Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
#8 JackAllen (Jackeatseverything) -Are Instagram foodies the new Food Critics?
95 Plays4 months ago
Today we have the pleasure of talking with Jack Allen, also known on socials as Jackeatseverything. Jack runs food based socials, which started off as a way of sharing his favourite local restaurants with his friends, but then grew into a much larger audience.
We chat with Jack about the importancce of 'keeping it real' with his online presence, how he deals with posting a negative 'review' and what seperats him from a food critic.
Please enjoy, Jack Allen!
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome welcome to the check on podcast and on today's check we have someone who is very immersed in the food industry but he isn't a chef Jack Allen, or Jack Eats Everything on social media, is a well-known foodie. Jack started off by having a page that recommended different restaurants to his friends, and then it grew into something different. Now he runs a successful Instagram page, does reviews for promotions for restaurants, and manages food-based social accounts. And we ask the question, are Instagram foodies the new food critics? Please enjoy Jack Allen.
00:00:48
Speaker
Hello, Jack. Welcome to the Check On podcast. How are you? Hello, Casey. Yeah, I'm all good. Thank you. How are you? Yeah, good. Good. How's your day been? Yeah, it's been all right. It's been wet. It's been very wet. I feel like people were promising me nicer weather in September and I think I've been lied to.
00:01:05
Speaker
I know I don't really feel we've had much of a summer like had a few odd days but the rain it's rained all day today. Yeah I saw something saying it was like six weeks worth of rain in one day for Bristol. Oh wow yeah well there's a lot of places around where I live that are flooded.
00:01:25
Speaker
Has that affected you a lot? Because you, um in terms of like your sort of Instagram account and what you do, you go to a lot of food festivals and stuff like that. Has that stopped you from doing some of that stuff? It's it's not been too bad, to be fair. i don't I don't mind the weather. I'll record in any conditions, um the rain, snow. It doesn't really bother me too much. I've also got another business. I got a gardening business. So that affects that massively.
00:01:52
Speaker
i had 10 clients for today and i cancelled all 10 so that is yeah that is a bit of a pain but it's where i live it's in thornberry which is just outside of bristol so the the roads aren't quite as good as in the center of bristol so sometimes it can get flooded or if it snows and that sometimes it could just be a little bit difficult with public transport um but i get through it i'm okay You're an all-weather kind of guy. Yeah, yeah, honestly, yeah, I don't i really don't mind what weather. Obviously, I prefer it to be sunny. I think everyone would um prefer the sun, especially for shooting as well. that When you're videoing at festivals or restaurants or anything, it does have a massive impact on the lighting and just the overall how it looks. it No one wants their restaurant filmed when it's pouring downward rain.
00:02:43
Speaker
I guess, yeah, I mean, sometimes I feel like it can maybe give it a cozy look, but that's probably just when you're in there experiencing it. It probably doesn't give it a cozy look when you're trying to get it out there for Instagram. Yeah, it definitely gives it a cozy look inside. Sometimes ah the rain hitting against the window can be quite nice. I like the sound of it. But when you're introduced in a restaurant or something outside and then you've got someone filming it as well, like Jazz, my girlfriend, and she's under a little umbrella, it's not so good for her. Poor Jazz. I feel like she's got the short end of the stick.
00:03:13
Speaker
yeah she Yeah, she didn't know she was signing up for that when and yeah but she signed up originally in the summer and then she's getting pelted with ice and snow. So how did this all start for you? um So it all started on Instagram. It will start on Instagram about nearly seven years ago now and it was It started just as a tiny bit of fun. On my personal account, Jowls, which I was called, I just used to post food all the time because I love food. um Absolutely love food. Whenever I used to go to a restaurant or anything, I didn't see myself as a blogger by any means. I just enjoyed taking photos of food and beers and stuff. So I put it on my Instagram and then one day I looked at my Instagram and it was just, all it was was food.
00:04:01
Speaker
And I was like, oh, like there is more to me than just food. um So I thought I'll stop ah stop doing it. And a few of my friends sort of said to me, like why have you stopped posting food? I often use the places that you like you take photos of to take my girlfriends for dinner and stuff like that. So I was like, oh, I never thought of it like that.
00:04:22
Speaker
So what I did is I created an account and I made it private and I just let my mates follow it and I would put photos of any nice food that I had and then they could go on there and think of places that they could take their girlfriend for date night. Right, so quite humble beginnings then. Yes, absolutely. And then when when did it sort of change or what made you decide to make it change?
00:04:48
Speaker
Um, like I said, it was private. So I only had like 20 followers. I can't lie. And I come across two bloggers, which was, um, Tom foodery. It was Tom, which church and Natalie Britton. And I seen they had like two or 3000 followers and I seen what they were doing. And I thought, Oh, that looks cool. Like maybe, like, maybe I could do it. I don't know. I didn't really have much, um, belief in myself. I just thought maybe I could.
00:05:13
Speaker
So I made the Instagram profile private and then all of a sudden a couple of followers started coming through. And I was like, this is, this is pretty cool. And I had like some nice comments. Obviously you're going to get that to be fair in the early beginnings. I didn't really have any bad comments. I just had nice comments. And, um, yeah, then after a while I hit a thousand followers and that was sort of, that was the goal really. When I first started was to hit short term was 500.
00:05:40
Speaker
And then yeah the long-term goal was a thousand because to me a thousand followers was still a very large amount of people. Yeah, absolutely. um Isn't it funny how back when we're first starting on, I guess, social media journey, we think a thousand followers is a lot of people and then all of a sudden it grows and it grows and it kind of just takes on a form and a life of its own.
00:06:04
Speaker
Yes, yeah, absolutely. um And then it just, yeah, it started, I think on a lot of accounts as well, your first thousand does come quite quick. um Whether I was lucky, I don't know. um Obviously, when I made it public, it had a bit of content on there, so it probably looked a bit more than someone else's account who's just started. And then, yeah, I got a message from a source company in London, I believe, called Brost Brothers, and they run like a subscription source company.
00:06:34
Speaker
And they asked if they could send me some sources. And I remember at the time thinking, like, why? Like, I didn't really understand. I was like, I didn't order any. And they were like, they were sort of like, no, we want to send these to you, like, to put your page. And I was like, oh my God, this could be it. This is the one.
00:06:52
Speaker
We've made it. Yeah, I've made it in life because I'm getting sent, I think it was three bottles of chili sauce. And I i remember ringing my my best friend, Tom, and I told him, and he was like, this is huge. Like, we we couldn't believe it. So I, at the time, I didn't have the best phone either. And he'd just got an iPhone 8. That proves how long ago it was. And he was like, come to my house. I've literally just cleaned the kitchen and bring the sauces, and we'll do like a little photo shoot with it.
00:07:19
Speaker
And I was honestly the excitement. level I think we were both excited. it It's not his page, but he was super excited for me and he's he's into photography. So he was like, when I got there, as soon as I got there, he took the lead and he was like, okay. And I remember we must have took 500 photos, just like three bottles of sauce and all different angles, because we were so excited. Was the sauce nice?
00:07:41
Speaker
The sauce was very nice. um i There was three bottles. And being completely honest, I can't remember two of them, but one of them was called Satan's gravy. And I still get it. I haven't got it this year, but I bought after having it. I bought quite a few bottles of that. And it's it's some good stuff. It's quite spicy, but it's good.
00:07:59
Speaker
nice nice i'm gonna have to give it a try yeah um i guess um being would you consider yourself a food influencer then i don't want to put words in your mouth or anything yes now i would yes now and then what i guess my question is we all As chefs and restaurants, we all kind of rely a little bit. Like if we need to boost something or um we want to get someone to help us get our um restaurant or business out there into social media a little bit, we we come to people like you and we say, would you like to come into our restaurant? And if you like it, take a few photos, make a reel. So it's definitely this kind of new form of exchange that probably didn't necessarily, well, I didn't know if it existed 10 years ago.
