I’m drinking strong lager next to two women who have never been in this pub before. The lady in the leopard print top and leopard print Converse shoes tells her friend in the grey skin that she was recommended this place by a colleague because of its famous cheese dumplings. The woman in grey skin melts into a thousand colours as she says she knows because the food in this pub saved her life during a particularly low period. I think about leaning over and telling them that I have known the head chef for 27 years, but decide not to make this poem all about me.

Carl Burkitt 2025