Your Year in Food: A Restaurant Year in Review

Your year in food is a short story the Mosey app builds from what you rated. It shows how many ratings you shared, the places you ate, the dish of your year, how far you explored and the friends you ate with. It appears on Home in December and the first fortnight of January, and takes about a minute to watch.

What counts as a year in food?

Think of it as a year in review for your plate. Instead of a list of songs, you get a set of cards: what you rated, where you went, what you came back to, which dish stood out. It is made from your own visible ratings in the calendar year, in your own time zone, so nothing is guessed and nothing comes from anyone else.

The app calls it "Your year at the table," and the line on Home is simple: "Watch your year in food. It takes about a minute." In January, once the year is over, it reads "Your year is ready. Watch it and share it."

When does the story appear?

A card on Home shows up in December, on your phone's own calendar, and stays through the first fortnight of January for the year just finished. Outside those weeks, a row on your profile reads "Your year so far," so you can watch the story build. Until then, nothing is shown, and Home works as usual.

What do you need to rate for a story?

A story needs a little material. You need at least five ratings in the year and at least three different places, because five ratings of one cafe is not a year. If you are short, the app says "Not enough for a story yet" and shows how many ratings and places you have against what is needed. The monthly recap is a lighter option while you build up.

The best way to have a good story is to rate as you go through the year, even with only stars and a dish. A dish named in a rating also gives the dish of your year something to draw on, and a tag on a rating is what the taste cards read. The rate-as-you-eat guide shows a habit that makes December easy.

What is in the story?

It runs as a series of cards, with a counter such as "Card 3 of 9" and Next and Previous buttons. You see how many ratings you shared and how many dishes you rated, the places where you ate and how many were new to you, and your top place: the one you kept going back to or, if you did not repeat any, your best-rated one.

Further cards cover your rhythm, such as weeks in a row and lists you made, your taste, with the dish of your year and your most rated category, and your exploring: new cities, neighborhoods and countries. There are cards for trails you finished, badges you earned and what you helped decide in the community. One card lists the friends you ate with, and the app says "Only you see these names. They stay off your share image."

How do you share your year?

The last card reads "That was your year" and offers "Share your year." The share image carries places, dishes and counts only. It never carries a person's name, so the friends card stays private. Pick a story or post size, send it to a group chat or copy the link, and the card carries a prompt for friends to get their own.

Sharing is optional. Some people watch their story once and keep it to themselves, and that is fine.

What is the dish of the year?

It is the dish you rated most highly or most often, drawn from your own ratings, and it appears on its own card with the place it came from. A monthly recap has a smaller version, a card for the month. If you name your dishes when you rate, this card is the payoff. A rating without a dish gives the story much less to say.

Does the story change anything about how the app treats you?

No. It is a look back, not a score. Nobody ranks your year against anyone else's, there is no prize for a long story and a short one is just as welcome. The cards only read what you rated and ignore everything else about you. If you would prefer not to see it, you can ignore the card on Home, and nothing is shared unless you tap Share.

What makes the story better next year?

Rating more often and naming dishes. A story built from five ratings is short, and one built from fifty has real moments: the place you kept returning to, the cuisine you discovered, the neighborhood you explored. Tags also help, since the taste cards read them. Start in January with a habit of one rating a week and December will have plenty to say.

Does it help local places?

It rewards the habit that helps them. Every rating you leave through the year, especially one that names a dish, tells the next diner what to try, and Mosey is free for a place to list, has no hidden fees and keeps its tools affordable. A year of ratings is a year of supporting local places, and the story is how you see it.

Browse the US food guides for more ideas, or read about the monthly food recap for a smaller look back.

Rate your next meal in the Mosey app, and watch your year take shape.