00:08:47
Speaker
To me, it kind of almost feels like um a modern day food critic. I don't know if that's something that you would kind of resonate with, but that's that's how I see food influences. Yes, yeah, absolutely. I mean, every food influencer or food blogger is different. um Some are more critical than others and Yeah, yeah, I agree with where you're coming from. It is definitely a form of food critic. And then I suppose it depends how they portray herself online and how they ship how they how they when they go somewhere, like how they show off that place, whether they do critic the good and bad, whether they just show the good, whether they show both, or if they're more negative, you know, like
00:09:35
Speaker
bloggers sometimes get hate for saying things that aren't necessarily the nicest thing about restaurants. But then I suppose that's another thing you could go into is how you would give a bad review, whether you would go public with it or email them, et cetera.
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, I guess the difference is one of the only sort of big differences I can see is a food critic wouldn't necessarily or most likely wouldn't be invited to a restaurant. They would have it on their list um of places to go. They would show up and then they would write their review. So they kind of have that freedom, I guess, to say the their experience about it, whether it be good or bad. But I imagine it gets a little bit more tricky um when you are an influencer and you've been invited to an event or to try something and it's ah it's a meal that I presume usually is gifted to you in some way or form. um Yeah, I suppose. Correct me if I'm wrong. No, that's fine. Just going back to what you said about a food critic.
00:10:37
Speaker
I think you're right on what you're saying, a food critic would go to every restaurant, every single, if they if they were a food restaurant reviewer and they were a critic, they would go to every restaurant no matter what it meant to them and they would um have their experience and then they would write up a review critic in what happened but I suppose with myself I wouldn't quite say I'd do that. I'd like to say it's more on a local level although I do mainly Bristol but Bristol Gloucester Bath Cardiff London I'd like to think that
00:11:14
Speaker
I want to promote more local things and like independent um places. And the bigger places definitely do have their ah need, absolutely. um But let's say I had a day off, a random day off, I would not go to I would not go to the mall or Cabot Circus and just go to Bella Italia and do a review on it. I suppose a critic would because they would want to tick off every single place. I would much rather use that time to potentially talk about somewhere local that could be the next best thing.
00:11:48
Speaker
Yeah, that's really cool. I think that's one of the things that really intrigues me about your pages. It is often very, very local um and independent, but also I feel like it's very real. um And I think that's probably why you've had quite a lot of success um on your sort of Instagram.
00:12:08
Speaker
journey is I think when you watch your reels and you watch your stories and your photos, it feels very authentic. um But I wonder if sometimes that's hard to kind of maintain, like sometimes maybe if you are in that world, maybe you get a little bit lost into it and you feel like you need to start making it something that it's not. um I don't know if you've ever sort of felt like that or if you'd like to share your experience on that. Yeah, um so yeah, when I meet people,
00:12:36
Speaker
um whether it's people I'm showing my account or they've come across my account and they meet me in real life. A lot of people do, so that's the main compliment I get is that it is very real. The page is very real. I share a lot on there. It's not just the food reviews. I share a lot of things like fitness, cooking, family, my dog's farm, everything. um So yeah, I try to make it as real as possible just because I want to appeal to pretty much everyone and yeah and show that anyone could really do this if they wanted to. There's a lot of work that goes into it by all means um and that sometimes I do think to myself if it wasn't so real
00:13:17
Speaker
it probably wouldn't create me as much work in some ways because I could think to myself, oh, for example, today, I don't have to put anything on there, I don't have to do anything for the next couple of days, but I is a great community on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, they're all great communities and you do make meet some amazing people and they are genuinely interested about the little things, like by all means it's cool to see someone go to a restaurant and eat at the most fancy place.
00:13:45
Speaker
in London, but it's also cool just to see me in a breakfast wrap that I cooked from home outside showing off my vegetable garden and I think pete some people, not everyone can afford to eat in a fancy restaurant, but most people can afford to put some radishes in some soil, you know what I mean?
00:14:05
Speaker
I think that's a really cool way to look at it. Are there any negative sides to it that you can think of? Like, I know you mentioned to start with that at the start of your journey, you didn't get too many negative comments or anything like that. That kind of leads me to think that there might have been some recently. Yeah, I think so. The more you put yourself out there, um you definitely get amazing opportunities. um but You're also going to pick up a few Bitter haters along the way, you are. um One of the big things on Instagram, TikTok, and I'm sure you you realize it as a chef and restaurant, is that you have to put your face out there a lot of the times because if you don't, you're not really going to appeal to most people.
00:14:49
Speaker
by putting yourself out there yeah you do pick up some amazing people you get some amazing relationships with people online and friendships um but yeah you you will when i was first starting off i didn't put myself out there as much so that really did limit the amount of things that people could i suppose comment on um and the bigger you get and when you start to trend and go viral you're reaching people that you've never reached before these might necessarily be people that don't follow you so they might not share the same interests as you but you have popped up on their social media page and they don't like that and some people like myself I would just move past that maybe make a comment to myself but some people do feel the need to air their frustrations and there's definitely a way that you can definitely disagree with what I'm saying if I'm making a recipe or something and that's good it opens a good debate it's it's healthy to do that but there are people on
00:15:45
Speaker
and Instagram, mainly TikTok, I can't lie. If I had to take one social media account that I would say to people to be careful on, it would be TikTok because it has it gives you so many opportunities, but some of the hate on there can be terrible.
00:15:59
Speaker
and I do not feel that TikTok are doing enough to stop it. Because there are pages on there with absolutely no followers, no check, anyone can make a TikTok page if they want to. And then some of the stuff they're putting, not just me being completely honest, I haven't had it that bad. But then what I see what they're putting on other people's I honestly think is disgusting. And I'm pretty thick skinned. And like I said, I haven't had it that bad. But I can imagine how it would get other people down.
00:16:29
Speaker
What kind of negative comments have you had? If you don't mind sharing. God, I've had loads. I laugh them all off. Um, but if you're having a bad day and you're stressed out, you know what I mean? It could, it can make your day worse. Like these little things, you know, you say it doesn't matter if in the back of your head is doing your editing, but like even little things, they'll just be, there was a girl once having a pop at me for not putting pepper on my eggs. And it starts off a bit funny, done it like, Oh yeah, don't worry. And then she was just persistent constantly going on and on and on and on. And then, then you get that, you get people, um,
00:17:04
Speaker
not happy with the way you look obviously it's a massive one you're putting yourself out there you're on camera to view so people are obviously going to say they don't like the way you look the food you cook the restaurants you go to there's loads of stuff but the biggest the biggest thing i can say to people which is what a few of the other bloggers have told me is just to block them and keep moving because if you let them get you down then they've just won. they They're happy. But the biggest thing to remember is they're sat at home. They're that bitter that they thought, I'm going to comment on this. And I honestly, I don't get angry. I sort of think to myself, I'd love to sort of sit down with some of these people and just see how they are, because I'm a very happy person. I get it. Everyone can't be happy. And I'd love to sit down with these people and check that they're okay.
