Kinfolk. An indie, back-to-basics, earthy, natural, simple living magazine that highlights the small joys in life: fresh organic juice – beachside cookouts – and gatherings with friends.

Kinfolk is all about sharing, living, eating, talking, and discussing. Did you know they began as communities of ‘gatherings’: long table meals held across a number of different countries around the world? This spawned the magazine, and they’ve continued the gatherings – themed around their upcoming issues. It is always a small gathering, and they get local bakers, bloggers, designers, planners, and winemakers involved in each meal. Each gathering happens around the same time, all around the world, around the same theme – but each one is so unique and special and different.

A few months after I arrived in London, Kinfolk announced their summer issue – and the corresponding gathering. This time, it was called L’Esprit de la Mer (The Spirit of the Sea), and it was themed around the sun, water, and salt.

We all sat down to a shared meal. There’s something wonderful about sitting down as a family with a group of like-minded strangers.

We all came from different places – chefs, photographers, journalists, architects. We passed down bowls of salads, plates of salt-crusted fish, and dished up almond milk chocolate caramel tart slices for strangers who had become friends.