Gurd Loyal
Gurd Loyal is a Food, Drink & Hospitality Consultant based in Hackney, East London. He has worked with brands such as Harrods, M&S and Innocent Smoothies. He is also a food writer and speaker on the topic of cultural appropriation and food, as well as the curator of the online platform Mother Tongue TV which celebrates food stories of migration, race, (in)authenticity and the second generation.
“You can’t underestimate the power of meeting people that share your passion and experiences”
Gurd speaks to QFAB about his varied jobs and the breadth of opportunities in the food and beverage industry, where skills can be applied across different roles without the need for traditional training and experience. As well as the power of shared experiences, and why it’s important to learn that you don’t always need to be liked by everyone.
Introduce yourself
I identify as gay and my pronouns are he/him, and I am currently speaking from my flat in Hackney. I've been in London since I was 21, so 17 years. I’m from Leicester. I’ve always worked in London but I've spent quite a lot of time abroad travelling and I travel a lot for work.
What is your job vocation/role/title?
I am a Food, Drink and Hospitality consultant. I work with brands, retailers, restaurants, hotel chains, and chefs at the strategic side of food. I do a lot in terms of New Product Development (known as NPD) and menu development. I also do a lot in terms of people who are coming up with new restaurant ideas and concepts and help them build those. I work a lot with small startup brands to support them with their brand strategy and development strategy and I also work with retailers in terms of getting them to modernise their approach to food.
I’m a food writer as well. I have a project called Mother Tongue, which is a platform that celebrates food stories of migration from around the world. It aims to connect people around the world who have got interesting stories around food migration, identity, race, things around being second generation like all the questions about authenticity and cultural appropriation. Really it's a platform that gives people a chance to talk about questions surrounding food and race, in their own words, that mainstream media skirts around.
What does your average day look like?
It really depends. I'm quite an early riser so I’m up at like half five or six. I will try and do the boring things as soon as I wake up like the email I've got to send or the thought that's occurred to me in the middle of the night. I’ll typically have a few calls with either a client or what kind of brands I want to work with or checking in on something.
Then the day varies, I'll either be out doing ‘taste safaris’ with people, there might be something new that's opened that I think is quite interesting from a food drink perspective that I’ll go and check out like a restaurant or a cafe, or a new initiative or a store. I might be in a workshop with a brand or a retailer where we're working through what their product development portfolio or menu ideas could be, or talking about research and things like that.
Or I have days where I just have to sit in front of a computer and make myself write. There’s always a lot of eating and drinking involved. I try and do some form of exercise but I’m not always successful. Then as soon as it starts to get even a little bit dark my brain switches off and I go into evening mode.
“when I started out I didn’t appreciate how broad the opportunities are in the food world. There’s such a breadth of roles in food and actually they all intertwine”
How did you get to where you are?
I moved to London when I was 21 after University. I was in a grad scheme for a management consulting group in the city and I did it for about six months, before I realised I didn't know what the fuck I was doing there! I sort of realised I don't know why I'm doing this and my partner at the time said: why don’t you start off your career path with something you're really passionate about? And the thing I'm most passionate about is food and drink.
So I applied for lots of jobs in lots of different food and drink places. At the time Innocent drinks was a new startup company. I really loved what they were doing so I speculatively sent them a CV and found myself in an interview. So that was my first job in food. I worked in marketing for Innocent drinks and I was there for eight years in the end. I built my career there which was amazing, it was a really entrepreneurial place to be.
I then worked as Head of Food, Drink and Wine Marketing for Harrods food halls. I was there for about five years and as part of that we basically did a complete transformation of the Harrods food halls, which was probably the most amazing project I’ll ever work on in my life. I got to do a lot of travel and that really nurtured my passion for food. After that for the last year and a half just until just before Christmas I was Head of Food Trends for Marks & Spencer, as part of the product development team. Then I went freelance last year, which is where I am now.
What was your earliest experience in the industry?
