I’m Ben Drinkwater: a writer and copy editor working across food, culture and anthropology.

I’ve written for, and worked with, some of the world’s most influential organisations. My work is driven by a belief that good writing should feel alive on the page, not sanded down for safety.

Food has always been my jumping off point. I’ve written for multiple publications, run a restaurant review blog, and publish a Substack with a growing readership. Backed by a degree in politics and an incurable curiosity about how people live, I approach every subject with an anthropological lens and a healthy scepticism for conventional wisdom. I’m interested in food not as siloed genre, but as language that helps us understand ourselves.

I’m currently working on An Alphabet for (Modern) Gourmets, a contemporary reimagining of M.F.K. Fisher’s 1949 An Alphabet for Gourmets. It’s a collection of essays about food, yes, but more specifically, about how we form our identities, and negotiate the world around the table.

If you’d like to work together, or just want to talk, you can find me by email or on Instagram.