00:17:53
Speaker
It's a very weird kind of world, isn't it? like I know pre MasterChef, I think I had 300 followers maximum. I was, nobody on Instagram, still I'm not, but you know what I mean. I was not, it was not part of my universe. I went on there occasionally to look up some recipes and stuff like that. um And I remember them warning us about it and saying, listen, even if the majority of the people are really nice and happy for you and everything,
00:18:19
Speaker
there are going to be people no matter who you are no matter how well you do there's always going to be someone and kind of like you for the most part i could kind of just laugh at it because i was like yeah right here whatever um it really didn't bother me but just occasionally and i don't know if what it was if it was what they said or the mood i was in but just occasionally i would just latch onto it and I would fixate on it. And I'd have to have Vincent in the background being like, do not engage, do not reply. It's not worth it. But in my head, I would just have all of these replies and I would get so mad. So I don't, I don't envy anyone who's sort of in that position because it is sometimes a really hard thing to just laugh off, you know. Yeah, absolutely. You're putting yourself out there. If you sort of can't handle that, then
00:19:07
Speaker
You need to think about if whether you should be doing it or not on social media because you are always gonna get these people. And for every, you ah you'll see these 50 new comments that are lovely, but take those and try not get too upset about the one or two little people. So that's why I always just block them and just keep on creating, keep moving.
00:19:29
Speaker
It's a very healthy way to be. Speaking in the vein of that, I guess it's kind of along the same lines. um What would you do if you were in the position where you'd been invited to a restaurant um and they wanted you to do something on your social media for it, but you didn't enjoy the experience? I've always wondered this. I've always wondered what influences do about that.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah, so when I first started out, I always thought to myself, God, what if that was to happen? What would I do? Like, I asked for some advice of people. Everyone says different, don't they? um But what I always went with is whether I've been invited in or whether I've gone in off my own back and paid whatever money it was, if the meal was bad, I'd always try speak to someone there. So try speak to someone.
00:20:19
Speaker
And if you're not getting the info or the answer you need really from that, most of the time you will, um to send them an email or try to contact the restaurant owner or street food owner somehow.
00:20:31
Speaker
to explain the experience that you've had. And I can almost assure you that nine out of 10 times, the restaurant owner or business owner will be absolutely brilliant about it. um They don't, they obviously don't want you to have a bad experience. That's not part of it. They will listen to what you say, and then they'll invite you back in, or they'll find some sort of way to make you happy again, I suppose. to have that experience again and hopefully have a better experience, sorry. um And then yeah, if if the person was to not reply or if it was to form some sort of argument, then I'd take it down a different route.
00:21:08
Speaker
um But nine times out of ten, some people but i are almost scared to talk to someone, they want to almost just leave the restaurant and just get on with their life and never go there again. And I know people that do that, people, for example, will go to a restaurant, they won't enjoy it, and then for the rest of their life, they will never eat at that restaurant, never recommend it or anything. But I've had a few restaurants in the past where I've gone there, I haven't enjoyed the experience, I've spoke to and the manager or the owner, I've gone back a second time, and it's been brilliant.
00:21:37
Speaker
I think that's a really, um I mean, it's something that we talk about quite a lot on the podcast. I know I haven't done a lot of episodes being released just yet, but to the people that I have spoken to, we always kind of fall onto this topic of, you know, TripAdvisor and negative reviews and stuff like that.
00:21:55
Speaker
ah kind of really wish that people followed along your suit a little bit and just tried to communicate a little bit first because it potentially was you know just a bad day and I get it people have spent money on that but I think that they should share the experience with the owner because at the end of the day the owner wants a successful business.
00:22:13
Speaker
So they want people to communicate. It's the same thing with us with private dining or supper clubs. Yes, we love all the the lovely comments. We love them. But we also want people to tell us if they haven't liked something. Because if we don't know or we're not aware of something, then we can't rectify it. We can't make it any better. Yes, I always agree i always agree with the sort of, if you didn't like something, just don't say anything, never go there again, never recommend it. But then like you're saying,
00:22:39
Speaker
how is that person or that restaurant or street food trader supposed to improve if you never give them any feedback and that feedback doesn't have to be put on like a TripAdvisor thing with a one-star review because that's not the way to do it um but actually you want to be able to speak to them and yet I've only had a handful literally of people I've ever spoke to and they've taken it the wrong way or not been interested at all i've told i think of one before i told them i just didn't enjoy the meal and they just said that's just because of you like that's the way that's the way you are and i was like right that's absolutely fine um and then i'll proceed to do whatever i want with that whether i want to post about it whether i want to just move on with it um but normally and when you have that experience you do get a really good understanding of the restaurant and the owner because you're actually getting an experience off them that you wouldn't have got before because
00:23:30
Speaker
You're getting the chance to speak to the the top man or woman who's running the place. And they they don't want a bad review. No restaurant wants a bad review. And you don't want to give a bad review. i That's the thing. That's why sometimes I wouldn't say I'm a critic. Because if I hear if I heard somewhere was rubbish, I probably probably wouldn't go there. If I, if I heard 10 people say to me, oh, for example, this restaurant, we keep going there and it's rubbish. It wouldn't, I wouldn't be thinking to myself, oh, tomorrow I need to go there and review it to sort of show everyone how bad it is. And that's sometimes people say to me, how can you have so many nice meals? Like there must be more bad ones, but honestly, there aren't because I do, I read up on things, I research it. speak I speak, I've got massive like friendship in the community world.
00:24:18
Speaker
and i would I wouldn't go to somewhere if it looked that bad. I take chances sometimes and maybe if I had more time, I should take more chances and go to more places. um But yeah, I just wouldn't i wouldn't go to somewhere if it was that bad. I'm not out there trying to find places that are rubbish. I want to find the places that are new or I'm hearing that they're the best around.
00:24:44
Speaker
How does it make you feel when you do end up having to post ah a review that's, well not a review, but something on Instagram that may not be in a very positive light? Because I know for me that would be that would be really hard. I'm a type A people pleaser. It would be so hard for me to do that. But you sound like you have done it before. um Yeah, yeah. no It's not easy because just like you, I'm a very happy person. I just want everything to be All good, I leave a very positive life, I'm quite level-headed. And then when I have to do something like that, I might be having a great day, but I think, ah.
00:25:16
Speaker
I had this meal or this experience and I'm gonna have to try word it. I'll always word things in the best possible way. For example, as well, if I went to a restaurant and I had a dish and I didn't like it, it might still be cooked amazingly, but it just might not be to my taste. I'd always put them there. But it wasn't for me, but that's not to say that you wouldn't love it. You know what I mean? and there's There's only one dish that I can't eat, which is because I'd be sick and that's raw tomatoes.
00:25:42
Speaker
um So I would never order it, but if it was on the menu, I wouldn't, um I couldn't eat it, but I would never go on and say like, oh, Royal Tomatoes, that's disgusting. I would say that I couldn't eat it, but you might love it. You know what I mean? If something was too spicy, it might not be for me, but then the people that love spice, they might love it.
00:25:59
Speaker
So it's about the way you come across. Some people quite they want to write negative reviews and they don't care and they might be angry but I always try to give it a few days as well. I would never go to a restaurant on for example a Saturday evening and then put the review up straight away. I'd want to give myself a couple of days to really think through what happened and what I could do to avoid. So really what I'm probably trying to say is I try to do anything Not to have to write that negative review, but then at the same time, I'd also not want to have a really bad experience somewhere. And then one of my friends message me and say, Oh, I seen you were so and so the other night, I booked that. And I think to myself, I haven't probably done the right thing. By not telling them that it was, it's gonna be bad. You know what I mean?
00:26:49
Speaker
Yeah, I guess it's a it's a very sort of strange position to be in because you do you have a very large following and I imagine it's very much of all of your following is quite local.
00:27:00
Speaker
um because you do really promote sort of local restaurants. And I imagine it must be a little bit of a tricky situation because you you've built up this trust with people and they trust it if you post about something that you're going to be honest about it. But then in the same vein, you don't want to really kind of slate a restaurant and say it was an absolutely terrible, awful experience. It must be a sort of really sort of one leg on each side of the fence kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. its Yeah, it can be. It takes a lot of thought going into it.
