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Guide · Year in food

How to make a year-in-food recap, awards and all.

Music apps recap your year in songs. Your year at the table deserves the same: the dish you could not stop ordering, the place you kept going back to, and the person who was across the table most. Here is how to make one yourself.

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In short

A year-in-food recap is a short look back at your year of meals: your dish of the year, the place you went back to most, the best new spot, who you ate with most and the one meal you still think about. Gather your food photos and receipts, hand out a dozen awards, and share it as a carousel, a poster or a letter.

Checked

Twelve awards

Your food awards: twelve categories.

Awards are the fun part, and they force you to choose. Pick one winner each — no ties, no honourable mentions, except the one you will absolutely sneak in.

Twelve year-in-food award categories and how to pick each winner
What it meansHow to find it
Dish of the yearThe plate that defined your yearThe dish you photographed most
Best biteOne single forkful, not a whole dishThe one you described to someone else
The regularThe place you kept going back toCount visits in your photos by place
Best newcomerYour favourite first visitNew places only, this year only
The surpriseOrdered on a whim, loved itScroll for the dish you did not plan
Supporting drinkCoffee, tea, a cocktail, a shakeThe drink you reordered without looking
Dessert of the yearThe sweet ending that wonLook for the cake you shared and regretted sharing
The big tableThe meal with the most peopleGroup photos, birthdays, reunions
Partner in crimeWho you ate with mostCount the names in your photos and messages
Longest journeyFurthest you went for one mealTrips, detours, a two-hour drive for one bowl
Comfort orderYour bad-day mealThe one you ordered on the worst weeks
Still thinking about itThe meal that lives rent-freeYou know it already

Prompts

Questions to answer.

  • Which dish did you try for the first time this year — and would you order it again?
  • What did you eat on your birthday, and who chose the place?
  • Which restaurant closed, changed or disappointed you?
  • Who introduced you to a new favourite?
  • What was the cheapest meal that felt like a feast?
  • What did you eat on the best day of the year?
  • Which dish did you finally learn the real name of?
  • Where did you eat alone, and did you like it?
  • What did you queue for, and was it worth the queue?
  • Which meal would you replay exactly, same table, same people?
  • What did your year taste like in three words?
  • What do you want to eat next year that you did not get to?

Twelve small ones

Monthly recaps that add up.

A December recap is easy if you did twelve tiny ones along the way. On the first of each month, take five minutes to fill in this template in your notes app — copy it as is:

  • Month: October
  • Meals out I remember: about 9
  • Dish of the month: the braised short rib at the place by the station
  • New place: the noodle bar that opened near work
  • Most often with: Joaquin
  • One line: “Rained every Friday, and we ate soup every Friday.”

Gathering it

Where to find a year of meals.

  • Your camera roll. Both Apple Photos and Google Photos can search photos by what is in them — try “food”, “noodles” or “cake”.
  • Receipts and order history in your email and delivery apps tell you where and when.
  • Group chats. Search “where should we eat” — every answer is a memory.
  • Your map app’s saved places, for the spots you starred after going.

Ways to share

Ways to share your year in food.

  • A carousel of twelve — one award per slide, the dish cut out on a plain colour.
  • A poster — all twelve winners on one tall image, like an awards programme.
  • An awards dinner — take the winners of “partner in crime” and “the regular” to the regular, and read the results out loud.
  • A letter to next year — half recap, half wish list.
  • A one-minute reel — a dish a beat, in date order, with the year’s count at the end.

Or let your saves tell it

Let your saves tell it.

If you keep your meals in PlateDiary, the recap builds itself. Served is a full-screen story of a month or a year — “Your 2026, served.” — made on your phone from your own saves: your dish of the month, your regular and your new places, who you ate with, the big table, your table personality, and a poster to share.

A month story appears once a month with three or more saves is finished, and a year story with five or more; “Your year so far” opens on December 1st. PlateDiary AI can write a title, the table personality and a letter from the month — that part is optional and uses free tries or a membership. See PlateDiary AI for what it sends and what it never does.

Questions

Questions people ask.

What should I put in a year in food review?

Your dish of the year, the place you went back to most, your best new place, who you ate with most, a dessert and a drink of the year, and the one meal you would replay exactly.

How do I make a monthly food recap?

On the first of each month, note the meals you remember, a dish of the month, any new place, who you ate with most and one line about the month. Twelve of those make the year easy.

Is there a year in review for food?

Yes. PlateDiary’s Served makes a month or year story from the meals you saved — top dishes, your regular, new places and who you ate with — built on your phone.

When should I make a year-in-food recap?

Early December, while the year is still fresh and before the holiday meals blur together. Add the December winners on New Year’s Day.