Welcome to The Pellicle Mixtape, a regular feature where I (Pellicle co-founder Jonathan Hamilton) will be asking people from across the food and drink industry to create a playlist set to a theme of their choosing.

The hope is to gain a small insight into that person and their place of work through not only their song choices but also the thought process and level of obsessiveness they put into their mix. I’ll also be asking them what they’ve been enjoying eating and drinking recently, and finding out what else has been exciting them in the world of food and drink.

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It feels like a long time since I last wrote one of these introductions. I won’t bore you with the reasons as to why these mixes have become less frequent but it’s safe to say we’ve been busy. These mixtapes really took a life of their own during the three lockdowns we have endured over the last 14 months, and have given our contributors something to focus on during the quiet times, often with people working from home, or on furlough.

Perhaps the fact that these mixes have become further and further apart is a good sign, an indicator that things are returning towards normality. The very fact both myself and Matt have been busy—running a brewery and writing multiple books [preorder Modern British Beer here—Ed] respectively—is indicative of change. I’m sure we are not the only ones to have noticed a sudden shift in our lives recently, coming seemingly out of nowhere without much warning.

It’s appropriate then that this two-sided mixtape by Rachel Hendry is focused on the hospitality industry. One that has been hit hard during this pandemic, but is slowly but surely opening its doors to us once again. At the time of writing this, many of you will be meeting friends outdoors to enjoy a drink after work in this unseasonably cold May weather, but by next week bars and restaurants across the nations will be able to welcome us inside once again.

I’m not going to tell you all how important the reopening of the hospitality industry is to many of us, as that would be preaching to the choir, but I will say one thing, and that is when you do return to your favourite venues up and down the country, treat the staff who serve you with respect, patience and kindness, and TIP! We have all endured a hard past year, and of course, we want that pint, so badly, but remember to go easy on our industry workers.

Much like her fellow Burum Collective colleague Helen, Rachel and I became friends during this last year, and we have yet to meet in the real world (although I hope that will change someday soon). Rachel is, like so many of our contributors, someone who wears many hats. And like the rest of us, those hats are all for various roles in the greater world of food and drink. It’s the driving force that gets us out of bed in the morning, the last thing we think about before going to sleep, and often the reason we wake up a little groggy some mornings only to repeat it all again.

Often one of the most difficult parts of putting these mixes together is deciding what title to give the contributor. To some of you, you will know Rachel Hendry as the creator of the newsletter J’adore le Plonk which showcases her essays on wine, which often focus on the simple enjoyment of a glass of vino and the idea that wine should be inclusive and for anyone who wants to enjoy it. I remember getting the first newsletter in my inbox around a year ago and loving how unashamedly Rachel talked about her love of supermarket rosé in her WSET level 3 class. In later issues, she has discussed wine and the zodiac, how all red wine tastes the same to her, and elitism in the wine world.

This passion for wine, and belief that wine, along with all food and drink, should be open for anyone to enjoy regardless of their background, or income has led to her involvement with Burum Collective, and of course her writing for us at Pellicle. We had been looking for a regular wine contributor for a while and when we became aware of Rachel’s writing we instantly knew that she was the right person for the job, and we can’t wait to share her latest piece with you all soon.

My favourite thing about Rachel’s writing is her tasting notes. One of the greatest attributes about someone entering an industry from the outside—even though Rachel has studied the WSET and knows more about wine than most—is that they aren’t tied down by the vocabulary and vernacular of an often snobbish and elitist industry. For example, I can tell you that this glass of white Burgundy I’m enjoying right now is dry, crisp, with notes of green apple, good minerality and slightly oxidative, but that won’t mean much to many of you. Rachel would taste this same wine and be able to tell you how it made her feel, and what it reminded her of in her life. I wish I had that talent.

The Pellicle Mixtape Volume 19 — Rachel Hendry of J’adore le Plonk

There’s little room for autonomy when you work front of house. You leave the vast majority of who you are at the door and put on another personality alongside your uniform.

