Boiling Point: London’s hospitality sector is finally facing up to harassment and bullying in bars and restaurants — and doing something about it. By Victoria Stewart (Illustration by Michelle Thompson) During a restaurant shift when she was younger, chef Merly Kammerling asked a manager if she could […]
Journalism
I spent 11 years as a food journalist, researching food and drinks trends, interviewing food and drinks entrepreneurs about their innovations and writing stories about people’s adventures in hospitality.
I’ve been food editor at the Evening Standard and written stories for The Times, The Guardian, Stylus, Restaurant and Eater.
Here’s a selection of the work I produced – hover over the menu above to find a relevant category (e.g. Profiles or Producers or Features).
The comic who cooks (Watts What Magazine)
Comedian Joe Lycett on his talent for cooking (definitely no capers involved) – and the secret of epic chicken soup (Words: Victoria Stewart. Image: Matt Crockett) If you’ve ever seen Joe Lycett perform stand-up, there’s a high chance you’ll have laughed until your sides hurt. […]
Sustainable Restaurants report (Stylus)
The restaurant and hospitality industry is beginning to think about sustainability in a wider context – from environmental impact to ethical employment practices. Staff wellbeing is having a positive impact on business growth, and consumers are demanding to know that the food they’re eating is […]
Flavours of Change: How Life Kitchen helped this couple rediscover the joy of food (Evening Standard)
Cookery classes set up for people living with cancer has helped the Masseys find happiness in the face of a devastating diagnosis. Victoria Stewart As soon as Karen Massey heard about Life Kitchen, a series of specialised cooking classes designed for people living with cancer […]
Morph: the best lifestyle concept you’ve never heard of (Off/Cuts)
This article appeared in August 2018 in the Canadian food magazine, Off/Cuts, which sadly no longer exists. Here it is re-published in full. On our virtual ‘back page,’ British writer Victoria Stewart imagines a meeting of some truly unlikable characters planning what will somehow probably […]
How a disruptive new spice shop aims to to liberate your cooking (Evening Standard)
Want to spice up your life? Rooted Spices co-founder Rachel Walker explains how…. By Victoria Stewart In front of me on a kitchen counter are what looks like tiny piles of brightly coloured dust. Some are beige or bright yellow, others are deeper, ochre yellows, […]
The Inbetweeners: breaking the work routine (Code Hospitality)
For whatever reason, breaking your work routine can make a huge difference to your life. Victoria Stewart talks to five women about what happened when they stepped away from the stove. Imagine you’ve left a highly demanding job in a kitchen, bar or restaurant with […]
Flavours of change: how a sip of coffee led to a new life for Aashifa Hussein
Coffee academy Well Grounded is helping to transform the lives of people with barriers to employment, by Victoria Stewart Aashifa Hussein was drinking hot chocolate in her favourite cafe – Store Street Espresso – when she noticed an advert pop up on her laptop screen that offered free training […]
A distillery that’s the Noma of booze (Wired Magazine)
Copenhagen-based Empirical Spirits, led by Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, wants to bring new flavour to alcoholic drinks. (Photo: Christoffer Rydqvist) Words: Victoria Stewart In a warehouse on Refshaleøen island, Copenhagen, a chorus of clattering is being produced by hacked-together machinery. Finishing some work on a […]
Digging for Victory: an interview with Tommy Banks (Oryx Magazine)
It’s all down to Yorkshire grit and home-grown inspiration for Tommy Banks’s family-run Black Swan in the middle of Britain – recently named the world’s best restaurant by TripAdvisor. Words Victoria Stewart Photography Kat Green When Tommy Banks was asked about the best dish he’d eaten in […]
Riaz Phillips on documenting the Caribbean food scene in the UK (Evening Standard)
Riaz Phillips, author of a new book about Caribbean food in the UK, tells Victoria Stewart why he started his Belly Full project. If you’ve heard a story like this, where after being turned away by various agents a budding writer finally gets noticed and […]
Frankfurters with fried rice… Jeremy Pang on his memories of Cantonese cooking (Evening Standard)
The School of Wok founder tells Victoria Stewart why he loves frankfurters with fried rice, and why Cantonese cooking is so much more than comfort food. It was school lunch boxes that convinced Jeremy Pang that food could be fun. Aged 10, when the family […]
Mr Lyan on why sustainability doesn’t mean sacrifice (Foodism)
Cocktail alchemist Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, tells us how he’s planning on showing a new side to sustainability at his latest venture, Cub. by Victoria Stewart (Pic: Xavier D. Buendia / XDB Photography) LONDON, WE HAVE a problem. There’s stuff we need to sort out […]
Dodie Miller on how our love affair with Mexican food has developed in 20 years (Evening Standard)
Victoria Stewart talks to the founder of Cool Chile Co and Westbourne Grove’s Taqueria restaurant to find out more about London’s love affair with Mexican cuisine A fortnight ago BBC Good Food released the results of its fourth annual summer survey in which it revealed the relationship […]
Chasing the dram: Rachel McCormack on understanding the spirit of whisky, and how to cook with it (Evening Standard
Victoria Stewart talks to Rachel McCormack about her new book, a travelogue around Scotland looking at what whisky means to the people who drink it. Despite having spent a great deal of time in Scotland, I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to think about the […]
Do London’s Female Chefs Get the Recognition They Deserve? (Eater London)
Gender issues in restaurant kitchens are nothing new — but it’s time for London to set a better standard. By Victoria Stewart (illustration by Ellie Foreman-Peck) Last week I decided to imagine that I, a woman, was entering the London restaurant industry in 2017. Should […]