MindfulChef consider their competition? Is it the Deliveroos and UberEats as they try to produce restaurant quality food in the home? Or is it the supermarket giants as they disrupt the supply chain, taking the goods directly to the consumer? Either way, subscription recipe boxes are here to stay, fulfilling all basic millennial requirements.
I appreciate this is not news.
Disruption, disruption, DISRUPTION
As I am sure we can all agree, “unprecedented times” leaves the world ripe for disruption and by disruption, I mean an existential crisis, as I question: why do I pay so much money to live in a small flat in central London? When will I next get fresh air? And probably the most selfish- when can I go on holiday?
Well, you will be pleased to know, I got my holiday. I took a long weekend in the Lake District at the end of July and it was a pure hedonistic delight. For anyone that doesn’t know if you’re looking for good food when you leave London, the Lakes is a pretty safe bet. With the greatest number of Michelin star restaurants outside of London in the UK, this land of overly friendly, northern barbarians has surpassed its culinary reputation based on pastry, black pudding and gravy and is in a position to welcome even the softest of Southerners with open arms (at a social distance of course).
My return from holiday to London was riddled with severe holiday blues, as my fragile snowflake heart had an (almost) complete disregard for avocados in search of decent Cumberland sausage inside of the M25. It was a sad thirty seconds for me. Fortunately, with the advent of the internet, I discovered Neaum (“nee-um”) willing to deliver a taste of the Lakes, to my East London doorstep. Exploring the aesthetically pleasing website was markedly more exciting than ASOS and all my concerns about sustainability were subdued. A guilt free online shopping order, what a win.
Now, for anyone that has done the “city thing”, you’ll understand that the working day of Friday has some stark similarities to a dystopian farmyard: everyone sits round all day waiting for Napoleonic character to announce we can go to the pub, nobody knows which pub they mean, the sheep follow each other mindlessly and at least one person is lost. At the pub, the proletariat (read “outspoken graduate” or “Snowball”) rises to address his audience and I will leave my George Orwell references there. However, during lockdown, I traded my anticipation of the pub, for my DHL parcel from Neaum.
I was united with my Cumberland sausage (in the form of a scotch egg) by lunchtime and the emotional turmoil can only be paralleled to the lyricism of Atomic Kitten’s “Whole Again”. Did anyone mention that snowflakes are obsessed with the 90s? My elation did not stop at lunchtime as I had the Oxtail Ragu lined up for dinner. My inability to write about food shrouds this dish in mystery as I simply implore that you order it. Luckily for you, this air of mystery comes hand in hand with my third eye and I can confirm that A.A. Gill himself has let me know personally that its the most delicious Oxtail Ragu he has had in both this life and the next.
Neaum is not the first business with a strong position in the “new normal”. The Angel at Hetton is offering a Michelin star meal to consume in the comfort of your own home and whilst the novelty of this experience is attractive, I wonder if you can truly experience the full Michelin magic of such a highly acclaimed establishment at home. As pubs and restaurants reopen, I imagine these propositions will fall at the wayside in preference for the in person experience. However, I am confident Neaum has established a sustainable model as it grows to navigate the old normal / new normal / going back to normal in order to deliver a taste of the Lakes nationwide.
*read: “financially viable on a graduate salary”