Everything from what you wear, to the language you use and what you listen to is heavily dictated by who you work for and who you are serving.

Restaurant playlists are often carefully curated for the customer who spends a couple of hours with you, but for the staff—who have to listen to the same 5 hours on repeat every working day—they can become pretty unbearable at times.

Sadly I can no longer listen to Franc Moody or KAYTRANADA because they immediately take me back to stressful and unhappy services spanning a stressful and unhappy eighteen months of my life.

Opening and closing, as much as they are a drag at times, become somewhat sacred hours of the working week. With customers gone you are somewhat freer to work on your own terms; immediate feelings are expressed, uniforms are loosened and, crucially, playlists change

I’ve split this mix into two, an opening playlist and a closing playlist, an A-side and a B-side if you will.

The open is my musical equivalent to caffeine—songs that gear me up, put a spring in my step and motivate me when I’m exhausted. I’m very lucky with who I work with, so I like to think they’ll keep this playlist going as long as they can. I often opt for a silent close down—turning off the music after an AFD [apparently this is a hospitality term, and now I feel old—Ed.] is the sweetest form of release—but as I often finish late and start early the next day there’s a limited time to wind down, these are some of the songs that aid me in that. I appreciate I’m more likely on my own with these ones.

What have you been drinking recently?

Water, mainly. Then coffee. My morning coffee is my favourite part of my day, everything else is just an exercise in passing the time until I can drink coffee again. My coffee is from Hard Lines, obviously & always.

In terms of alcohol, it’s a tricky one right now. Being on furlough means I don’t have the disposable income I’m used to and trying to keep my mental health in check whilst living alone in lockdown means I’m drinking alcohol quite rarely. There’s also been a big shift in how I choose my wine recently. It’s not enough that a wine is made with minimal intervention if the people making it and selling it are paid and treated poorly. So I’m picky about who I buy from, it’s very much a prioritisation of quality over quantity.

Little Wine is my favourite online Bottle Shop at the moment. I think Christina and Daniela have created something really wonderful. Claus Preisinger’s Kieselstein 2019 was a Zweigelt I bought from them earlier this year which was just big cherry cola juicy banger vibes, paired perfectly with season 2 of Westworld.

In Cardiff, Good News is my one true love. They’ve got the 2019 Marto Weiss Blend in stock at the moment and it’s one of the best wines I’ve had this year—starts off with this big dry aperitif energy, all grapefruit tonic mimosa elderflower spritz, then crumbles into walnuts and big, juicy green olives before finishing on an apricot danish, peach Haribo high.

Where/What have you been eating recently?

I laughed out loud when I read this question. Pretty much all of my meals this Year Of Our Lord 2021 have been eaten alone in my flat. Luckily for me, I’m fantastic company, so it’s only very recently starting to wear thin.

About once a week I’ve had dinner with my friend Sophie, who’s been my support bubble this lockdown, and I cannot tell you how much our meals together have meant to me.

In terms of what I’m eating, I’m going through cycles of being very unimaginative and uninspired in my cooking to then really trying to harness joy through the meals I feed myself. On capable days I’ve been eating fried egg sandwiches with brown butter, crispy sage and tomato chutney, Anna Jones’ lentils on toast and big spaghetti dinners. On the not so capable days I’m convinced I’m just one more packet of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs away from solving all my problems.

What have you been reading recently?

I’ve just finished Robert Walters’ Bursting Bubbles, which is a really brilliant look at the history of Champagne and the rise of grower-producers. Arguably I read an awful lot about the region for someone who lives more of a Prosecco lifestyle, but Champagne fascinates me because so much of it is myth and marketing

Next on my list is Authentic Wine by Jamie Goode and Sam Harrop, which so far is proving to be a very thoughtful and unbiased look at what sustainable winemaking is. I get so bored of the natural wine debate because most takes involve some form of moral high ground, which this book thankfully does not. I just think that if the wine world debated it’s diversity and labour issues with the same ferocity it debated natural wine then it might be a far more inclusive industry than it is now. But what do I know?