00:27:30
Speaker
um But also, some of the restaurant owners, they have a new dish come out on the menu and they'll invite me in and they they don't just want to hear, it's amazing. They want to know an honest opinion on it. So, for example, I got called in somewhere the other day for chicken wings and tried the chicken wing.
00:27:50
Speaker
And yeah, I got to be honest, I didn't think it was where it needed to be. So I just, I sort of said like, yeah, it's okay. And then straight it away he knew it wasn't right. And he said, come on, tell me. And I told him, and then he tried it and he agreed as well. And actually that's quite nice. It feels quite, um I feel quite honored that someone would take my advice because I'm not a chef. I got to see in food tech and GCSEs, but, um,
00:28:16
Speaker
But it's lovely to hear that where I'm in the food industry so much. Obviously, I do chicken wings as one of the big things. I try so many different chicken wings and compare them to different people. So it's lovely to hear that actually a restaurant owner wants to hear my, I suppose, critique on it.
00:28:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's, um, it's a really sort of valuable piece of information. I know know that we invited you to one of our events because it's something that we, we'd never done before. We didn't know about and know marketing or anything like that. We're just sort of discovering that role. Um, so we thought let's invite some local Bristol food influences. And of course your name came up. Um, and I remember when you were walking out from the meal and you were being very nice and you were telling us it was lovely. I don't, I can't remember if I've called you or Jaz aside.
00:29:03
Speaker
But I've said to you, I'm like, be honest. Like this is our, I think it was one of our first ever supper clubs. And we said, please be honest. Like we, we have all the cheerleaders and the cheerleaders are lovely, but we also need people that are going to be honest with us. Yes. Yeah. That was at the scrambled it wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Being completely honest, your food was absolutely outstanding. Your food is very different to the food that I have most days in completely honest, very, um,
00:29:32
Speaker
fair, what's the word, sort of like, chefy. I'd say more chefy, more a higher class than the the street food and stuff that I'm used to eating every day, which I still absolutely love and can be done to a very high standard. um But with your stuff, obviously, there was a few things on there. I didn't even know what it was. It tasted lovely, but it was stunning. I remember you did a potato and leek dish and it was outstanding, um but I wouldn't be able to almost talk about that one that much because i've I've never had it before I didn't have anything to compare it to. um sin go and Since going to your supper club actually I've done a few supper clubs since and been to some more I'd say fine dining restaurants so yeah I would love to come back to those sort of things just to try some more of that sort of food and feel a bit more confident being able to talk about it.
00:30:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's fair enough. I wanted to ask you because your, your, um, theme, I guess, around your Instagram page, it does have a very specific theme. Right. It's sort of comfort food, street food. Um, was that a conscious decision or is that just the kind of food that you love? So that's what you wanted to show and it's kind of just kept going that way.
00:30:44
Speaker
Yes, um so for the original people that followed me for the first sort four or five years, they I wasn't Jack Eats Everything, I was Burgers, Burgers, Burgers. That was the name of my account. And as you can imagine, the reason it was called that was because I love Burgers. And Burgers was taken as a username, so I typed it in three times, added an S on the end, and then I got accepted for Instagram. And I always said, oh, I'll change it. And I didn't end up changing it for years.
00:31:10
Speaker
um So yeah, a lot of things on my account to so begin with. was always burgers, whether that be chicken burgers, beef burgers, pizza, breakfasts, like fry-ups, fry-ups specifically, actually, and fish and chips, and i so and like curries, that sort of thing. But I suppose those the reason that was on there so much is that's because that's what I always ate. I've never been fussy, but those are the things I ate, and I ate regularly, so I felt comfortable being able to give an honest opinion on how it tasted.
00:31:44
Speaker
For example, I love chicken wings, I love smash burgers, so I feel if something if i went to a smash if I went to a burger restaurant, like I did yesterday, and someone said to me, here's a microphone, could you talk for it? Could you review it? I could do it so easily. I could speak about it, I could compare it, I could talk about all the different elements of it. But if you were to take me to a Thai restaurant,
00:32:08
Speaker
ah thai Thai food is something that I've just got into over the last year and that's something that I absolutely love now. I'm trying to get more things onto my page, um different types of meals, different cultures and stuff, and but I wouldn't be so confident talking on camera about that because i don't um I don't know so many of the dishes, but that's a bit of me and that's the sort of upskill that I want to be able to give on my page that I can talk about more things now rather than just burger and chips.
00:32:35
Speaker
and chicken wings. So for example in a few weeks time I'm going to a restaurant that I'm very unfamiliar with the food. like don't You're not going to be on for a few weeks so you can say the restaurant if you want. Oh cool yes so I'm going to Papadosa. Oh okay. In Patchway.
00:32:52
Speaker
and it's And as far as I know, it's an authentic Indian vegetarian and vegan or definitely vegetarian restaurant. And I know that I don't know many of the dishes that are going to be served. They look incredible. And a lot of the people that have gone love it. But I'm going to go there first before I do any sort of video and just order a load of different things to understand it and then go back and do a proper video.
00:33:15
Speaker
Is that a normal thing to do for a food influencer kind of structure? Because for me, that seems like a ah really responsible way of doing it and removing all ego out of it and the saying, I don't know this cuisine. I don't necessarily understand this type of food. So I'm not going to post a review or anything about it on my account until I can be sure that it's something that I at least understand a little bit. I think that's a very, very responsible way of doing it. But is that a normal way of doing it?
00:33:45
Speaker
in your experience? I don't know if that's a normal way. um I don't know if that's a normal way on TikTok, Instagram, all the different bloggers across the country. I don't know if everyone would follow what I'm doing. I mean, some people might say I'm being slightly biased, I suppose, by going and trying it before I actually review it properly. But for me, I just want to keep it as positive as I can. I don't want to disrespect anyone or any people or cultures by getting that their food that they serve and love wrong so for me I would much rather go there and check it out and upskill myself a little bit first before either bigging it up or potentially saying and I didn't enjoy it. I like that I think that's really cool and you get to experience it twice so you know yes it's always nice sometimes to be able to go there without having to do all the videoing and for to photography and just sit there and enjoy it while it's still hot
00:34:40
Speaker
A lot of people spend a lot of time taking photos and videos and that food's going cold, but being completely truthful and a lot of people don't agree with this, but I prefer a food cold. Oh, controversial one right there. I'm a big fan of cold food. Pays, pasties, lasagna, Chinese, Indian, all that, I would rather cold.
00:35:02
Speaker
Oh, interesting. See, I like things that are the next day, like a casserole or spaghetti bolognese. Something like that for me is always better the next day. Even pizza. People are going to hate me for saying that. But sometimes I think if you just get like a cheap cardboard box pizza, it's better the next day. But I don't know about cold. I don't think I would follow you on that one. Oh, so you'd have it the next day, but you would reheat it.
00:35:27
Speaker
Oh no. So yeah, no, I, I, if I had to reheat it, I probably wouldn't eat it. I probably wouldn't enjoy it. Um, for example, chicken and mushroom pie. I will not eat hot. I don't like them hot, but I would love them cold. Um, we had spaghetti bolognese the other night and had leftovers for the following day and jazz obviously heated hers up like most normal people would. Most of us. I will eat mine cold straight out of fridge. Yeah. How interesting.
00:35:57
Speaker
Out of everything we've talked about, that's the thing that's really got me thinking. Yeah, yeah my dad's the same. My dad sort of taught me it. So growing up, I would watch him eat a yeah ah chicken and mushroom pie. That's quite a regular one. Whether that be from their local bakery or a Ginster's one, he would eat it cold. And my mum would be going mad. She would obviously always heat it up. And I just thought I was quicker. Why don't I try it cold? And then I had it cold. I had it hot. And I was like, I really don't like it hot.
