A Boy in the Kitchen

Everything Stops for Tea

On tea, routine, and time standing still

57 mins ago • PhilipDundas

3

1

January 2026

The Reluctant Memoirist

My novel ‘Daniel at Sea’ is a fiction that draws on ideas sheltered for many years.

Jan 16 • PhilipDundas

12

8

1

Mr Rochester Comes To Lunch

As a boy, I liked meeting strangers, especially adults. Friends of my parents, people from church, anyone new at the table. One afternoon, a man I…

Jan 7 • PhilipDundas

19

7

5

December 2025

A Night in the Woods

This is how I have always liked to go. More with a sense of direction, knowing where I want to end up, than how I will get there. But in a new country…

Dec 8, 2025 • PhilipDundas

16

1

1

November 2025

Where It All Began

After moving to New York, I have been reunited with my cookery books. It reminded me of how I was first drawn to cookery as a child. Watching my mother…

Nov 20, 2025 • PhilipDundas

13

5

3

October 2025

Listening to the Voices

Ten years ago, closing the restaurant almost broke me. So I went to walk in the mountains. It is my meditation. Somewhere that nothing is asked from me…

Oct 16, 2025 • PhilipDundas

14

5

2

September 2025

On the Ropes

The quiet reliance on those who matter, the courage to face the unknown, and the understanding that friendship, trust, and loyalty are the true measures…

Sep 24, 2025 • PhilipDundas

19

6

August 2025

Observation #6 Tell Me What You Eat

New Yorkers seem to cry out the mantra “can’t cook, won’t cook” with pride.

Aug 1, 2025 • PhilipDundas

17

4

2

June 2025

Observation #5 Why Pride Matters

On every sidewalk, in every restaurant, gallery, bar, café and business in this city there is someone profoundly, singularly, projecting and defining…

Jun 23, 2025 • PhilipDundas

9

May 2025

Observation #4 Looking at Babel

Living here is a Faustian contract. Life in the great cities of civilization must have always been so. But as much as there is poverty and hardship…

May 31, 2025 • PhilipDundas

12

4

1

Observation #3 Sounds Familiar

Something I thought I would miss is recognising the sounds of birds. Since I was a boy growing up in the Scottish countryside, birdsong has followed me.

May 7, 2025 • PhilipDundas

8

April 2025

Observation #2 First Steps

I must push myself out onto the streets to find what I will learn to love here, to map the outline of my new city beyond the superficial impressions. To…

Apr 14, 2025 • PhilipDundas

12

1

1