Best Food Accounts to Follow on Instagram

I’m not sure I’d describe myself as a foodie, and am definitely not someone who takes photos of my food for social media, but scrolling through my Instagram recently I realised that a good third of the accounts I follow are food related (another third is home improvements and the final third a random mix of friends and celebs).

My list is quite London-centric, and generally includes beautiful photography and a definitely slant towards baking and desserts, with a mixture of actual achievable food goals and some that are more aspirational.

@foodim

Foodim is an app launched by Nigella Lawson a couple of years ago, focusing on food photography on mobile phones. It sounds a bit pretentious, but I love the fact that it’s mainly used by home cooks – like Nigella herself, who refuses to answer to the other ‘c’ word (chef). I don’t actually use the app, but follow the Instagram account for pics of everything from beautiful bakes to in-season veg.

@nigellalawson

Of course, the Food Queen herself is a must-follow. The majority of her posts follow her #recipeoftheday trend which could get boring until you constantly get reminded of classic Nigella dishes that you have to re-make immediately. I also like her slightly snarky but always polite responses to commenters.

@the_little_viet_kitchen

This is a little Vietnamese restaurant on Chapel Market in Islington that I used to visit often back when I lived and worked in North London (I still work there but the events of 2020 mean I haven’t been back to the office in nearly a year!)

The food is incredible, and the chef Thuy Diem Pham has a real eye for beautiful décor, food styling and photography. Her pictures of pho, curry and spring rolls always overflowing with herbs and colour are gorgeous.

@felicityspector

Felicity is a news journalist by day I believe, but a London foodie by night. She loves pastries, especially anything with tahini or rhubarb, and according to Instagram, seems to live the most amazing life surrounded by almond croissants for breakfast, epic sandwiches and salads for lunch, and gourmet tasting menus for dinner. Mouth-watering photography too.

@jayrayner1

One of the only accounts on my list that isn’t there for the quality of the photography…Jay is up front with how he uses Instagram, to show the ‘real’ pictures of the food he reviews in his weekly Observer column. I love his reviews and writing, and his Instagram always prompts me to seek out his latest review.

@dominiqueansel

Chef and bakery owner and inventor-of-the-Cronut (croissant-doughnut hybrid, dontcha know), Dominique Ansel is New York based but until recently, had a London bakery too.

His account has slightly lost it’s sparkle for me since the possibility of actually eating his food now requires a transatlantic flight, but I love his announcements of monthly Cronut flavours and pictures of multiple golden pies around Thanksgiving.

@blackberryriverbakingco

A bit of a random one for me – I first came across US-based pastry chef and bakery owner Audrey over 10 years ago in my first job in online marketing. Audrey’s blog at the time, homerunballerina (no idea what this means) was on our affiliate scheme and although it had no relevance to any of my clients, I started following it personally, following her aims to develop a career in food in New York and trying to emulate her incredible macarons.

Many years later, she is married with kids and proud owner of a bakery somewhere outside the city. She posts stylish but homely baking pics but also lots of her own fashion and style.

@pingcoombes

I’m a huge MasterChef fan but only started following former winner Ping earlier this year. Her account is fantastic – proper home cooking but with ingredients and recipes and techniques I can only dream of. She has a beautiful dark green kitchen, two adorable kids who actually eat everything she gives them, a husband who makes a mean breakfast and basically seems to be living the life.

@thebodycoach

Yes, like the rest of the country (OK, 3.9 million), I follow Joe Wicks. I try not to get sucked in, but he posts really natural engaging content about his life and especially his food, with a focus on tasty brunch dishes, different types of marmalade and gin, and quick, and lots of inspiration for quick, healthy and mostly veggie meals.

@afternooncrumbs

From a national sensation to a local treasure, Afternoon Crumbs is two sisters, Nicole and Lauren, who make cupcakes and celebration cakes in Claygate, Surrey. Mr Bacchanalian used to work with Lauren, and they made our wedding cake a couple of years ago. The cupcakes are picture perfect and I always like seeing what crazy new flavours they come up with.

@toastoxted

Another local favourite, Toast is my go-to spot for brunch or coffee and a cake. It’s an independent café in my home-town of Oxted, Surrey, with a delicious and inventive menu and a penchant for capiTalising the leTTer ‘T’ in all Their InsTa posTs…which can get annoying, but the great food pics and easy access (for me if not you) make up for it.

Various #GBBO Personalities

I’m a big fan of the Great British Bake off and follow a number of former winners and contestants on Instagram. My favourite four are:

• @john_whaite – for a strangely successful mix of work-out videos and step-by-step baking tutorials
• @marthacollison – one of the youngest ever Bake-Off contestants his since forged a career in food, and shares her recipes but also snippets from her dreamy life judging gourmet food and ingredients around the UK
• @theboywhobakes – Edd Kimber was the first ever Bake-Off winner and combines images of his baking and books with some excellent home décor content
• @bakedbybenji – shares the most stunning images and descriptions of her bakes, never failing to make my mouth water with her unique ingredient combinations

So that’s a few of my favourites…how about you? What other foodies do I need to be following?

Please also follow team Bacchanalian on Insta – @BacchanalianBlog