00:36:26
Speaker
so um I, when I'm gardening or when I'm out blogging, I eat a lot of my pack lunches cold. Not just sandwiches, but anything that's in there I will eat it cold. interesting see i'm um i'm a really really slow eater like vincent gets so annoyed with me i i am i'm a very slow eater it could take me half an hour to eat a packet of four little biscuits or something like i'm the worst yeah so i think that i like mine pretty like scalding hot so that it stays warm at least until the end
00:37:00
Speaker
Okay. My dear Jaz is quite a slow eater. I'm a very fast eater, but I try to slow down, especially when I'm with her to make her feel more comfortable. um But I don't know if it's this country or not, but my uncle, he lives in France. um His wife is Dutch. And when I've had with them, they eat so slow. a They don't, when they eat food, they eat part of it. Then they stop, they put their knife and fork down, then have a chat.
00:37:30
Speaker
they crack on with something and for me yeah I'm not doing it because I want them the food to be hot because yeah I really don't mind about it being hot or not um but yeah I'm trying to wolf it down as quick as I can um but going back to blogging that's something as well for me if a meal was to come out and it wasn't piping hot that wouldn't I would love that if I'm honest I would prefer it I like to be able to get on with it but I am aware that there's a lot of people out there especially my nan before she passed away, she loved everything boiling hot or she would turn around and say it's freezing. I think that's one thing i I've had happen a few times where someone has asked for a medium rare steak or a rare steak and then complains that it's cold and you're like, bro, I can't get it that hot otherwise it's going to be well done.
00:38:20
Speaker
Oh, it's so, so hard. um do you So when obviously when you're going out to restaurants and you're recording and doing things for your social media, um you have a ah relatively specific type of place that you go to.
00:38:36
Speaker
when you go out just for leisure like if it's you and Jaz going out for a dinner and you're not recording anything you're not taking photos it's just you time what kind of places do you go to is that where you use time to like explore new things or do you go for comfort yeah probably a bit of both um it's risky isn't it because you're thinking do I want to try something new and then be disappointed or do I want to go or potentially be wowed or do I want to go for something that I know I really enjoy? um I think years ago I'd probably just go for the safe option a lot of the times but um actually as I got older and have the opportunity to eat more food and stuff
00:39:17
Speaker
We do try to mix it up as much as we can. We do have the things we love. I can't lie. I love fish and chips. I love fried chicken, smash burgers, but actually there's been some things now. It's only because I've tried it. You know what I mean? Otherwise I wouldn't know. I, I, I wouldn't know that I loved, uh, my ramen, faux, um, all the Thai food out there that I've tried recently. Um, on the weekend I went to a new restaurant.
00:39:43
Speaker
And it would have been very easy for me just to go to the same restaurant that I always go to. But I suppose you take a bit of a risk, don't you? Sometimes you think it could either be it could be OK, it could be rubbish or it could be incredible. I suppose when I try new places, I always want it to either be incredible if it can be. ah I don't really.
00:40:01
Speaker
It sometimes frustrates me when I try new places and they're just okay. Because I think to myself, oh I would much rather stuck with something that I know. But yeah, I tried a Thai restaurant on um um Friday with ah me, Boss Vaness, Gertie, garden on that. We went to Gorilla Thai. And it was incredible. I haven't been. Okay, that's cool.
00:40:20
Speaker
It blew my mind. Like me and boss get on really well. And he's got some incredible food recommendations and he backed it. He said, you'll love it. And I was like, yeah, let's, let's go. Let's try it out. And Jaz immediately said, she was like, Oh, we've never been to this one. And I said, no, but let's, let's, let's try it. And yeah, it is probably.
00:40:41
Speaker
It was in my top two favorite Thai restaurants. Like it, it blew my mind. The food was outstanding. And I always say with food, like if you're still thinking about it a couple of days along the line, then it was obviously good. And, um, the person I went with, he was going to book to go the following day because he loved it that much. It was, I highly recommend, I've recommended it already to so many people. And yeah, like that is something that brings me loads of joy is being able to turn around. I've got a.
00:41:11
Speaker
couple of friends that I know love that type of food and I know they haven't been yet and it was amazing to be able to turn around to them and say that this place will blow your mind and they've now, don't I don't know if you can book it, but they've now looked at GoIn, they've looked at the menu and they're definitely going to be going over the next couple of weeks and I think it's so cool to think that they can now go and experience it with their partner or family or friend or whatever and potentially have one of the best meals they've ever had because of a recommendation from myself and boss.
00:41:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's really cool. I think, um do you use other influences to sort of like the way that people would use your page? So if I was looking for somewhere cool to go in Bristol, I would potentially look at your page or bosses, like you said. um Do you use other influences for your own personal use? Like if you want somewhere to go to again, where you're not going to film or do anything, do you go on to other food accounts to have a look at what they're saying?
00:42:08
Speaker
Yeah, I do. Like, a hell of a lot. I always wondered this to myself, like, oh, will I or will i just have enough like recommendations in my head? But no, and and that's when the community can be really good. You know, I mean, that's when, for example, someone might ask, someone asked me certain the other day about breakfast is in Bedminster. And I know a couple, but I don't know that many. But I know boss Oscar, he lives in that area. And he's, he's got some incredible. records So I messaged him, I asked, I'll actually got my way to actually send him a private message. I know we get on really well. So it's not so like we text all the time. So it
00:42:41
Speaker
done but I'm messaging in him rather than just going on his Instagram but there's been plenty of times when yeah I remember quite recently I went on Natalie's profile because I just didn't know anywhere to go I didn't write and I just thought I'll just click through her page see if there's anything I've missed lately obviously it comes up on your for you page when they post most days but yeah Natalie Tom foodery Just a few of the names in Bristol. Uh, yeah, Natalie, Tom boss. I'll go on there as quite regularly just to see if there's anywhere. And I don't want to miss out as well. If they find somewhere cool, I want to find that place cool as well. I want to go there and see what it's like. And definitely if I'm traveling, if I'm in another area.
00:43:22
Speaker
I was in Cardiff with Jazz a few months ago, and I know a few Cardiff bloggers, but not many, so straight away I just went on Instagram, typed in the word Cardiff, and then you get all your Cardiff bloggers come up. And look where they go, give them a few messages, same with Birmingham, London, we were in London the other day, I did the exact same thing, Ian with Todd has got an incredible amount of followers, he's full time now.
00:43:42
Speaker
So the the amount of places he's going to know is unbelievable. And I almost trust not all bloggers, but I trust the certain bloggers that I choose more than what I would trust on, for example, Google or TripAdvisor.
00:43:59
Speaker
Yeah, that' that's true. I think we do quite a lot as well. um I think if we're going overseas, we'll potentially check out TripAdvisor just to see you know if there's 99 bad comments and one good, then maybe we know to steer clear. um But in terms of trying to find things locally around and trying to see what's going on locally, I definitely refer to Instagram and food accounts more than I would Google or anything like that.
00:44:26
Speaker
Yes, I was out, this was some months ago, walking along and I seen a new restaurant and my friend said, oh, should we look at this? And they straight away went on to Google, our TripAdvisor, one of the others. And I remembered that, I think it was Boss actually, I remember he'd gone a couple of weeks ago and I stood outside the restaurant and played his little like video or photos, I can't remember which one it was, and just watched it. And then I thought, and then I said, no, they watched it and I said, yeah, let's give it a go.
00:44:52
Speaker
Like we sort of went with that. we went with That's a like great example of when you've gone with a food blogger's opinion more than what you've seen online. And yeah, we had it. And since I've been back probably six times now, at all it's called Mangosteen. It's on White Lady's Road, Coughlin Hill. And yeah, I've done i've been back off the my own back. i've done ah I've done a video for them. I've done some paid work for them. And yeah, it's a nice relationship that I got with them there.