My first experience in the industry was when I was studying at University in Bristol. I used to run a cafe on the weekends and was actually the chef there as well. It was a really sweet little cafe in Clifton village called The Rainbow Cafe. It was not actually a gay cafe but interestingly because it was called the Rainbow Cafe a lot of gay people would come there. It was basically a little tea room that specialised in delicious salads and scones and cakes. I absolutely loved it, it was so much fun.
“I’m a gay Indian food geek with tattoos who really loves fashion and Beyonce and I’m unashamed about that now.”
Did you expect to stay in this industry when you started out?
I think when I started out I didn't appreciate how broad the opportunities are in the food world. There's such a breadth of roles in food and actually they all intertwine. I started off in marketing then went to product development, I'm now becoming a food writer. If you've got that passionate drive for food you can go between them, your skill sets can all work together. You don’t need to be a classically trained chef, food writer or food marketeer to be able to do these jobs.
What has your experience been of being queer in this industry?
My experience has been really good overall, however I don't think that queer representation and queer equality of opportunity is necessarily 100% there yet. Particularly in some kitchen environments there is a slightly old school cis white male bravado that I think can be intimidating to queer people.
I've always been quite loud and proud about myself but I've certainly found myself in certain environments which I don't feel as queer welcoming and sort of littling myself a little bit, probably earlier in my career. I certainly wouldn't do that now, I'd probably stand up for myself. I think it's similar in terms of race as well.
Overall I think there are certainly a lot of queer people in the food and drink industry, more than I’d ever realised. There can be still a bit of an old boys club at the top which can translate down in the culture of a place, if you don't have strong powerful queer representation or a progressive straight ally. That is what you really need, allies.
I've got friends who are chefs and are queer but have hidden their sexuality because they're in such a non queer friendly environment. However, I do feel like the tide is turning and actually feel we're now increasingly in a culture where that's just not tolerated.
“Food is the most intimate way that you can express your love for someone, apart from getting into bed and having sex!”
Do you feel it's important for the LGBTQI+ community within the food and beverage industry to have a network and if so why?
Absolutely, more so than ever because there is so much power in community. I'm not saying that all queer people have the same experience because they absolutely don't, but they share certain vulnerabilities, discriminations, anxieties and similar themes in their upbringing.
You can’t underestimate the power of meeting people that share your passion and have shared experiences. It's a different kind of connectivity. There is something quite moving about it. I didn’t know that many queer people or Indian people in food until a few years ago, and when I started to get to know more it was kind of emotional for me. It was like ‘wow there are other people who are like me who are just as into this’, they get my frames of reference, I don't need to apologise for things. I don't need to be concealing any part of me around these people.
“in certain other creative industries the output tends to be more about the ego of certain individuals, whereas with food the output is about sharing and giving and creating”
What are the best and worst things about this industry?
The worst thing about the industry is the high barriers to entry because of costs: kitchen fees, equipment, getting a listing if you're a brand, whatever it is. I think sometimes the industry can be quite fickle if something doesn't work immediately, whether that's a brand being delisted in a store or a restaurant concept that's had some investors and then it doesn't work within the first three months for whatever reason and then that gets shut down.
I'm hoping in the post COVID world that will change and people are more willing to back the things that they back and give them time to embed. It can be quite fickle and I worry that we've got into a bit of a habit of what's the next new thing and people just kind of chasing those Instagram posts.
The best thing about the industry is the passion of the people that are in it. I don't know any other industry where people are so driven and so creatively fed by sharing what they're doing. I feel like in certain other creative industries the output tends to be more about the ego of certain individuals, whereas with food the output is about sharing and giving and creating, and having these social interactions with someone over food.
Food is the most intimate way that you can express your love for someone, apart from getting into bed and having sex! To create a plate of food - someone eats it and that food becomes a part of them. It's really intimate as an exchange. I think that's really amazing because of the human interactions.
What is the best lesson someone else has taught you in your years in the food and drink industry?
