Simon Difford

Simon Difford started in 1983 as a labourer for a small building contractor, a beginning that reads plainly and usefully: learn the job, keep moving, no excess. That same practical register later showed up in Chariot Supplies in London, which he founded, and now in Difford's Guide, where Simon Difford works as a drinks writer and publisher with a bias toward clarity, precision and detail that can actually be used.

At Difford's Guide, Simon Difford works as drinks writer and publisher in a voice that stays direct and unadorned. The point is not ornament but instruction: line by line, the writing separates one syrup from another and keeps the reader on the facts. That approach is plain instruction, "Please see the explanation of 2 to 1 'rich' sugar syrup versus 1 to 1 'simple' syrup."

Simon Difford's signature dishes include Saison l'Hiver. As a signature, it sits in the frame as a fixed point: a named dish that signals his taste for directness rather than display.

The distinction in Simon Difford's work is the way specificity carries the whole argument. He states things without padding, whether noting, "On 8th November 2015 I turned 50." or answering with, "Yes, both 2 sugar to 1 water (by volmue rather than mass)." That kind of plain delivery is the point: measured, exact and useful, with no need to dress the fact up before it lands.