00:45:20
Speaker
I think that also kind of makes me think that um you would hope that food influencers and food bloggers and foodies that have accounts that people follow, you're really kind of trusting them to be honest about it, aren't you? Because I would want nothing less than to you know see someone who's been somewhere and done a reel or done a review or something, singing praises and saying how amazing it was, only to go there and find out that really potentially isn't that good. And I know that food and experiences are very subjective, but that's only to a certain level. To a certain level, there are things that you can do wrong in a restaurant. You know, we all know that. We all know that you can over salt things or undercooked chicken or something. There are certain markers that say whether it's just a personal preference or if there's something technically wrong with the restaurant.
00:46:13
Speaker
And i I mean, I personally haven't done it yet, but I wonder if there are bloggers out there that aren't necessarily honest in their reviews because they've been given an experience in exchange for a positive real, if that makes sense. Absolutely. Yes, like I can completely understand that. and the blogger, for example, could maybe worry that if they were to give a negative review, they might not be invited back to other places. um But I've had it where I've given a bit of a negative review and other restaurants have turned around and said like they've really respected that because actually they wanted to find out themselves. And I've been on gifted experiences.
00:46:55
Speaker
where if anyone doesn't know where you go to a restaurant and they for example give you a selection of their food and drinks in return for an honest review or if there's some sort of photo or video or reel they want and if the dish isn't right I won't use it.
00:47:11
Speaker
I suppose I wouldn't go on there as part of their video and tell everyone that I didn't like this dish, but I would just leave it out. It's not something that I would go for. And if someone was to speak to me and ask about a restaurant face to face or ah by message, i would be I would tell them anything. I just think sometimes when you're putting it on a video, there's ah a lot riding on it and it could make or break someone's restaurant, especially if someone hears it in the wrong way.
00:47:36
Speaker
um And that could have a massive it could have a massive positive um impact and it could also have a really negative impact. like can And yeah, just going back to earlier, there's a couple of places I've been to where I've sort of, they've invited me down and it's been on a paid basis. It's been on a paid basis and I've gone down there and I'm thinking to myself, oh, what if this meal isn't where it needs to be? How am I going to word it? Like, so you're still thinking like, people need money. You still need to get paid and you still need to do a job.
00:48:04
Speaker
And then you've gone there and the food is outstanding. And you think, oh my God, why haven't I tried this before? Why not come down anyway? And then you do a review, whether it was paid for, gifted, or you've done it off your own back. And sometimes the amount of impact you can have on that person's business is incredible.
00:48:23
Speaker
And the messages that I, and I'm sure other bloggers receive is why I do it. So when you get a restaurant, say they've, they were really struggling. They've since had, you know, if it's just three or four bookings come through, it really made their evening. and That does fill me. Someone who always wants everything to be nice. That gives me a big boost. That's really cool. But I think you're right in what you say. And I think it's a very important thing to know is that whether, you know, like I know there are very sort of clear lines between a food critic and a food blogger. um But I think almost food b bloggers potentially have more reach, maybe not quite as serious of an impact sometimes. um you know It's not like it's a Michelin guide reviewer, but you do have a big reach. So kind of what you write, I guess it's very dramatic to say make or break, but in the same vein, it is very important what you write about that restaurant.
00:49:20
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. And go like what you said about a critic, an example I can use is I went to a place recently and it was a fish and chip place. It was a fish and chip place. And I wasn't sure how it was going to be. And it was absolutely outstanding. But there was one thing on there that I didn't enjoy that much. And in that situation, I feel a critic would just review it. They put all the nice things and then they were put, they didn't like this thing.
00:49:49
Speaker
So what I did instead is I turned around to the, um, the fish and chip takeaway owner and he wanted feedback anyway. And I told him about the thing that I didn't like. And he was like, that's not the first time I've heard that actually. I've heard that from a few other like regular customers. And he was like actually, I might take that on board and get that changed. And I said to him, like, if you were to change that one thing, I feel like it could be absolutely outstanding. And that's the difference, I suppose. You don't have to tell me where the place was, but what was the thing that you didn't like?
00:50:18
Speaker
Oh, so all it was, it was a very simple thing, but it's something that actually I care about quite a bit. And that is the curry sauce. i'm with you I'm a big curry sauce lover, absolutely love. I've tried many different curry sauces. Fish and chip shops do all different types of curry sauce. And this one just done a standard chip shop curry sauce. But the one that I'm loving a lot of people are as the Irish curry sauce.
00:50:41
Speaker
which if any if anyone's not had it before, it's more it's thicker, darker, it's more like a gravy, it's got spice, it's quite spicy, but it's lovely. And I said to them about it, and they yeah, they said that actually they've had that come up a lot lately, and I'm looking forward to hopefully going back, they might not change it, but I suppose that's where I thought, and I've said that there's a lot of people that follow me that love the Irish style fish and chip over the normal one, and I suppose that's where I'm trying to help a local, they're are a very new chip shop, um really new, and since trying it,
00:51:11
Speaker
I know loads of people that have been who went, who had even driven past before and thought, because I get it, like a lot of restaurants, so it can be, money is a big factor. And people are thinking to themselves, whether it's fish and chips or it's a full on restaurant, high end meal, I think, do I want to pay that money to then have a bad experience? And that money sort of gone, like people work hard for like their weekends and stuff. And since people have gone and they've absolutely loved it. So that's where I think I've had a positive impact.
00:51:42
Speaker
whether as a critic might have put their review up and then the people would read it and fill out an article. Like they've been honest, ice but I'll probably never go. That's really cool. and i think I know you recommended us to go to a fish and chip shop in Thornbury because we hadn't really, we lived in Cornwall and we tried the fish and chips there and they were great. Um, but we hadn't actually ventured out to try any since we've moved here. And the one that you recommended to us was it was so good. ah We loved it. We took Vincent's dad and he's from France and he wanted to try some British fish and chips. So we took him there for his first ever British fish and chips and he absolutely loved it. So thank you for that.
00:52:22
Speaker
I'm so happy you liked that. And so that is one of my favorite fish and chip shops. And yeah, that that's something i'm I'm so proud that I can turn round to people when they visit that area and they ask, or where you're, I mean, for example, you're not even in that area. You're slightly down the road, aren't you? And there was plenty of other fish and chip shops closer to you. You could have gone to, um but you sort of took my, I don't know, like my trust to go along there and try it. And it makes me feel really proud that I can promote places like that and I'm sure they won't mind me saying this. It's called Parkies and it's in Thornbury. And it's quite a small fish and chip shop, you you probably realize when you went in. And I've met there for so many years and it's incredible. And i I never, up until recently actually, I'd never seen any other bloggers going or anything like that. So I said to Jazz, I would love to do a video about them, like to really showcase it and get people down there. And they are always quite busy. And when I went down there, this is the first time this has ever happened.
00:53:21
Speaker
And there'll probably be people maybe listen to this that would jump at this opportunity But I offered to make them a full video on across all my social medias for absolutely nothing I didn't want anything in return. I pay for the food. I didn't want anything I just wanted to be able to show how much I love that fish and chips and the reason I asked is because I wanted their sort of Consent to maybe go behind the back and get some shots and stuff And they said they were like, we really appreciate it, but we are so busy. Like we can't get any busier. And like he said, I'm sure you would like for this opportunity would cost like money. or And I was like, I wouldn't charge you anything. Um, but they said, please do it to someone else. Like we're doing well enough. Um, please do it somewhere else. And I did actually end up taking a couple of little shots of me.
