Ten independent food magazines to settle down with this winter – 2025 edition
Moving into the festive period whether you’re a foodie or not, food becomes a major talking point as we try and secure our traditional ingredients. Food culture within the independent magazine world is thriving and I’ve chosen ten of my favourite titles in the space. From home cooking, to family-owned factories or to top restaurants around the globe, the themes within these titles navigate the ever-changing landscape of food. It is more important than ever to discover the stories beyond the themes and this is what these extraordinary magazines achieve in print.
Famous for my dinner parties
“Famous for my dinner parties is a magazine and platform celebrating, portraying, questioning and discussing different aspects of the culture around food and eating.” Their short intro on their website keeps the concept of their magazine open and honest, allowing them to work with everything and anything related to the subject of food.
In their latest outing in issue three, there are 10 pieces in total “all circling around the anxieties of being alive in the world today and the way they reflect in what and how we eat,” they note.
Issue 3 is out now.
Picnic
Picnic issue five has five different covers, ranging from the wierd to to the wonderful. ‘The Big Apple’ issue continues their culinary journey to New York – meeting the cover stars along the way. Their artistic direction behind the photography showcases an aesthetic similar to that of a disposable film camera – a handheld, almost nostalgic view of the food experience.
Antenne Books writes, “Picnic Magazine hops across the pond to document the glitz and glamour of New York’s dining culture. From neighbourhood pizzeria L’industrie in Brooklyn, to East Village newcomers Apollo Bagels, British institution St John, and New York native Olivia Tiedemann.”
The fifth edition was first teased back in Autumn 2024 and is currently still available to order on their website.
Pit
‘Read, eat, repeat’ adorns the homepage of their website (at time of writing), immediately linking the act of eating with reading Pit, again and again. With a plethora of issues out – now on their 16th, there’s plenty of great content to consume. Their ‘About’ page on their website gives some insight. “Each themed issue uncovers the most interesting and unusual food stories from around the world through people, traditions, techniques and ingredients. We’ve cooked a giant goat shawarma for 30 people in a south London snowstorm, themed whole issues around sausages and MSG, and travelled the world through Sicily, Morocco, Malaysia, and Zanzibar in search of dinner.”
Issue 16 is out now.
Salt & Wonder
Taking one region at a time, Salt & Wonder’s approach to food in print is singular and precise. This approach allows them the luxury of depth and the team even interviews everyone in person and takes each photo themselves. The website notes, “Salt & Wonder is a limited run independent magazine portraying the roots and new movements of the culinary startup culture in Europe. One destination at a time, our finely designed issues chronicle the chefs and innovators who are drawing from the past and shaping the future of food.”
Their third issue landed in 2021. Back issues are still available on their website.
Sandweegies
With their debut issue launched this Autumn, Sandweegies look set to take on the world. Produced by Studio Heley, their website writes, “Sandweegies is a creatively designed magazine that dives into Glasgow’s vibrant food scene – one sandwich at a time. More than just a celebration of great food, it’s a tribute to the people behind it: the bakers, chefs, and café owners who bring the city’s sandwiches to life. Through behind-the-scenes glimpses, and carefully curated layouts, Sandweegies explores not just what’s on the plate, but the passion, craft and community behind it.”
Issue 1 is out now.
Overleaf is now on Substack!
Get indie magazine news, reviews and events direct to your inbox! Simply sign up to the Overleaf newsletter on Substack and you’ll be the first to hear about new articles, podcast episodes and loads more.
Sandwich
You might have seen Sandwich making waves with its latest cover star, Gordon Ramsey. The art direction references one of the most internet-famous scenes from his work in the kitchen. Better take a look for yourself. Sandwich’s website writes, “Founded in 2018, Sandwich uses the often overlooked but universally beloved culinary creation, the sandwich, to champion the connecting power of food. Delivered through cultural reporting, photo essays, and interviews on the most surprising and creative corners of the food world at large, Sandwich taps into a hard-to-reach tastemaker audience in the US and Europe, who eschew traditional advertising.”
Issue 8 is out now.
Sankaku
Sankaku magazine has recently celebrated the launch of their third issue, ‘Gods’, switching their focus to the relationship between religion and culture. Not a conventional food magazine, sankaku aims to celebrate people and craft – with food being the theme for issue two, which was reviewed back in 2024 on the site. They even have a special edition which includes ramen attached to the front cover, as the issue explored the ingredient in depth.
“Each book explores the depths of a single subject, highlighting uncommon narratives at the intersection of culture, design, and community. Our stories begin in Japan, with an eye to the world beyond its borders.”
Serviette
Serviette touches on everything food and has created a vibrant community that follows in their mission. Their latest issue focuses on pulling “back the curtain on food’s traditions, rites, and rituals,” they write in their shop.
“Serviette is a magazine about food: the people who grow and produce it, the distances we travel to eat it, and all the ways it’s tangled up with culture, science, history, and design. We bring together irresistible storytelling, eye-catching design, and thoughtful contributors to explore food’s journey from seed to stomach (and even out into space). Serviette captures the best sort of dinner-party conversation: wide-reaching, digressive, and wildly informative and entertaining.”
Serviette’s latest outing: issue 7’s ‘Food is Ritual’ is out now.
Swill
In 2008, Swillhouse was founded – the home of Swill magazine. Although the publication had yet to emerge at the time, their Australian restaurant mission grew exponentially to multiple locations – all stemming from their base in Sydney. Since then their magazine has seen six issues and over 12,000 Instagram followers.
“Swill: An all-access pass to the most powerful voices in food,” their shop notes. “A quarterly publication, Swill is a collection of stories bedded in restaurant culture and all those soft places in between. A celebration of beauty, told with intelligence and wit. The backbone of human culture, food and drink permeates every aspect of modern life in all kinds of ways. Swill gives voice to the strange, smart, beloved and unloved.”
Synonym
Published in 2025, ‘Enclaves’ had already sold out on their website at the time of writing – and that was the pre-order allocation. It’s Synonym’s fourth outing and continues their biannual food magazine covering the global immigrant diaspora through the lens of food and art. “At Synonym, we are telling immigrant stories through food,” they note on their website.
“As strangers in a new land, a taste of home can provide comfort and familiarity. Bringing those tastes together with the food at hand creates new traditions, a new heritage. We’ll spotlight these stories and share how trade, politics, colonialism, and capitalism have changed food cultures around the world, for immigrants and countries’ natives alike. We’ll explore all of this in the most intimate ways possible —through generationally shared flavors, the dishes placed on a table, the spices packed in a suitcase.“
Issue four is out now.
Many food magazines dive across a multitude of themes, but as per this list it’s not always the case for every title. Some titles specialise by offering us a rare glimpse into an industry, a region, an ingredient or an experience for example, that the everyday person may not see. Gaining a flavour of these inner worlds implores us, the readers, to explore further and book that much needed holiday for that exclusive dish or book a table at the restaurant that has been on your list for years. From well-seasoned foodies to the casual diner, these independent food magazines appeal to all of us – taking with it an ambition to eat better and read better.
Sponsor this article
Advertise your goods or shop here! Contact Overleaf via overleafpodcast@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Article Sponsorship’ to find out more.
Enjoying Overleaf?
