What’s it all about?

After years of not being able to peel a spud, I’ve discovered a love of cooking. That’s led to a kitchen bursting at the seams with gadgets, gizmos, Tupperware and tableware, an incurable eating-out habit, and an exciting travel itinerary – all in the pursuit of new cultures and cuisine. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it, and this is the slice of the www I do it in. Herein lie the plates I’ve created and sampled so far!

The places bit is really growing too. Recently, I’ve visited Ljubljana, Lake Plitvice in Croatia, Florence, NYC, and Amsterdam and I’ve got Lisbon, Mallorca, and France in the pipeline. As for me, my name’s Gemma. I’m a freelance copywriter and editor working for mostly online clients in the worlds of fashion, food (I just can’t get enough…), events and travel. I’m 26 and I live in South London with my boyfriend, Alex.

Navigating Plates and Places

I’ve set Plates and Places out so you can see my latest post as soon as you hit the homepage, kind of like a diary of what I’ve been eating and where I’ve been going. You just have to click ‘Read More’ to see the full blog post, meaning it’s easy to scroll through a whole heap of post headers without having to get through each post’s ramblings. Should you wish to be a little more methodical about your browsing or if looking for something in particular, there’s a menu on the right-hand side, just under my ‘Follow Me!’ and social buttons. There you’ll find my posts divided into categories, Breakfast, Lunch / Dinner (I find they’re pretty interchangeable meal types!), Dessert, Drinks, Restaurants & Reviews, London and Travel. Hopefully, that makes sense. There’s also an Everything Else category, which is home to sauces and sides, tips and tricks, cookbook recommendations etc etc. I’ve just added The Brunch Diaries and Slow Cooker Recipes to the list too, largely because the amount of bottomless brunches and goulash variations I was consuming got to a level that felt deserving of dedicated sections.

Reviews, affiliates and free stuff

Every single review you see here took place at a restaurant I or my dining partners have chosen to eat at. Sometimes exciting new eating establishments, pop-ups and foodie brands invite me for a nibble but I can assure you, this does not sway my opinion. You may suspect otherwise because my reviews tend to err on the gushy side but that’s simply because I want Plates and Places to be a positive space and thus don’t share the not-so-good stuff. If it doesn’t taste nice, you won’t find it here. Occasionally I use affiliate links when linking to product I like / have tried / am telling you about. If you don’t know how affiliate links work a quick Google will explain much better than I can, but in a nutshell, if you click and buy something I link you to, I will receive a very small commission. I’m always open to collaborations, we’ll just have to think the same and like the same food 😉

Any questions? Pop me an email: gemmalucypress@gmail.com.

Gem x