00:54:08
Speaker
just eating the fish and chips. And then it did like 500,000 views on TikTok. And I was like, oh no, they're going to be in there like, although why did he do the video? But I didn't, that just proves I have much of a good chip ears. I literally just did a couple of shots of me eating in a batter of sausage and fish. And obviously everyone was asking. It was honestly, it was amazing. But I find that so funny. Like so many businesses are crying out for people to do that for them. And you know, you wanted to do that. And they were like, please, please don't. We are too busy. Do not do anything.
00:54:39
Speaker
It's amazing. And when I tell friends, obviously they understand how that sounds, but when I tell restaurant owners and street food traders about that story, they can't believe it. They're like, well, can I have that opportunity? Can I take that opportunity? But that was really why I loved it so much. No, that's really cool. I was so glad that Vincent's dad's first British fish and chip experience was there because I know I'm going to get a bit of hate for saying this, but it was better than the ones we had in Cornwall. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. I don't know. But it was, it really was. That's absolutely fine. And I think sometimes
00:55:15
Speaker
Yeah, sometimes I hear people say like, you shouldn't eat fish unless you can see the sea and stuff like that. And I wonder if some of these chippies that are right on the sea front, there are some incredible ones on the sea front, but some of them, I think they're probably just doing well and able to serve the poor level of fish and chips that they serve because they're in such a great area. And you take somewhere like this one in Thornbury or a few of the other ones I know who are not in the best place.
00:55:41
Speaker
And actually they need to do good fish and chips. They need to be, they, because people aren't just gonna go there cause I walk into the seaside. Yeah, that's a really interesting comment. I mean, we could, we could dive into that and spend hours on that. Cause I'm very interested in the way that the food system works and everything like that. And I think a little bit of it is just a bit of education for me as well. Um, but I was speaking to a South African chef who now has a green Michelin star restaurant in Cornwall in Falmouth actually.
00:56:09
Speaker
And he was saying that when he was in South Africa, they have one of the biggest sardine runs in South Africa, but you could not for money nor love get fresh sardines in South Africa because they ship it all somewhere else and then it gets sent back to them pre-packaged and frozen or tinned or whatever it is.
00:56:25
Speaker
So when people say you shouldn't eat fish unless you can see the sea um I see what they're saying because in their head I think they think the fishermen's literally just bring it up to the fish and ship shop and it's straight from the ocean right out the front of their door But it's not that's not how it is. It doesn't work like that and some places might you know I think I think you would struggle to find that if you could see the invoices from where they got their fish from They're getting it from the same place as everybody else because at the end of the day especially down this end, everything's from Bricksham or Newlin, you know, all of the fish is landing in the same place. So it's it's a bit of a weird thing to say, but I see where, I see where their logic is. Yeah, no, I get it. And I've been to Bricksham and I've also been to Newlin last summer. I didn't think I would go, but I went there and tried some of the chip shops around there and they were good. Don't get me wrong. Some were good. Some were amazing. Some were rubbish. Um, but yeah, just because a chippy is in Thornbury or as in Eastern or as in Bristol,
00:57:22
Speaker
doesn't mean that it still could be outstanding. And I feel they have more pressure because they're not getting that pass in trade quite like the seaside would. And I think some people, when I speak to people about fish and chips, it's not their favorite takeaway. It's not a takeaway they would normally order, but they would order it if they were at the seaside, like for myself.
00:57:41
Speaker
That is my favorite takeaway, so I'll order it every day of the week. Yeah, I see where you're coming from, though. It's kind of that romantic feeling. If it's a seaside town, they've probably got chairs and tables there, whereas the fish and chip shop that you sent us to, we ended up nicking the tables from the pub and.
00:57:55
Speaker
yeah pop butcher so but yeah so i understand what you're saying but even without the seaside and sitting on someone else's table and ah you know having a beer from somewhere else it was still hands down the best fish and chips i've had in england so seaside view or not does not make a difference to me it's all about the food yeah i'm so happy i wanted to ask you before you kind of touched on it you were mentioning a food blogger and you said he's gone full time someone that you know from london What does that, what does that mean? Cause I don't really know the financial side of it in terms of Instagram and being an influencer or a blogger. What does that mean to go full time? And at what, how many followers, at what point does that sort of happen for you? Yeah, I suppose there's loads of bits to cover on this. Um, what full time to some people looks different to others, doesn't it? Um, I mean, I currently run,
00:58:53
Speaker
sort of three full-time jobs. So people ask me a lot, is Jack eats everything full-time? And I'd say it is, yes, because it does take up a hell of a lot of my time. But I've also got full-time gardening business, and i've also i run I do a bit of social media management for another street food trader, and I do that full-time. So it depends how many hours you see us full-time.
00:59:22
Speaker
And the person up in London is Ian McTodd. And being completely honest, I don't know how many hours he does. I don't know how that looks. um But last time I seen him, he was sort of doing his job part-time and then that part-time, but now he does it all full-time. I know Boss Finesse is full-time as well. So he he was a plasterer as far as I know, and he does it full-time. And ah yeah, when people ask me, is Jack eats everything full-time? I do say, yes, it is.
00:59:51
Speaker
And going back to what you said about like the amount of following. So that's the really interesting thing. So years ago, when I first started out and for the first couple of years, anyone with a big following was doing well. So if you had 20 to, if you had 10 to 50,000 or even higher followers, you knew that person was making a lot of money and they were probably full time.
01:00:15
Speaker
but now that really doesn't matter. Obviously the following does matter. That is still, I'm not saying the following doesn't matter because it does matter, but a lot of brands out there and a lot of restaurant and opportunities come from the amount of engagement. So you can, I know people with 2000 followers who are out there doing paid advertisements. So they're getting paid by restaurants, brands to create videos because actually their videos are hitting 10,000 views.
01:00:44
Speaker
And then I'd say it, but I know people out there with hundreds of thousands of followers, whether they are fake followers or not, or whether they've just lost their touch and they're only getting 1000 views. You know what I mean? So I think you will still get restaurants and people look at people with huge following and think, oh my God, like They've got to come to our like restaurant. We've got to pay them. We've got to give them free food. But actually, if you have your head screwed on, you want to look at their engagement. You want to look at how many how much reach they get. So how many views they get, how many comments they get, how many likes they get. And that will give you a better understanding of the return on investment you will get by investing in that person rather than someone with just a huge following. Would that be? Because just a huge following.
01:01:28
Speaker
a lot of those followers might not even use Instagram anymore if it was for years ago. yeah I guess that would be ah a good piece of advice to give to even people like myself or, you know, restaurants that are potentially looking at inviting some influencers along to boost their following a little bit.
01:01:43
Speaker
is not to just see who's got who's local and who has the most amount of followers is to see who's got that loyal following like you said that engagement in the comments and stuff like that because it's definitely not what I thought about, you know, even up until six months ago, maybe a year ago, I kind of just thought Yeah, you know, get the person with the most amount of followers, but it was actually Vincent that said, no, not really. It's who has a loyal following. We're trying to be a Bristol based company. So who has a good following and a good reputation within the area. And also who's getting engagement. I seen someone on Instagram the other day with between, I think it's between six or 8 million followers. So to look at that, if you were to have that as a restaurant, you have that person follow you, you think, Oh my God, like,
01:02:30
Speaker
That is crazy. Um, you go on their videos and they're getting sort of three, 4,000 views. Like when you take that as a percentage, that's actually really low. And then you look at other people, you look at Todd. I mean, Todd has now got over a million followers, but every single one of his videos does at least 500,000 views. So whether that's the people that follow him or other people, um, myself, I always try to make sure I'm sort of hitting 10,000 views or more.
