Marina is a freelance journalist and contributing writer at SquareMeal, with bylines at a wealth of major UK titles including Stylist, Ideal Home, Livingetc and The London Standard.
Marina’s experience
Marina’s interest in food was inherited from her Greek-Cypriot heritage: if the Cypriots know how to do one thing, it's leave a table well-fed.
A precocious magazine collector from an early age, Marina pursued her interest in journalism during her Social Anthropology degree at the University of Edinburgh, where she wrote for an array of student publications. While at home in London during the university holidays, she attained a summer job as a waiter at The River Cafe, reaffirming that a career in food was the right place for her.
After graduating, Marina switched hemispheres to escape the British winter and continue her food education. She worked at restaurants in Sydney to save some money, before travelling (and eating her way) around Australia for a year. She then returned to London to continue cutting her teeth in hospitality, working at some of London’s top restaurants and throwing herself into the world of journalism.
In 2024, she completed an MA in Magazine Journalism at City, University of London, where she had the opportunity to interview everyone from food stylists on Hollywood films to the founder of a charity working to improve the quality of food in UK prisons. While undertaking the course, she also completed multiple internships at Time Out, The Times, and food and drink B2B magazines The Caterer and The Drinks Business.
Since graduating, Marina has worked as a freelance journalist across a wealth of big-name titles, gaining bylines at Stylist, Ideal Home, Livingetc, The London Standard and SquareMeal, all the while keeping one foot in the hospitality industry.
When she isn’t eating at, writing about, or working in restaurants, you can find Marina on a run, getting overly competitive at a pub quiz, or trying to convince her friends to book a spontaneous holiday.