A TikToker in Los Angeles has set the internet ablaze after claiming to have invented the picky tea.
Consisting of leftovers and various random bits of cold food, any self-respecting Manc knows that picky teas have been a hallmark of British summertime since the dawn of sliced cucumber.
To us Brits, the picky tea is an iconic summer staple – widely known to be every British mum’s favourite thing to serve when the weather gets hot and they don’t want to cook.
But now, the humble hodge podge of ingredients has been rebranded as ‘Girl Dinner’ on TikTok – and the New York Timesis crediting LA social media user Olivia Maher with coining the phrase.
According to an article published in the American newspaper, the 28-year-old used the term to describe her dinner of cheese, grapes, bread, and wine on 12 May.
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In a video that now has over 1.2 million views, she said: “I cannot find the TikTok right now but a girl just came on here and said how in medieval times peasants had to eat nothing but bread and cheese and how awful that was, and she was like ‘that’s my ideal meal’. This is my dinner. I call this ‘girl dinnner’ or ‘medieval peasant.’
The video has racked up hundreds of comments, with lots of Americans posting to say they’re all about these sorts of meals as #girldinner continues to trend on TikTok.
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There are reams of comments underneath, with users celebrating Olivia as the ‘original’ girl dinner creator.
Others have questioned #girldinner’s originality in the comments, with one person saying: “This is actually a European dinner by some standards.”
Another person said: “It’s called picky bits”
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A third person said: “Perfect dinners, I call this ‘picky tea’ just want more bread for you”
Image: Twitter
Image: Twitter
A fourth person added: “I feel like y’all need to look up the average German breakfast(which can be consumed any time of day) because this isn’t really that far off”
A fifth said: “I call this a picnic dinner”
A sixth said: “American women calling picky bits, ‘girl dinner'” with a crying-laughing emoji.
In an interview with Insider, Olivia Maher said: “The name ‘girl dinner’ came to me while on a ‘hot girl walk’ ‘with a friend discussing our favourite low-maintenance way to eat when our boyfriends aren’t around.”
She added that she’d decided to have a ‘girl dinner’ after her walk, and decided to post it on TikTok thinking perhaps ‘other women out there might do the same and feel just as giddy about it.’
Deliveroo is set for a multi-billion dollar buyout from a takeaway rival
Danny Jones
UK takeaway service Deliveroo is set for a massive takeover by a fellow delivery business rival, said to be worth several billion.
The British multinational is known nationwide, occupying one of the biggest market shares alongside competitors Just Eat and Uber Eats, but now the takeaway delivery service is set to be swallowed up by an even bigger brand based in the US.
As reported on Tuesday, 6 May, American delivery firm DoorDash – the biggest of its kind in the States – looks set to complete an estimated £2.9 billion buyout, which will see Deliveroo folded into their growing global portfolio.
This massive deal will see the company’s presence in more than 40 countries further consolidated, already serving somewhere in the region of 50 million customers every month.
US meal delivery firm DoorDash will buy British rival Deliveroo for $3.85 billion. The acquisition will help DoorDash grow its market share in Europe and compete against Just Eat and Uber Eats. Read more: https://t.co/x4dSgRp8Flpic.twitter.com/oeE44CjMYN
According to the likes of Reuters, Bloomberg and BBC, DoorDash is offering 180p per share, which is a 44% increase on Deliveroo’s share price from the point when initial takeover talks were made public in April 2025.
Founded by chief executive Will Shu back in 2013, Deliveroo is now considered one of the big three in the food delivery industry’s UK scene, but is set to get much bigger under the DoorDash umbrella.
As for DoorDash, CEO and co-founder Tony Xu went on to add: “Coming together with teams that have similar visions and values accelerates our work to achieve that mission. Deliveroo is just such a team and one that I have long admired.
“Like DoorDash, Deliveroo is obsessively focused on their customers – consumers, merchants, and riders. They work day in and day out to improve their consumer value proposition, bring new services to local businesses, and offer flexibility and support to riders.”
Acclaimed restaurant staffed by prison inmates announces sad closure
Daisy Jackson
The Clink, an acclaimed restaurant where the food is prepared and served by prison inmates, has announced its devastating closure.
The charity behind the restaurant, which is attached to HMP Styal, has confirmed that it will close for good on 31 July 2025.
The Clink is famed for the training and experience it provides inmates, helping them to get a head start into the hospitality industry when their sentence ends.
It’s also achieved plenty of acclaim as a restaurant in its own right, consistently being rated as the best restaurant in Wilmslow and voted Cheshire Restaurant of the Year in 2024.
Over the years, hundreds of students have earned qualifications including City & Guilds NVQs in Food and Beverage Service, Professional Cookery and Food Hygiene.
The Clink restaurant in Styal is closing
But The Clink has now announced that it will be closing this summer due to ‘a number of factors’, including costs and participant numbers.
Donna-Marie Edmonds, Chief Executive of The Clink Charity, said: “The decision not to renew our contract at HMP Styal has been made with an incredibly heavy heart.
“The Clink Charity’s mission is to reduce re-offending and we have been doing this at Styal, producing outstanding results for over a decade.
“Although the restaurant will officially close this summer, our partnership at Styal will be remembered not only for its landmark training outcomes, but as a beacon of hope, where women have sought refuge and rehabilitation.”
As one of those students put it: “If it wasn’t for my journey at The Clink, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Georgina Pellant -
10th July 2023 
