Origin myths

'"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

"Very deep," said Arthur, "you should send that in to the Reader's Digest. They've got a page for people like you."'

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams.

The illusion of lunchtime is always great, but it's greater when crammed into a single hour in the midst of the working day. Over a bowl of perfect dumpling soup an hour can leap and scamper, but an arrogantly pre-prepared sandwich from under glass can stretch time greater than light-speed travel. This collection of words, and the occasionally badly lit photo taken surreptitiously with a telephone, will try to capture the temporal distortion that only food can create in the middle of the day.

I work in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia; a city replete with opportunities for lunch, coffee and good food. If I remember to make a sandwich or bring leftovers I will, but I'm not a morning person and having at least one meal prepared by someone else is a particular joy. This won't be just a series of restaurant reviews or a Guide To Getting A Decent Sandwich - I hope it's much more than that. It will be about sharing food with good friends and moving into the afternoon knowing one is fueled, and more importantly, fulfilled. It will also build on my last contributions to words about food, Eat Our Way Up High Street.

Posts won't be limited to lunch - I do eat other meals and I do cook and I do have a life, so as often as not I'll be sharing things you might have an interest in. Cheese will almost certainly get a mention, at least until I get around to having my cholesterol checked, as will things I haven't thought of yet but will want to throw into the pot at some later stage. It will be driven as much by the love of words as the love of food. I promise not to talk pretentious rubbish or complain when the consomme Nesselrode isn't just *so*. I will, however, talk rubbish about, well, anything really.

So there we go. Sit back, pour a drink and, I hope, enjoy. Smoking is permitted on the balcony and the fish of the day is definitely worth a go.