Valentine Benoist &
all things hospitality
French-born, I now split my time between London (UK) and Brittany (France).
You will always find me spending more or less my life at the table of restaurants, discovering hotels and meeting the artists, creatives and makers making a mark in our communities.
I have extensive experience in both food communications / marketing and food & travel writing, which I gained working in the wine trade and for Le Fooding restaurant guide for a while, before going freelance in 2016. I now put my knowledge to use through articles for magazines and various communications projects for brands (strategy, curation, editorial, event…).
My stories come out in various publications, including Le Fooding, Beau Magazine, Le Figaro, L’Express Styles, Grazia, Vice-Munchies, Metropolitan and more.
Published in 2017, my book À Tables London gathers the 50 essential London restaurants you need to know.
Expertise
I create custom projects and content for media outlets and brands around everything lifestyle, travel, food and drinks: building up strategic recommendations and communications plans, compiling trend analyses, curating and producing events from A to Z, imagining and directing content production (art direction, set design, articles, recipes, photos, videos…), collaborating with hospitality industry players and influencers… you name it!
I will always team up with the most creative people (food and wine experts, photographers and videographers, food stylists, graphic and web designers, artists, influencers…) to deliver a unique, bespoke result to my clients. Some of the things I do:
Strategic recommendations
Trend analyses
Line-up (chefs, sommeliers, bartenders, food writers, influencers… ) and Venue curation
Bespoke events
Content creation
Artistic direction
Content production (editorial, recipes, photos, videos…)
Project management
Social media campaigns
À Tables London:
the book
For a few years, myhungryvalentine.com was home to weekly restaurant reviews, both in French and in English before moving on to new horizons.
In 2017, the project of a bilingual print edition gathering the best spots from the website felt quite natural: that’s how À Tables London, my first self-published book rounding up the 50 essential restaurants you need to know in London, was born.
It was successfully financed through a crowdfunding campaign and is now still stocked at gorgeous shops and bookshops all around London and Paris.
Valentine Benoist Ceramics Studio
I make beautifully imperfect tableware and everyday objects from stoneware, with functionality at its heart. From my studio, I work hand in hand with restaurants, shops and also take private commissions... Have a look around!