Who would have thought the relationship between Simon and Aaron Turner from restaurant Igni could've sparked the start of Somekind Press? Simon certainly didn't believe it, but once the ball got rolling, Somekind quickly turned into a powerhouse of 96 paged food books that are sharing the stories of people all around Australia.
Simon sits down with me and chats over the phone about his early interest in food books as a teenager and what it was like working for publishing giants Hardie Grant and Quadrille. He chats about his time working on Josh Nilands 'The Whole Fish Cookbook' and Peter Gilmores 'From The Earth', both highly regarded cook books in the hospitality industry.
Since starting Somekind Press in March 2020, which has published books for the likes of Ben Devlin and Yen Trinh (Pipit Restaurant), Lee Tran Lam and Boon Luck Farm, it has raised over $150,000 which has been put back into the community to the restaurants and illustrators involved in the books.
A super commendable effort from a small community funded publisher and Simon Davis is here to tell an interesting story from a different perspective in and around hospitality.
I would like to note that Roots Podcast is proudly supported by the Australian Good Food Guide. A hospitality guide that started in 1977 and still continues to rate and support restaurants ever since.
Music by Charlie Fester.
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