in a lull

EASING MYSELF INTO 2K26

Welcome back to Chic! a newsletter by Rebecca Thimmesch. Have you subscribed?

Can I say Happy New Year? On January 8th it’s marginal, right?

January 8th is exactly that, marginal. Firmly out of the holiday period and yet, somehow, only a week into what is always the longest and strangest month of the year. We’ve already had our annual world-altering geopolitical events that make everyone think, “wow, this year is gonna be nuts.”

Usually, this is about when I arrive home after a twenty-day, multi-city trip to the United States. I return to my freezing apartment, shower off my overnight flight, sit down for a few minutes while promising myself I will go get a coffee and stay awake, then I fall asleep for two or three days. This year I didn’t subject myself to any flights or train rides. My longest commute was an hour-long cycle. I woke up in my own bed on New Year’s Day and here I sit now, no hint of jet lag. Am I more rested, more ready to start the year? Not really.

I mostly laid down during this festive period. I was sick for about four weeks in a row and I have needed several weeks to recover. I am still recovering. I roused myself at various points. I went to the launch of the Offcuts ‘Head’ issue at St. JOHN in Neal’s Yard (fabulous) and had dinner with Jake, friend of the newsletter and founder of GUTS Magazine, as well as Perry, another GUTS contributor. I couldn’t stomach (ha!) tripe with the boys at Cafe TPT; I can barely eat meat after my dalliance with Norovirus in late November, but I ate noodles and morning glory and a bit of barbecue pork and drank my first beer in probably three weeks. I had SOURCED Christmas Eve drinks with Anna and Chloe at the Eldersfield, recently taken over by the Spurstowe Arms, surrounded by elegant Hackney toddlers and their sexy, bumbling fathers. I continued on to Rasputin’s where we watched The Blues Brothers and then seasonal episodes of The Simpsons, which made me feel like I was ten and posted up in front of the Christmas tree with my brother watching ‘Homer the Heretic.’ I stepped out onto icy Mare Street past midnight only to be charged at by a man in a Grinch costume, filming some sort of Grinch Prank Instagram Reel. The Grinch didn’t really do pranks but I suppose that’s gotten lost. I cycled far into East London on Christmas Day, marveling at the vibrancy of some of the city’s most Muslim high streets on a Thursday bank holiday. I’m very normal and can be trusted with multiculturalism. My friends Renata and Oliver made a delicious, special-feeling Christmas dinner and then we basically did Gay Guy Music Video Night for five or six hours. I cycled home through the city in the early hours, reflecting as I always do on my childhood obsession with A Good Year and how the conclusion I was supposed to draw from that movie certainly wasn’t “I must move to London.” I cooked Boxing Day dinner at Open Door Community Kitchen including a culturally-appreciative sheet pan bubble and squeak, despite never having eaten it in my life. On New Year’s Eve I cooked an amatriciana and a Caesar salad for my friends Jojo and Bella and we got so wrapped up in Heated Rivalry that we didn’t notice the clock had struck midnight. I made the trek to Epping Forest last weekend for a Big Walk with my friends Pete and Heather and subjected myself to a true Tik Tok viral queue at the Oyster Shack & Seafood Bar. I wrote nothing and read little.

I’m going to steer clear of long reflections, In/Out lists, and grand plans at this still-marginal time.

But I am really enjoying what so many of my peers have had to say going into 2026. So today, I offer you a bit about what I hope this newsletter will look like this year.

My main goal for this newsletter, which I have been writing off-and-on for an unbelievable six years, is as ever to write exactly what I want to write and have fun doing it. But, as discussed in my last missive, the work will try and fall into four broad categories:

Getting Mad at my Phone

I will continue to publish soft trend report-type pieces about goings on in the food media and hospitality landscape, digital marketing, Influencerdom, et cetera. These have always been the bread and butter of the newsletter and will continue to be as I love to get mad at my phone.

Just Asking Questions

I aim to publish more interviews and profiles this year with people whose work, ideas, and insights I value. This will not be a podcast. If you’d like to chat, bang my line!

Criticism with a Hard C

The response to August’s criticism newsletter was overwhelming. This year, I aim to publish regular, disciplined critical work responding to restaurants, books, and shorter pieces. My approach will be a slow one, trying to strike a balance between churning out responses to that week’s main character and making you read my thoughts on a book that came out two years ago.

Syndicated Column

In case you missed it, last month I debuted Syndicated Column, a series where I get a little more Carrie with it than usual. Why self-publish if I’m not going to get a little wild with it?

I’m very excited about this upcoming year of work and I’m extremely grateful to anyone who reads it. I’m grateful to all the other writers who I get to commune with and to the ones who don’t know who I am but whose work inspires me. Stay tuned.🫒