Page & Plate 2.0
Or, why I now have a Substack.
Good god, woman, another platform?
I know what you’re thinking — you already have a business Instagram, another business Instagram, a personal Instagram that you won’t even link here because it is your #safespace, two Twitters, an unused Medium account, and a freshly re-vamped portfolio that also secretly houses all of your old recipes. Why on this blessed green planet do I need to be following you on ANOTHER platform?
I hear you. I really do. This is hard for me, too. After all, I’m the one who’s now responsible for creating all of this content. But it’s important to me that I have a space to share writing, and here’s why.
Writing was my first love. It was also my college major, which made me love it less, and the field into which I launched my career when I was fresh out of school. A love of writing and a desire to connect with people through words was what prompted me to start my now-mostly-defunct food/book blog, Page & Plate.
Now that the photography career that I accidentally launched with said blog is feeling, for the first time in the five years I’ve been doing it, like it might actually work out, I’ve found myself missing something. That something, dear reader, is the deafening clackety-clack of my janky bluetooth keyboard that makes my husband lean his head around his computer and widen his eyes at me until I quiet down. In other words, it is the writing. So here we find ourselves, at the beginning of a new and exciting platform.
If you found your way onto this email list from the way-way-back, OG Page & Plate newsletter, welcome. I know this isn’t the food blog you signed up for, but hopefully it still resonates in a way that you find valuable. If you’re new here, I’m jazzed to have you. I’d tell you what to expect, but, the truth is, I’m not really sure what to expect myself.
Here’s what’s on my mind.
I’ve been journaling again recently, which has sort of opened up this unending waterfall of theses, questions, and curiosities I didn’t realize I had in me. Some of these subjects are very close to the work that I do every day: the merits of specific ingredients, for example, and ethical questions surrounding the industry in which I find myself. Sometimes, I’ll throw in recipes. Lists of wines I love (spoiler alert: it’ll be long!). Maybe a restaurant review or two. Thoughts on books I’m reading? Sure, maybe.
I’m also going to throw a few curveballs your way. These might be a little more personal, a little more memoir/personal essay than what you’re used to hearing from me. It’s a new era, baby! There are no rules here. Maybe I should have called this newsletter The Wild (Mid)West.
So, here we go.
Substack tells me that in starting this newsletter, I’m “inviting people to subscribe to my thinking.” Honestly, that seems lofty and a little bit condescending to me. You have your own brain and your own thinking. I’m just here to talk about food and whatever else is on my mind. Let’s get weird.
How are we feeling?
Okay, team. Now it’s your turn. Do we hate this? (If so, you can tell me, but full disclosure, I’m not going to stop.) Do we love this? Do we want to hear specific perspectives or angles? Are we over newsletters or are we entering a Renaissance? Will this be the dawn of Page & Plate 2.0? Only time (and your sure-to-come responses) will tell! In the meantime, thanks for being here and for being wherever you were when you signed up for the newsletter of a blog called Page & Plate.
Cheers,
Laura