November 1st, a Saturday morning. I was reading the FT at the Reunion Cafe in Belper, Derbyshire, when I saw this pull quote from a Jay Rayner article;

There’s a book there, I thought, and I’d like to write it.

Except (obvs) about cafes, not restaurants.

(Understanding, from the get go, that there’s only a blurry line between the two. A line, I imagine, that we’ll be exploring)

The basic idea is something along the lines of 50 Cafes That Built The Modern World or A History of Everything in 10.5 Cafes or Something. You know the kind of thing. But, hopefully, better than that. It needs a decent framework but it’s mostly a hook to drape things on: stories, jokes, ideas.

And then, pretty quickly, I wondered if it actually had to be ‘a book’. Could it be something else? Could it at least start as something else? Maybe a newsletter?

And so here we are.

My plan is, once a month, throughout 2026, to share my progress, in amonthly issue for paying customers. Because that’s what books might be, these days. I’m planning on making it meaty. Some notes, some drafts, some thoughts, some workings out, lots of links and thoughts and references. The first issue will arrive in January and will focus on A Brasiliera in Lisbon.

In between the big monthly moments there’ll be some free stuff for everyone. Thoughts, notes, wonderings and wanderings. Some working out what this actually might be.

So, please, if you fancy, sign up and sing along. I think it might be fun.

russell

(Incidentally, I’m not 100% convinced I’ve configured the payment system right in Buttondown, so let me know if you have problems. At least Substack make the subscriptions run on time.)