Anybody visiting the recent Food in Print magazine fair in London would have observed how food indies are having a moment. Alongside established names like Pit, Fatboy and Vittles—all co-hosts of the fair—there were many newer mags on display.

One was Toothsome, a smartly designed biannual from publishing newbies Ashley Yun and DK Woon. ‘We’re bombarded by recipe videos, influencer reviews of restaurants, and so on,’ Ashley says, ‘Print allows us to slow down and block out the noise for a second.’ She describes how she and DK built a team to produce their recently released second issue as she shares her working week.

What are you doing this morning?
Mondays are a nice way to ease into the week as DK (my co-founder and also my boyfriend) and I both get to work from home. I just returned to the flat from walking our dog Dumpling and I’m settling in to work with a cup of milky oolong tea that I love from Postcard Teas and some incense that I bought at a temple in Penang last year. 

I never thought I was much of a routine person, but the older I get the more comfort I find in little rituals. Most mornings I eat a boiled egg or two, sometimes soft boiled, sometimes hard boiled. I change it up with the carb to keep it exciting. Rice and sambal, sourdough toast and olive oil, etc.

Describe your work environment
When I’m not at my day job, the ‘office’ at home is our dining table, my favourite place in our Dalston flat. We have a spare room that we can convert into an office, but it doesn’t get much light and natural light is so important for me when working. Right now that room stores boxes of magazines. 

The window by our table overlooks our garden which is a bit overgrown at the moment, but I’m leaning into it. I think it brings some woodland whimsy. Our cat Tofu keeps us company most mornings if she’s not in the garden getting up to mischief. 

I usually have whatever’s currently on NTS soundtracking work, so right now it’s The Breakfast Show with Flo. 

Which magazine do you first remember? 
Time and InStyle—such a funny combo. I would spend a lot of time at my cousins’ house growing up. My aunt had a subscription to InStyle and my uncle had a subscription to Time. As a kid I would create collages out of the outfits in InStyle and then browse through Time afterwards. 

Aside from yours, what’s your favourite magazine/zine?
Apartamento is my favourite of current titles. I think they really nail the balance between thoughtful journalism and beautiful art direction. It’s easy to get lost in each story. They highlight interesting people, which is supplemented by strong visuals and great layouts. 

A more recent favourite of mine has been Cose Journal. They zero in on one object or piece of furniture and I think their imagery is stunning. Their most recent issue was about the bathroom sink.


What other piece of media would you recommend?
I just finished ‘Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food’ by John Dickie. There is a chapter about this infamous banquet in Ferrara in the 1500’s and the amount of food served is truly shocking. I don’t think I was able to shut my jaw the entire chapter. 
 
I’m on Substack quite a bit. Check out The Goal Is To Eat run by Panayiota Soutis (one of our contributing editors)—a newsletter about London happenings and hospitality culture. She’s also just launched a talk show. ‘Feed Me’ by Emily Sundberg is how I keep up with Stateside news and London Centric’s journalism is top notch. 

An Instagram account I really like is Knife Fork Spoon, dedicated to flatware, run by Dung Ngo of August. I’m excited for his book, ‘Knife Fork Spoon: Modernist Cutlery 1900-2025.’

For podcasts my usual rotation is Search Engine, Diabolical Lies, and KCRW’s Good Food. 

Describe Toothsome in three words
Sensorial, thoughtful, playful. 

Map your journey from supper club to magazine
We only ran a handful of supper clubs before we realised we may not be cut out for the job. I have the utmost respect for chefs! What we learned from throwing supper clubs is that food is such a rich medium to tell stories, whether you’re behind the stove or documenting it. Supper clubs allowed us to dive into the histories and context of food as well as the design surrounding it.

It was a natural step for us to create a magazine after the supper club. We realised there wasn’t a food magazine out there that covered everything we were into. We don’t come from the hospitality world so whilst we love reading about chefs and restaurants, we wanted to see more about design and culture. We wanted more breadth of stories, where we could read something playful one second and then serious the next. We still tap into the spirit of supper clubs by throwing events. We threw a charity bake sale in January and threw a heaving launch party for issue two. 

When putting the first issue together, we found ourselves harking back to the days of Lucky Peach and Mold (RIP), and looking to titles we admire like The Gourmand, Apartamento, and The Gentlewoman. There are too many to name!


Why do you think there are so many magazines about food?
It’s such an exciting time for food media. On a basic level, society as a whole appreciates food today more than ever and people are gravitating towards things they can interact with IRL. Food is the new fashion. We see it everywhere, with brands using food as a way to connect with us.

We’ve also hit a saturation point in food social media. We’re bombarded by recipe videos, influencer reviews of restaurants, and so on. Print allows us to slow down and block out the noise for a second. 

We’re about food, but it’s more than just food—it’s about design, fashion, music, art, politics, travel, wellness, and so much more. I think our art direction helps us stand out; it’s important that our readers eat with their eyes. 

The magazine looks great, it’s a very well designed 2object. How do you achieve that? 
Thank you so much! For issue two we worked with Joe Durnan as our design director. He’s based in Mexico City, so it was a lot of calls, working into Figma, passing back files. We first started the process by building a library of references and aligned on our visual direction. I’m not technically design savvy, so it’s really DK and Joe in the InDesign files, adjusting columns and having a meticulous eye for the small details. 

I’m really proud of our photo essays in this issue, from Vivek Vadoliya’s still life cover story, to Espacio Crudo’s capture of Colombian fruit salads, to Jack Van Giap and Sidonie Roddam’s portrayal of apples in pop culture. We knew we wanted to work with these creatives, but we allowed them to respond to the issue theme in their own way which allows for a collaborative yet personal process. 

We also commission all of the accompanying creative for written pieces. We treat the magazine itself as a medium so all of our pieces, both written and visual, need to exist harmoniously.

Highlight one story that sums up how your magazine works
For issue two I interviewed Brandon Miradi, a Los Angeles-based hospitality creative director. We went around to some of his favourite spots in LA, eating lunch in a storied Chinatown restaurant, walking around eating Persian sweets he brought, and ending the day in a rare bookstore.

Photographer Carly Hildebrant has been working with Brandon on his own projects, so it made sense for her to join us on the day. The photos from our day are beautiful, and they are coupled with Carly’s imagery of Brandon’s restaurant design for Cento Raw Bar. We chatted for hours on end about how he approaches design. It’s a good example of what we’re about at Toothsome. We’re interested in food, but we also want to know the minds behind the operations and the people behind the scenes that influence the way we experience food. 

What has publishing issue one taught you that may be helpful to anybody else planning to make their own magazine?
The first issue was done completely by myself & DK (aside from the creatives we commissioned), and we learned… to never do that again! The second time around, we built an incredible team. We now have two contributing editors, a design director, and a partnerships manager. It makes the world of a difference when you get to work alongside brilliant people.  


What are you most looking forward to this coming week?
I’m travelling to Egypt this week and I can’t wait. We’re hitting Cairo, Alexandria, and Siwa. I’m ready for the chaos and bustle of Cairo and Alexandria, and then the antithesis of that in Siwa. We’re going to fully switch off—something I admittedly am not really good at. If I have to, I’ll throw my phone in the Siwa Salt Lakes. 

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