Bio
Skye McAlpine is a successful food writer and stylist who writes a monthly column in The Sunday Times, and has contributed to publications from around the world including vogue.com, the Guardian, the Saturday Telegraph, Vanity Fair and Condé Nast Traveller. She has published two books; A Table in Venice and her latest endeavour, A Table for Friends, which she tells us is “the book she’s always dreamed of writing”. Her latest book is A Table Full of Love.

Skye’s approach is refreshing for the home cook; she decorates the table with fresh produce rather than flowers, she puts mounds of delicious pudding in the middle of the table and she is totally against starters. She gives people at home the confidence to entertain, and the Italian influence adds to the deliciousness and beauty of what she does so well.

Life before Leiths
Before coming to Leiths, Skye was studying for her PhD and took one year’s maternity leave, which is when she first started writing her food blog. “It really was just a hobby. I didn’t dream that I could ever do something like write about food for work or as a career, although I would have loved nothing more.” Skye’s observant cousin identified her love of writing and gifted her a voucher for our Food Writing Evening Course to encourage her to turn her passion into a career.

How would you describe your time at Leiths?
“I found my evenings at Leiths hugely inspiring and the course gave me a better understanding of the different fields in the food writing space, and of what the path to doing it might be. It made me feel that it was possible for me.” After completing the course, Skye invested more time in her blog and by the time she finished her studies, she had been commissioned to write her first cookbook.

Any wise words for future grads?
Skye has had a dynamic, creative career since graduation, bringing a unique Venetian influence into our homes through her writing and recipes. She shares a word of advice for those with similar dreams of making their way in the food world: “The thing that I’ve learnt is that creative careers are all about resilience. Just keep doing what you’re doing and do it for long enough and it will be a success. Not every idea or pitch or proposal is well received (more often it’s not), but if you keep at it, overall you’ll get to where you want to get.”