New year, new things!
2024 is here for us all: happy and healthy and of course always delicious and a bit controversial at times!
Hello, 2024!
I greet you from the Dolomites, where I love to retreat in the colder months and take advantage of the snow, long hikes, and comfort food such as Alpine delicacies, stews and soups.
New year, new and old things
This is a brand new year for this publication, which is now a well-established routine for all - for me as a writer, for you as a reader!
I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing: the freedom I have here, unencumbered by commercial issues makes this blog a very free place to explore new concepts of gastronomy, ideas, provocations and fruitful collaborations.
For the best part of last year, I engaged with
- a beautiful newsletter for Italians, catering to curiosities about the whole Iberian peninsula. I have an ongoing collaboration with my friend and wine expert talking about wines in a non-hedonistic manner.In 2023 I collaborated with Biztronomy, with RelishPortugal and I have some other media projects lined up.
I think I am slowly shifting towards freelance writing, hooray! And this also thanks to readers who support my publication by paying for the subscription: thank you, seriously.
And if you are a Substack author, and you want to collaborate, ping me and we will write something together! If you have another media outlet, I am also interested in collaborating.
Shoot your ideas, and we will make them become true.
Plans for 2024
Here below I am giving you a sneak peek into what is going to happen with this publication in the coming twelve months.
Stay tuned, because you will be in for a wild ride!
More Health
I want to explore more the intersection between gastronomy and health, especially the efforts that some chefs and restaurants are making in pushing the boundaries of fine dining from a gluttonous, hedonistic experience, to a more inclusive experience where nutrition is taken into account as much as pleasure.
I will delve deep into places like the F. X. Mayr culinary, SHA Resorts gastronomy, and Lanserhof cuisine.
I deeply believe that we are witnessing a shift from a reality where fine dining is connected to excess, hedonism, wine, fat, sugar and salt towards high-end gastronomy where nature and nurture go hand in hand with health, longevity, and taste considerations.
The mediatic overexposure of traditional patisserie (think of Cedric Grolet) leaves room for high-end patisserie that is evolving in an environment where sugar and animal proteins can be left aside, for other choices.
A beautiful challenge that we will explore.
More philosophy and sociology
I want to read more, think more, and discuss more with you about the meaning of food, its significance as a cultural vehicle, its sociological implications in our livelihood, and its impacts on and in our ecosystems.
I want to go out for lunch with you and discuss these things - figuratively.
Fewer restaurants, chefs, stars and listicles
If possible, I want to cut to zero the time I will dedicate to anything related to individual ego. From stars to suns to listicles, I want to ignore altogether the system that is harming gastronomy, rather than making it evolve, encrusting it in principles that cannot be overcome, seemingly, to abide by “gang-like” rules and non-written procedures.
What I want to do more is instead to observe the observer: study, analyse and criticize the way writers and journalists look, write, and think in gastronomy.
I do not care if a restaurant wins a star, I want to see and understand how the information is reported by journalists and their motives.
Opening new chapters
With 2024, I’m opening up two dedicated sections of this blog.
The first one is called DRYnking, and as the name hints, it’s all about low and no alcoholic beverages. There is a serious lack of expertise and expert discussions around these beverages.
Together, we will taste, try and explore everything that is low or no alcohol. We will open a new path!
We will dedicated have tastings and discussions around this emerging trend that is going to revolutionize the way we approach “drinks” at large forever.
And of course, we will try pairings and restaurants that offer alternatives to traditional wine and spirits, and we will have mad fun in the process.
The second one is called The Healthy Gourmet and is going to focus exclusively on all those restaurants, recipes and cooks that are paving a new way at the crossroads between health and gourmandise.
By subscribing to The Other Gourmand, you are subscribed by default to these two sections but remember that your subscriptions here on
are fully customizable.If you are not interested in the new sections you can opt out of receiving the newsletters, and if you are only interested in one of the newsletters, you can opt-out from the other ones!
I am aware that not everybody is interested in dry drinking or healthy fine dining, and this is the reason why I split the newsletter into chapters - instead of creating brand new newsletters. There is a subtle thread of thoughts in all of the topics, and I need to explore each one individually.
Are you with me?
In thanking you all for your subscription, I invite you to consider paying for an upgrade and accessing all materials and writings.
You can support a different way of writing about gastronomy, and get a new perspective in turn.
You can also share this publication with your peers: spreading the word is helpful to grow the number of readers and it’s a good gift to those around you who are interested in discussing food from a different perspective.
Sharing is free!
Alternatively, you can offer a subscription to someone you like, and that could be interested in this blog. It’s a nice gesture - and once again, sharing is caring!
You can also tell me what you would like to read about, and I will be able to insert your wishes in the publication calendar for this brand-new year!
I enjoyed reading this post, and found it very interesting. Outlining your plans for the year is great. It shows that even though you’re an artist, you’re also a structured thinker and you aren’t afraid to expose your hopes. Impressive! I am particularly interested in seeing what you’ll write in the philosophical and sociological side of your posts. I look forward to following you. I wish you a great 2024 and much success.
Happy new year and good luck for all your new projects 🙂