01:02:59
Speaker
And yeah, if you take the other, if you take boss finesse, he's, he's got a large following. So he's got 70, 80,000, but he's got an incredibly loyal, um, watch for people that watch him are incredibly loyal. They will comment, they will go to the places he goes to and they trust his reviews. And I suppose that is a well done to him that he's got that many, gets that many views and the restaurants that he works with has such an impact.
01:03:25
Speaker
um But sometimes, yeah, I just feel some accounts are overlooked because you see these people with millions of followers, but they're engagement. And I think years ago, you used to be able to get away with it a bit more. But nowadays, yeah if you really wanted to, you can work out the accounts that are really going to help you as a restaurant and ones that aren't. Yeah, I think that's it' a really important thing and maybe something that not everybody thinks about. Like I said, even myself, it's not like I particularly thought about or considered probably because I'm such a baby to Instagram. um But no, it's ah there's a good piece of advice. um And then at what point, so when when we talk about financial gain from it, um which is an amazing thing to be able to have from, you know, as such a fun
01:04:09
Speaker
job, I guess. Like to me, it sounds like a really fun job. I am very jealous. Um, I just get to cook all this stuff, but you, you get to try a huge amount of different things, which is incredible. How does that, how does that work? Does that mean a restaurant invites you to come and do some social media stuff for them? Um, does that mean that you look after their social media accounts or is it kind of all of the above?
01:04:35
Speaker
Yeah, um so social media management is very separate, so that is different. That is something I do for GertWings, big up GertWings, but that is completely separate. So that there's teams out there like Nonsense called Duchess, Tom Fury, he's got a brand, and that's where you look after their Instagram. You run their Instagram, you do things like that. But from a blogging point of view, um where people are making money is, for example, doing reviews, going in,
01:05:02
Speaker
And yeah, being basically an agreement, so an email that is sent over and a contract, for example, they will say, can you come along? And a price is agreed ah to create a video about our restaurant, like a promotional video, I suppose. um There is also now on TikTok, um you get paid as well. So that is something that was never an option before. YouTube obviously there was, but on TikTok, once you've got a certain amount of following, you can get paid um for when you're as long as your video's over a minute long, the Creator Fund, you like some of my videos make 1p, they make a penny, and as some of them do okay. um And that's good as well to be able to put things on there, and because you don't have to have any agreement, you could just video yourself doing whatever, cooking in the house, and you can still create money. um But mainly with the restaurants, it's either going off your own back, you're going on a gifted basis, where they agree what you would have in return for a post or a reel, or a share to the story, whatever,
01:06:01
Speaker
Or yeah, the people, a lot of people have rates cards. So they have rates cards and on there is loads of different options that the restaurant can choose. For example, if you wanted three stories and a real, it would cost you X amount. So yeah, there's definitely that option. And when you're working with bigger brands, like I've worked with a couple, like McDonald's, KFC, Subway, those sort of ones. That's when you want to be able to have a rate card or be able to negotiate the price um because it is worth at the end of the day.
01:06:29
Speaker
it don't work it can It can be fun. Um, and with myself, I've only got so many hours in the day and it's lovely that restaurants absolutely is an absolute blessing that restaurants want you to come along to their restaurant. But at the end of the day, they often also want, they're not just invited. There is, you are getting the food for free, but they still want your services. So they still want your photos, your videos, stuff that you're skilled in and editing. It all takes time. Um, so yeah, it's about,
01:06:59
Speaker
creating something that you and the restaurant are both happy with. Yeah, for sure. I think that maybe there are some people out there that just sort of think, you know, if you're a food influencer, you get invited to eat for free at restaurants. But I i really kind of, if I ever hear people say that, I'm like, have you ever edited a real Like a nice reel, you know, and I'm not saying that what I do is amazing, but when I first started editing reels, I was like, Oh my God. I think it took me two hours to do like a 30 second reel. It was something incredibly long. It was terrible. I've since gotten a bit faster, but it absolutely is like, and you don't necessarily like, yes, like you said, yes, you get to go out and you you get to have a meal and you don't pay for it, but it is an exchange, you know, and it is an exchange for your time and.
01:07:44
Speaker
you know, they're using this following that you spent seven years building. Um, so it definitely is an exchange. And I think, I think most people know that now, but there must still be some people out there that, you know, just think being a food influencer means you get to go and eat for free. Yeah. Most people understand it. And then some people, some people still have the same view on it. And then some people where they don't know about it, they're quite interested to learn. They want to learn about it. And then when you explain it to them, they're like, Oh, I've never,
01:08:11
Speaker
never looked at it like that. And a lot of people don't realize how much editing goes into it or the software that you're using, the editing apps, they all cost money. Having the recent tech, the lighting, the stands, everything, the microphones, they all cost money. um So yeah, when you experience people, they they ah do understand. And you you can't just eat every single day out because I think I'd explode. I would love to though. Although we don't get out at all. So, you know,
01:08:39
Speaker
it's um yeah you yeah do Although I have been meaning to try Gertwings. I need to look at when they're coming to Yay again, because it is something that I always hear such a big hype about. And I see you and I see everybody on Instagram. There's two hour long waits for so the Gertwings trailer and i I really want to try it, but I have to admit I haven't yet.
01:09:02
Speaker
Yeah, they, they've been in Yate this month and they are back in October. It's either the eighth or the 10th, I believe. Um, yeah, they are back at the sunflower cakery and she also does amazing things. I think that's right outside my CrossFit gym. So I can, uh, I can go just after that works, doesn't it? That is the right reasons to get a CrossFit. Shout out to the local CrossFit gym and sorry for saying, I'm going to go, I'm going to go eat chicken wings afterwards, but you know, you got to live a little.
01:09:30
Speaker
big up yeah um So I have a bit of a finishing tradition on this podcast and everybody screws their nose up at me when I ask this question. So I do apologize, but I think it's a very good question. So my question to you is it's, it's normally worded a bit differently because it's normally towards chefs and restaurants directly. But if there was one thing that you wish the general public knew about your role within the food industry, what would it be?
01:10:02
Speaker
Ask me again. Sorry. I was expecting that question. Ask me again. If there was one thing that you wish the general public knew about your role in the food industry, what would that be?
01:10:18
Speaker
Um, I suppose that this is my first time doing it. This is my first time I haven't been taught how to do social media or blog or do anything before.
01:10:31
Speaker
I'm here to try and make a difference and provide people with the best recommendations possible. Be nice, be patient, be kind, because you never know what people are going for. I like that one. I told you it was a question that everybody hates, but I've got a lot of different answers, so I've decided to stick with it and keep asking it. Yeah, no, it's good. I think as it makes you think it's not a question you get every single day. Awesome. Well, thank you so, so much for coming on.
01:10:59
Speaker
Um, and everybody should go have a look at your profile, especially if they're in the area, because there are some really, really good food recommendations on there, which I plan on using probably in the new year when I have a little bit more time, but I do love seeing all the different things that you're doing. And to be honest, I love sometimes just seeing you cook a fry up at home. You know, and sometimes it's just really wholesome and really lovely. And it's, um, it's very fun to watch. So everybody go check it out. Um,
01:11:28
Speaker
Don't let me butcher it. Is it just Jack eats everything? Is there any underscores or anything? No, that's the one is Jack eats everything. Uh, two G's on the end of Instagram. Like, um, just cause the username was taken, but yeah, Jackie's everything on Instagram, Tik TOK, Twitter, all the ones. And yeah, it's, um, yeah, it's worth a follow. Really good food reviews and recommendations.
01:11:51
Speaker
Well, thank you again for coming on. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope I didn't ask you too many hard questions. And hopefully we'll get to catch up again soon and probably bump into you at a food festival somewhere. Yes, or a fish and chippy. Yeah, buddy. All right. Cheers, mate. We'll talk soon.