The archive · Content & Film · Product decision · 2020s
Guzzle uses food as a springboard for bigger ideas across three illustrated issues
Irish magazine Guzzle treats food as a connector: themed print issues with commissioned art, live events, and diaspora writers from Cape Town to Brussels.
Guzzle
What it had to solve
Jane Gleeson was working in the art world when she felt a pull towards food; during the pandemic she studied for an MA in Gastronomy and Food Studies while hosting virtual gallery events behind a screen. She wanted a way to engage audiences beyond technology, using food - 'arguably the world's greatest connector' - as a route into larger ideas.
How it works
Guzzle is an illustrated Irish food magazine founded by Jane Gleeson out of a desire to escape technology. Her premise is that food is the world's greatest connector, so the publication uses it as a springboard to explore larger ideas - from the physical and mental tolls of working in a commercial kitchen to a wacky recipe inspired by Dublin's housing crisis.
The idea was born during the pandemic, when Gleeson was studying gastronomy while hosting virtual events behind a screen and dreaming of engaging audiences beyond technology. Each issue takes one theme - nostalgia in times of unease, love amid global disconnect, and the fleeting notion of home for issue three - with commissioned photography and drawings for every piece, an initial visual identity by Shane Bonfield, and a live programme treated as seriously as the printed page.
Irishness remains the identity's centre: with the Irish diaspora among the world's largest, Guzzle draws contributors from Cape Town, New York and Brussels who use it to reconnect with heritage. By the third issue, in August 2026, several readers had bought the commissioned artwork to frame and exhibit in their own homes - evidence that the object, not just the writing, is part of the product.
Why it lands
- The concept is a one-liner - food as a springboard to bigger ideas - and every themed issue gives it a new container rather than a new strategy.
- It is deliberately anti-platform: born out of pandemic screen fatigue, Guzzle pairs print with live events so the audience steps away from the scroll.
- Irishness gives the magazine a distinct voice and a built-in global audience in the diaspora, who use it to reconnect with identity and heritage.
- Commissioned artwork is part of the product promise, and readers actually buy it to frame - proof the magazine works as a physical object, not just content.
What it did
By August 2026 Guzzle had launched three themed issues and reached readers globally across the Irish diaspora; founder Jane Gleeson reports that readers have purchased the commissioned artwork to frame and exhibit at home, and points to food 'spilling into unexpected territories' in culture.
What you can take
An editorial niche can carry larger ideas: themed issues turn food into a connector, commissioned art makes the print object collectible, and live events turn readers into participants.
Since then
Guzzle launched its third issue in August 2026, exploring home with a commissioned cover by Laura Callaghan, while Gleeson ran the magazine from East London alongside her restaurant consultancy. Issue four is planned around the party - 'the apex of all physical events' - with contributors invited to take the theme to unexpected places. Gleeson argues food is spilling into unexpected territories, from a viral tomato clutch to restaurants appearing at art fairs; in that landscape Guzzle positions itself as a meeting place rather than a feed.
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