Serviette 4
Delivered to Stack subscribers in Jun 2024

by Steve Watson in July 2024

A magazine that’s obsessed with food, Serviette tells unexpected stories about eating and drinking. This fourth issue is themed, ‘Food is absurd’.

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Name
Max Meighen

Job title
Publisher

What is Serviette?
Serviette is a magazine about food: the people who grow and produce it, the distances we travel to eat it, and all the ways it’s tangled up with culture, science, history, and design.

What makes it different from the rest?
At the heart of the magazine are the ideas that get communicated through food. We use our irrepressible passion for food to engage with a broader range of topics.

Who makes Serviette?
A small team of three, including myself, a brilliant art director and editor.

Who reads it?
Anyone interested in the design, historical or cultural significance of food.

Why do you work in magazines?
Magazines are like a fascinating dinner party conversation, in print form: wide-reaching, digressive, and wildly informative and entertaining. The best ones, like a great meal, are an intellectual and sensory experience that sticks with you.

Aside from the print magazine, what else are you involved in?
I operate a restaurant, brewery and urban farm called Avling. We are located in the east end of Toronto.

What would you change about Serviette if you could?
With our fifth issue, Food is Absurd, we embraced more of a playful tone to the magazine, which is something I hope to carry forward into future issues.

Where do you see Serviette in five years?
Financial stability would be great! Beyond that, I would love to regularly host dinners and other fun events with a broad range of collaborators in more cities. I have also been kicking around the idea of an annual symposium that dives into the intersection of food, design, and urbanism. Lastly, I would really like to help more people dream up, and open restaurants and food businesses.