The city’s food and drink scene is thriving more than ever, and nobody knows that better than Jules Head - or, as you’ll probably know her best, The Nottingham Food Guide. Now with over 6,000 Instagram followers, the 36-year-old has become a trusted, go-to source for all things food-related in Notts…
Chances are, you’ve stumbled on the Nottingham Food Guide while scrolling through your Instagram feed. But you’re probably not aware of the fascinating story behind its founder, or just how much hard work has gone on behind the scenes to get the page to where it is today.
Originally from Cape Town in South Africa, Jules moved to Nottingham three years ago to settle with her husband. Going out to eat had always been a hobby of theirs, but she quickly realised it was also an ideal way to get to know her new home. Speaking on how her blog came about, she says, “Back in Cape Town I had a very small veggie blog. It had around 250 followers but it was a huge fail because I started eating meat again… So once I moved here, I decided to rebrand it as The Nottingham Food Guide and start again. It’s taken me three years to get to 6,000 followers, so I think I’ve got a long way to go to where I want to be, but I still never expected the response I’ve had.”
Like many of us foodies, Jules just can’t get enough of the Nottingham hospitality scene, admitting that one of the things that makes the city so great is its wide array of street food and young entrepreneurs. “I’ve really fallen in love with Nottingham - I feel a lot of civic pride here,” she explains. “There’s some seriously talented people creating phenomenal food. It blows my mind that some are only in their mid-twenties and just giving it their all. There’s a lot of passion in Nottingham and that really stands out for me.
There’s some seriously talented people creating phenomenal food. It blows my mind that some are only in their mid-twenties and just giving it their all
“The one thing the city is lacking - well a gripe of mine, anyway - has been that you can’t get tacos in Nottingham. You have to go to a street vendor who isn’t always there. There’s been a real gap in the market for an independent Mexican restaurant, but the owners of Bar Iberico should be filling that soon!”
The first Nottingham restaurant Jules visited was Yamas Meze and Tapas, and she still holds it as her go-to Greek restaurant in the city. But while eating out can seem like the dream job, Jules’ Insta is a part-time hobby while she works full-time as a senior executive assistant at the University of Nottingham.
“I think people see the fun side of it, eating at great places, which is obviously amazing. But there's a lot of pre-planning. As you get a little bit bigger [on social media], you're doing content planning to market these pieces,” she admits. “And then there’s all the editing of your images and your reels - reels are my nemesis because they’re so much work - typing the write-up, choosing the best time to post and doing the research on the places you've visited. So there's a lot of work and a lot of money involved. It's not a cheap hobby, that’s for sure, but I have no complaints because I absolutely love it!”
Ultimately, for Jules, one of the best things to come from blogging has been the people she’s met in our city. “It’s a wonderful and supportive community and it's done wonders for someone like me who moved here in 2019 and didn’t have a single friend in Nottingham,” she muses. “It’s definitely got me out of my shell.”
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