Last night was the The Guild of Food Writers Annual Awards and it felt like a flashmob Substack Team Meet Up.

In large part thanks to the impeccable hosting skills of Leyla Kazim (who presented the awards with grace, humour, warmth - a masterclass).

But also all the inspiring Substack writers who were there, shortlisted, organising or cheerleading their fellow writers - Claire Ruston Julie Friend Ruth Watson A Passion for Seafood Fliss Freeborn Mark Diacono Catherine Phipps gilly smith Barbara Segall Mallika Basu Ren Behan Ross Clarke Lizzie Wingfield Sarah Mooney Personal Chef and many more who I couldn’t see in the scrum for the sherry cocktails.

Wonderful evening, good work, team. Just don’t expect too much of me today…