Inside Monocle’s guide to stylish drinking and dining aesthetics outweigh all else
Magazine publisher’s modish volume champions looks and exclusivity over practicality
“If not a bar then perhaps you have considered raising some goats and trying your hand at running a boutique dairy operation. Or maybe it was apples and pressing the best juices, with some exquisite branding. At the very least you spend a considerable amount of time plotting and planning where you’re going to sample brunch next Saturday, archiving articles on the best izakaya in Fukuoka and snapping photos of wine labels that you need to add to your ever-expanding cellar.”
I’m not sure where he gets his estimate of “80 to 90 per cent” but it is true: many people spend inordinate amounts of time thinking about food and drink.
The Monocle Guide to Drinking & Dining is not really a cookbook, although it does contain some recipes. Instead, it focuses on many things a host needs to know about and do before actually getting into the kitchen. It introduces us to artisanal producers, the best shops to buy ingredients and some of the best places to drink and eat.