How does a girl from Newcastle, NSW become editor of a world famous restaurant guide?
The same way anything else happens: step by step. At university, we journalism students were told to specialise. Food was the natural choice for me – by 20, I was already a keen dinner party host and avid reader of Vogue Entertaining. So I saved up, borrowed from the Bank of Mum & Dad, and hopped a plane to London to train at the Cordon Bleu.
And then I just kept going. Through job rejections, failed interviews, ignored pitches, scathing responses and letters advising me that real food writers are a kind of magic being who just appear fully and perfectly formed, with the superpower of taste. A bit like Doctor Who but with ladles.
(Perhaps in revenge?) I became passionate about professionalising the sector – steering it away from wealthy housewives dabbling in cookery and old Etonians reviewing restaurants. Next thing I know, I'm editor of Time Out London's Eating & Drinking Guide, working with top Michelin-starred chefs and chair of The Guild of Food Writers.
Thirty years since I landed in London, people still talk a lot of tosh about food writing and insist on mysticizing success. Like when someone's lauded as an overnight TikTok sensation, but in reality has been toiling on Youtube for six years. Thing is: believing in the magic beans and magic beings is what keeps you small and keeps you stuck. And there is another way.
Coaching with me
I don't just teach you to write well, I help you break through the internal blocks that are hampering your success. For years I've seen good, talented people underachieve and disappoint themselves, mainly through self-sabotage, and finally I realised I could do something about it.
My framework uses small, consistent steps to achieve big 'impossible' goals. You'll have fun identifying and exploring the things you're naturally good at, then we'll work them into your personal career plan.
Today, food writers need to act like entrepreneurs – I can help you with that. I'm a big fan of deep work, habit stacks, and using social media with intention. But also: Agatha Christie, Inspector Morse, Succession. And if you actually see me on my phone, I'm almost always playing Sudoku.
"I highly, highly recommend Jenni's courses. I have seen first hand how much her clients' skills, even novices, flourish and prosper under her professional guidance. Take the leap!"
-Fleur
J O U R N A L I S M
I started on deli trade magazine Good Food Retailing then made the leap to freelancing, writing regularly on food trends and equipment for The Sunday Times, The Independent, Time Out and BBC Good Food.
C O O K B O O K S
My first day at Reader's Digest General Books I sat there thinking: 'OMG, people are paying me to read cookbooks all day!' Within a couple of years I was working for several highly illustrated publishers.
R E S T A U R A N T S
The more I reviewed for Time Out, the more sections of the guide book I was offered till eventually I was invited to edit the whole thing. I've also written and edited three hotel-restaurant guides for The AA.
D I G I T A L
I was one of BBC Good Food's first bloggers and have been producing digital content – websites, blogs, recipes, social media campaigns – mostly for food and hospitality trade clients, since the 1990s (yikes!).
Do you dream of writing your own cookbook?
So did I, and in time, it happened. A Cook's Guide to Grains, which has been published in three separate editions over 15 years, remains the book I'm most proud of, but I've written various others under my own name and as a ghostwriter for several chefs and restaurateurs too. I understand completely what it's like to be on the author's side of the table.
And yet, as a commissioning editor, I was the one rejecting proposals, choosing one author over another, writing blurbs and synopses, pitching ideas I really believed in to management meetings – then feeling the crushing disappointment when sales forecasts were too low, or they failed to excite other publishers at international book fairs. Once I even had to watch a cookbook I'd developed go straight to Number One under another publisher.
When you join the ffoice community, you tap into this depth and breadth of experience. You learn from my wins, and epic fails. You learn what's likely to get commissioned and what isn't. You learn how to navigate the inevitable rejections and setbacks. And most importantly you get the support you need to keep going.
Yes, I need this
Why aren't I pursuing my own food writing career?
I still write about food and drink, most days in fact. But after the birth of my daughter I increasingly sensed that I have other fish to fry.
Now I'm on a mission to help food experts and enthusiasts who have great things to say and great stories to tell enjoy the platform and the attention they deserve. I really don't like to see good talented people struggling while others who are more elbowy pump out toxic, screwed up food messages.
ffoice is actively building a pool of amazing food (and drink, and health) talent. We fill the gap between you getting started as a food writer and the point at which you're doing well enough to attract the interest of agents and publishers. And we help prepare you mentally for success, so you're better able to handle it when it arrives.
There's never been a better time to start food writing
Now the digital world has levelled the playing field, the opportunities to express your creativity are infinite. But it can be overwhelming. Join Find Your Food Writing Voice and we'll give you the direction and encouragement you need to build an amazing career.
I'm ready to dive in
