What is Mess Hall?

Mess Hall is a newsletter about cooking written by me, Marian Bull. It began as a Tinyletter in 2016, and has since been resuscitated for the Substack era.

Here you will find essays on cooking, recipes, cookbook reviews and recommendations, and more. Free subscribers get occasional (usually monthly) posts; paid subscribers get original recipes, essays, cookbook reviews and excerpts, and more exciting recommendations for the kitchen and beyond.

Who is Marian?

I’m an enthusiastic home cook and freelance writer who has been published in the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Vogue, SSense, The New Republic, and Bon Appétit. I’ve worked as an editor at Food52 and Saveur, and have worked on a number of cookbooks, including Estela. You can read some of my published writing here. I also make ceramics.

Do people like this newsletter?

Yes! Mess Hall began as a Tinyletter in 2016, with an eventual audience of over 1500 subscribers. It has since been resuscitated for the Substack era. Here are some nice things people have said about it:

“It’s the kind of food writing I most love to read – where the food is incidental and real, and the writing is honest.” - Sarah Coates, The Sugar Hit

“Uniquely delightful” - Vanity Fair

“Centered around food, Bull's newsletter covers topics like vegetarian sandwiches, eating alone, and making nut milk. Each letter is also, of course, about so much more than just the (reliably excellent) recipes included within.” - Nylon

I thought this was a ceramics newsletter?

No, that’s here.