In conversation with @millennial.menu

This week we have had the pleasure to interview one of our fantastic ambassadors about their exciting and unique take on the foodie world sphere. Louisa is a designer both in her professional life and spare time, and runs her own company cleverly named Millennial Menu. Here she combines her dual passions of food and design to bring you some delicious recipes and some equally tasty kitchen utensils and cuisine inspired illustration.

Our Head of Marketing, Emily, had the pleasure of catching up with Louisa to find out what inspired her to develop this wonderful business and also what foodie insight she could share with us. Read on to find out more about @millennial.menu

• Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for us. We have been loving your beautiful fusion of foodie images mixed with foodie inspired digital design. What inspired you to marry together these two passions?

I have always been interested in food (I was that child that ate EVERYTHING) and that hasn’t really changed. In my day job I am a designer and also run my own small business, so creativity runs though my blood! It seemed like there was a niche missing for food and fun digital related content so that is where Millennial Menu was born. I love the aesthetic of mixing photography with digital. Also, let’s be honest… foods that aren’t ‘insta-worthy’ deserve to be on the feed too so I draw them instead!

• What was the starting point for both your recipe creation and design work? Who first got you interested in both?

Once I started to become more independent, cooking my own meals and doing my own food shops I just found myself wandering around the supermarket pairing ingredients together to create fun concoctions! My wonderful friend inspired me to start my blog after me sending her endless food pictures and I thought ‘why not’? I am definitely a self-confessed foodie, always seeking out independent restaurants and giving people recommendations so it was only natural to publish them to the world! It was (like many others) a positive creation from the pandemic which helped keep me sane and busy! My design background goes back a bit further. I was very creative at school and ended up studying Textiles Design at university. Once I graduated, I went straight into a design job which I have been doing for 2.5 years. I also started my own small business which piggybacked off my food blog and that’s been growing since August 2020.

• Your Instagram is full of different types of recipes from all round the world, is there any specific countries cuisine or fusion of cuisines that you love making?

It’s funny, some of the cuisines I love to eat the most are the ones I hate to make the most! I would say my favourite to cook would be Mexican because the ingredients aren’t too restrictive, I often just use ingredients I find in my fridge which always creates delicious dishes and saves food waste! I am also a BIG fan of British food so you can never go wrong with a roast dinner and trifle (although I’m sure there’s a lot of foodies out there who would disagree). I also really enjoy making beautiful food, it may sound a bit vain, but there’s something so satisfying about creating a dish which makes you go ‘wow’.

• Are there any particular types of food that inspire your design work more prominently than others?

I am always drawn to food that is colourful or textured, they are always more fun to draw and lend themselves nicely to my maximalist vibe. Let’s be honest, no one wants to see a drawing of a beef stew…

• What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue digital creativity and recipe creation?

It can sometimes be demotivating on the design side, I think because the blog is primarily food it means it’s mostly other foodies interacting so the illustrations often don’t get as much attention. However, you have to keep pushing! If I had given up then I wouldn’t have been given so many opportunities to work with other brands and design for them. It sounds a cliche but it’s important to remember that you are creating the Instagram for yourself primarily and if that shows then other people will love it too! Network as much as you can, tag all the brands you can, comment and make yourself seen.

• What is one recipe that you always feel drawn to go back to?

One recipe I make time and time again is oat banana bars. They are so quick and super delicious! I often have them for breakfast with peanut butter and greek yogurt. They’re also great as a sweet snack or dessert topped with ice cream!

• And finally if you could get your hands on Skinny Bakery for a day what Pearl would you create?

EASY, hands down a peanut butter and jam pearl. I am obsessed with peanut butter so it’s only natural I would choose this… perhaps with a chocolate sponge? And I might as well make it vegan so everyone can enjoy it!

If you would like to know more about the fantastic Louisa you can find her website here or head on over to our Facebook group Skinny Recipes to read her tasty recipe for oat banana bars.