10 Under-the-Radar Food Instagrammers to Follow Now

Food Lists Instagram

Let’s face it – Instagram is one of the finer things in life. It’s basically the best way to keep up with everything IRL really quickly, and the inspiration factor is huge. In the world of food, Instagrammers come in all forms – there’s the people who dine at destination restaurants who show how the other half lives, the home cooks who cook big, small, healthy, or in specific global cuisines, and even people who only post photos of ice cream (these people get lots of likes). It’s an incredibly diverse population, and we all love each other. Or if we don’t, we really should, because it’s all delicious.

There’s always something new going on in the Instagram world, so to start the summer season right, here’s our picks for fab Instagrammers doing food. There are food artists, bookish foodies, food lovers who only feature one kind of meal, vegans, foragers and more.

1. @ianpurkayastha
Ian Purkayastha is a forager extraordinaire who turned his craft into a well-regarded business. He specializes in “all things wild and delicious.” His iG account features delicious truffles, wild mushrooms, star apples, turkey eggs, fresh bamboo shoots, 10-pound spiny lobsters – and let’s not forget the caviar. Additionally, Ian was recently featured in The New Yorker and is the author of Truffle Boy.

2. @mississipivegan

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When I first saw Timothy Pakron’s photos, I discovered I had a bias. Which is a good thing, because we all have biases, and the best thing to do about that is to unearth and destroy them. I didn’t think of of Mississippi as a place where the most beautiful and delicious vegan food I’d ever seen was being created – that bias is now effectively gone thanks to following this iG. Check it out – even if you’re not vegan, you might be tempted to alter your orientation after seeing these photos.

3. @cookbookgram

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@cookbookgram’s motto is “because every cook has a story to tell.” This collection of cookbooks is curated by two friends who both are in the same incurable state I’m in, which is cookbook love/lust. With both familiar and unfamiliar titles collected and photographed for our viewing pleasure, the covers of these books so perfectly lined up really make me want to get another bookcase to fill.

4. @meringuegirls

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Unicorns, rainbows, sugar, inspiration and girl power is what The Meringue Girls are all about, and the only problem I have with them is that their shop is located in the UK and I need to have them here in the US. Glistening tie-dye meringues of all shapes and sizes, glittering meringue and fruity and flowered concoctions, and even some fantastic artwork and pillow crafts designed following the manner of feminist icon Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party hashtagged “pussypower” and “peace, love and pussies.”

5. @thechickenparmtastingclub

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What if someone decided to form a club to just eat chicken parm all over the five boroughs of New York City, wherever it can be found? Well, someone did, and @thechickenparmtastingclub has an Instagram anyone can follow to learn all the ways of chicken parm. There are many, and all are good. Really good, with the aroma of garlicky tomato sauce rising from the photos and all that sweet mozz just melting away – my fork and knife are ready.

6. @fffzine

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The intersection of food, pop culture, art, fashion and pretty much anything else you can think of is the space @fffzine lives in each day. It’s an indie zine for the idiosyncratic foodie. It’s basically impossible to describe and impractical to even try to. The photos tell all. Warning: some of the content here is NSFW.

7. @fjmigoya

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If you love the ways of modernist cuisine, chef and author Francisco Migoya’s photos will make you swoon and run for your own kitchen to try to make your own copies of these gorgeous, fascinating foods. If you haven’t decided if you’re into modernist cuisine (a term which is sometimes used interchangeably with molecular gastronomy) you’ll have a chance to see some of the best out there.

8. @crownfinishcaves

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There’s an old place in Brooklyn, in Crown Heights to be specific – that used to be a lagering tunnel. Thirty feet below street level, in this old tunnel, is Crown Finish Caves – a space filled with thousands of cheeses, each aging to its own form of perfection. Yet another proof that New York City has everything, and this feed shows what CFC does on a daily basis. Really interesting stuff here for turophiles (cheese lovers) and many others.

9. @foodonaphotograph

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It doesn’t get much better than scrolling through iG and suddenly seeing a gorgeous close-up fashion shot of Audrey Hepburn and then notice that her hair has somehow turned into shimeji mushrooms or spiralized carrots with a sprig of fresh rosemary. I’m addicted to Kaoru’s artwork at @foodonaphotograph. Somehow she’s managed to create photo collages that are terribly chic yet always make me smile.

10. @cheeseofnewyork

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I hesitate to say “cheese porn,” but if I don’t, I’m sure someone else will. Gabby and Dick have really started something here that no human who loves cheese will ever really be able to walk away from. These are the ways of cheese we want to know about, these are the ways of cheese we dream of. One of their hashtags is #CHEESUS and after scrolling through this iG account, I’m ready to believe.


Karen Resta is a writer, a food culturalist, and a sometimes-fashionista who mostly loves ice cream and Brooklyn.

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