Food and drink have become a major part of most peoples lives, in particular their social lives. In fact the phrase food and drink produces over 89 million hits on the Google website. Excessiveness in either is of course unhealthy, but perhaps this is one of the reasons why people see good food or good wine as something special, something to treat themselves with.
Guides to good food, wine and restaurants have become big business. Egon Ronay’s Guide to the Best Restaurants and Gastropubs in the UK which provides detailed reviews of over 500 restaurants and gastropubs has sold over 2 million copies. Its simple to compare style of awarding up to three stars to each restaurant is clearly a hit with readers.
The Good Food Guide edited by Elizabeth Carter sells itself as Britains leading restaurant guide and is currently in it 56th edition, detailing over 1,500 eateries from gastropubs to high end dining.
Fine wine guides are also a big seller, with books such as Clarkes ‘Fine Wine Guide: A Connoisseur’s Bible’ and Johnson-Bell’s ‘Good Food, Fine Wine: A Practical Guide to Finding the Perfect Match’ both readily...