2020 was weird, 2021 is here with a few plans, Happy New Year to all · Ken On Food
Ken On Food
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Posts
  • Events
  • Podcast
  • Tours
  • About
  • Contact
Ken On Food
No Result
View All Result
Ken On Food
No Result
View All Result

2020 was weird, 2021 is here with a few plans, Happy New Year to all

Something something resolutiony.

Ken McGuire by Ken McGuire
1st January 2021
in Food For Thought
Reading Time: 4min read
Goodbye 2020. Photo: Immo Wegmann/Unsplash

Goodbye 2020. Photo: Immo Wegmann/Unsplash

If you’re reading this, you’ve made it to the other side of 2020 and a new year is upon is.

It’s been a hell of year as well.

RelatedReads

The renowned Zuni chocolate ball dessert.

From dinner parties to cookery classes, here’s 6 food goals for the new year: 2023 edition

2nd January 2023
St. Kieran's Street, Kilkenny.

Stepping into 2023, let’s make it about food in Kilkenny and adventures along the way

1st January 2023

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the Irish hospitality sector and restaurant trade. We’ve seen businesses close, we’ve seen businesses pivot to survive and we’ve seen people grab the opportunity of time and space to launch new food ventures.

ADVERTISEMENT

It was a year where we got used to queuing for cups of coffee and takeaway treats, washing your hands fifty times a day, wearing masks in restaurants if you did manage to get a table somewhere and when the doors were closed, we got used to click-and-collect services from our favourite haunts very quickly.

Events

Food events were few and far between. The annual calendar was torn up as early as March last year and never really recovered. Big gatherings like Food On The Edge were cancelled, big festivals like Savour Kilkenny moved online (and it’s still going at time of writing).

With travel restrictions in place around the country, we turned our attention to local.

Neighbourfood initiatives blossomed, local butchers, bakers and more kept their doors open, meal kits became more of a thing more and more people began turning attention to the smaller traders.

The likelihood is that what were temporary measures in 2020 will be more commonplace in 2021.

Sure enough, a corner may have been turned with the arrival of the first vaccine for Covid-19 in Ireland, but between rollouts and restrictions, concerns over gatherings around Christmas and this time of year, we’re set for another few months of relative uncertainty.

Ok, so not a very “happy new year” so far, but the year is what you make it.

Onward to 2021

We have adapted, we have learned, we have adjusted, we’ve become accustomed to the new way of doing things and that with recent developments, that at least brings some sense of direction, optimism and confidence for 2020.

While I don’t think that event will be happening anything on the scale of 2019 or early 2020, they will happen.

There’ll be more demos and classes and courses and online gatherings across the year than we know what do to do with and I’d be optimistic again that the renewed focus on local will remain and hopefully linger long beyond 2021.

For me, on food

For me, I’ll be turning the attention on the blog to more local and my own dealings with food.

Since the journey of cooking for three started (which is going pretty well), things have become a little more plant-based about the house and given the lack of getting out and about to restaurants, I’ve been doing an awful lot of cooking.

What I’ve not been doing is an awful lot of sharing of those recipes and dishes so (according to my notebook), that’s what I’ll do a little bit more of this year, go wild.

On the local side of things, I put together a few guides over the course of 2020 in terms of eating out and dining out with certain restrictions – all for Kilkenny – and that eye on what’s happening on the Kilkenny food scene will come more to the fore this year as I pull the trigger on the Kilkenny Food Guide (it took a bit of a twist last year).

Then, when it comes to the podcast, it continues with the weekly installments of Food In 5 Minutes on Sundays (returning from this coming Sunday for the first of 2021), coupled with interviews across the year with producers and makers, chefs and authors.

It’s that (the podcast) that I’m most excited about from a content point of view. If you’ve heard it before and would like to be part of it, drop me a line to say hello, introduce yourself and let’s talk.

Oh, and lastly, happy new year!

ShareTweetPin

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Ken On Food

Ken On Food is exactly what it says on the tin - a food blog by Ken McGuire!

I'm a thirty-something broadcaster, living in Kilkenny, Ireland and sharing a love of all things food.

Have a story of your own to share? Drop me an email.

useful

Some handy quick links for food lovers

  • Irish food Events & Festivals
  • Food tours in Ireland
  • Best Restaurants in Ireland

 

Foodies 100

Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
Foodies100

get in touch

If you’ve got an idea to pitch, would like to be part of the podcast, have an event coming up or are looking for a review – get in touch.

Email: [email protected]

Office: KCLR, Broadcast Centre, Carlow Road, Kilkenny, R95 YTD5

  • About Ken On Food
  • Resources For Food Bloggers
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2022 Ken McGuire · All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Posts
  • Events
  • Podcast
  • Tours
  • About
  • Contact

Copyright © 2022 Ken McGuire · All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.