Someone said to me about five or six years ago the phrase “I would rather be someone’s shot of whiskey than everyone's cup of tea”. I think I went through a lot of my early career trying to be liked by everyone, and it was actually interesting when I got to Harrods, it's one of the most amazing places I’ll ever work but also there was a bit of a dog eat dog culture there. I think for someone that prides themselves on being liked that's not necessarily the best environment, but then I really got hold of the fact that actually I don't need to be liked by everyone to thrive.
“I would rather be someone’s shot of whiskey than everyone’s cup of tea”
What’s the best meal you have ever had, where was it, who was it with?
The most memorable meal I've ever had was at a restaurant called Vespertine in LA (a concept restaurant that sees ‘dining as art’ and creates a ‘gastronomical experience’). I was there on a work trip. It’s the most unbelievable fully immersive experience of my life. It's a complete sensory takeover basically it's a five-hour dining experience, I will never forget that.
Also Yard Bird in Hong Kong, the premise is yakitori skewers celebrating the whole chicken, each skewer focuses on a different cut of chicken its an amazing concept for a restaurant and completely delicious!
But my favorite restaurant in the world, and I go there whenever I am there, is Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. I absolutely love it, it's my happy place!
What is your guilty pleasure?
I'm not embarrassed about this - about once every month I love a KFC. It's delicious! Also I love a Cadbury’s Twirl.
What are your top queer food and beverage related accounts you follow?
Melissa Thompson (@fowlmouthsfood) she cracks me up! Everything she posts is delicious, she’s obsessed with barbecues which I just love and she's so funny! I find her stories hysterically funny, I love her! (See the QFAB interview with Melissa here.)
Michael Twitty (@thecookinggene) he's based in the States. He is really an incredible author, he's wrote this amazing book called the Cooking Gene.
Preeti Mistry (@chefpmistry) they are an incredible queer chef.
John Birdsall (@john_birdsall) he's all about reversing queer erasure in food, he’s a really interesting writer
Top three places to eat in London
Lupins (@lupinlondon - a seasonal British restaurant and deli in Borough). It's delicious I love the food there, it's just awesome!
Jamavar (@jamavarlondon - an Indian restaurant in Mayfair). It does really regal Indian food that’s just incredible. The owner Samyukta Nair does this amazing initiative Jamavar Women’s Club, a network for women which has been a platform for female chefs.
The Laughing Heart (@thelaughingheart_london - a modern British restaurant and wine shop) across the road from where I live. Their bread is amazing and I love the vibe.
Favourite banger to play in the kitchen?
I'm obsessed with Beyonce, so it'd probably be any upbeat camp Beyonce song. When I'm cooking I listen to quite a lot of old-school disco like Donna Summer or Chaka Khan.
What is next for you, have you got any new projects or other accounts?
I’m doing a lot of stuff with Mother Tongue TV. I'm writing a cookery book which is quite exciting and will come out next year. It’s celebrating my British Indian identity through food so it's about the intersection of food and race and identity, and there will be a queer angle to it because my identity is gay and queer. I’m also working with a lot of very interesting, exciting people in the hospitality and brand space which, if they launch what I’m working on with them, is really exciting but I'm not allowed to talk about it!
Is there anything you would like to share with our community?
There is an incredible LGBT run Indian restaurant in Acton called Chapati Club (@chapaticlub). They are awesome and I love their food. They have a 90s R’n’B and hip hop playlist on Spotify. It’s what they play in the restaurant so it's things like De la Soul, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, it's a really fun playlist and I listen to it all the time!
What advice would you give to your younger baby queer self?
My advice would be that you don't have to please everyone! I think that has really helped me to be more true to myself. Just to be okay with if I encounter people who are hostile towards me for whatever reason, I see that as their loss. I'm a gay Indian food geek with tattoos who really loves fashion and Beyonce and I’m unashamed about that now.
You can follow Gurd’s work at @gurd_loyal and @mothertonguetv. Gurd’s cookbook, Mother Tongue: Flavours of a Second generation, is coming out in April 2022. Preorder it now!
