diff --git a/deploy/seed-demo.php b/deploy/seed-demo.php
index 8edd5f3..9e4b7b7 100644
--- a/deploy/seed-demo.php
+++ b/deploy/seed-demo.php
@@ -186,6 +186,48 @@
 ]);
 echo "  settings: home -> home, brand -> The Copper Table\n";
 
+// --- 3d) The Journal (a `blog` collection, served by the official Blog plugin) ---
+// A plain content collection named `blog`; the Blog plugin turns it into a real
+// blog (per-post SEO head, an RSS feed at /ext/blog/feed.xml, /tag/{tag} archives),
+// and the theme renders the list + detail (collection-blog / entry-blog).
+$collections->create('blog', 'Journal', '#', '', ['kind' => 'collection', 'permissions' => []], [
+    ['handle' => 'summary', 'label' => 'Summary', 'type' => 'textarea', 'required' => false, 'options' => []],
+    ['handle' => 'body', 'label' => 'Body', 'type' => 'textarea', 'required' => false, 'options' => []],
+    ['handle' => 'cover', 'label' => 'Cover', 'type' => 'text', 'required' => false, 'options' => []],
+    ['handle' => 'tags', 'label' => 'Tags', 'type' => 'text', 'required' => false, 'options' => []],
+    ['handle' => 'canonical_url', 'label' => 'Canonical URL', 'type' => 'text', 'required' => false, 'options' => []],
+]);
+$blogCol = $repo->findByHandle('blog');
+$posts = [
+    [
+        'title'   => 'The spring menu is here',
+        'date'    => '2026-03-18 09:00:00',
+        'tags'    => 'menu, seasonal',
+        'summary' => 'Peas, asparagus and the first herbs of the year are on. A few winter plates step down; the salmon stays.',
+        'body'    => "The season turned, and so did the pass. From this week the board leans green: sweet peas, grilled asparagus, and the first soft herbs from the garden up the road.\n\n## What is new\n\n- **Guacamole**, hand-mashed with lime and warm corn chips, back on the appetizers.\n- **Grilled Salmon** with seasonal greens and brown butter, which is not going anywhere.\n- A lighter **Apple Crisp** to finish, oat crumble and vanilla cream.\n\nThe short list is the point. We cook what is good this week and let it change when the market does. Come hungry.",
+    ],
+    [
+        'title'   => 'Where the fish comes from',
+        'date'    => '2026-02-27 09:00:00',
+        'tags'    => 'sourcing, kitchen',
+        'summary' => 'Our salmon is a day-boat catch from the same supplier we have used since 2014. Here is why that matters on the plate.',
+        'body'    => "People ask about the salmon, so here is the honest answer.\n\nIt comes in from a day-boat supplier we have worked with since we opened in 2014. Landed one day, on your plate the next. No middle week in a freezer.\n\n## Why we bother\n\nFresh fish needs almost nothing done to it. A hot pan, a little brown butter, the greens that are good that morning. When the raw material is right, the kitchen's job is to stay out of the way.\n\nIf a delivery is not up to it, it does not go on the board that night. That is the whole rule.",
+    ],
+    [
+        'title'   => 'You can now order online',
+        'date'    => '2026-01-15 09:00:00',
+        'tags'    => 'news, ordering',
+        'summary' => 'Pickup orders straight from the menu, paid on the site. The same system the floor runs on, opened up to the street.',
+        'body'    => "Something we could not do ten years ago: you can now order from the menu and pay right here on the site, for pickup.\n\nIt runs on the very same system the floor uses for dine-in orders, so the kitchen sees your ticket the moment it lands, in the same queue as the room. No second screen, no lost slips.\n\n## How it works\n\n- Browse the [menu](/menu_items) and add what you want.\n- Leave a name and phone, pay, and pick a time.\n- We fire it when it is due, not the second it is placed, so it is hot when you arrive.\n\nDine-in is still the heart of the place. This is just the door held open a little wider.",
+    ],
+];
+foreach ($posts as $p) {
+    $entries->save($blogCol, new EntryInput($p['title'], $slug($p['title']), 'published', [
+        'summary' => $p['summary'], 'body' => $p['body'], 'cover' => '', 'tags' => $p['tags'], 'canonical_url' => '',
+    ], $p['date']), null, null);
+}
+echo "  journal: 1 blog collection, " . count($posts) . " posts\n";
+
 // --- 4) Live floor / orders / reservations ---------------------------------
 $storage      = static fn (): PluginStorage => new PluginStorage($db);
 $tables       = new Tables($storage);
diff --git a/theme/assets/app.css b/theme/assets/app.css
index 304cd76..1aa7acb 100644
--- a/theme/assets/app.css
+++ b/theme/assets/app.css
@@ -217,3 +217,25 @@ img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; }
   .brand-name { display: none; }
   body { font-size: 16px; }
 }
+
+/* ---------- Journal (blog) ---------- */
+.journal-list { list-style: none; margin: 0; padding: 0; display: grid; gap: 2.25rem; }
+.journal-item { border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rule); padding-bottom: 2rem; }
+.journal-item:last-child { border-bottom: 0; padding-bottom: 0; }
+.journal-title { font-family: var(--serif); font-weight: 400; font-size: 1.7rem; margin: 0; color: var(--text); }
+.journal-link { display: inline-block; }
+.journal-link:hover .journal-title { color: var(--gold-bright); }
+.journal-date { color: var(--muted); font-size: .78rem; letter-spacing: .12em; text-transform: uppercase; margin: .45rem 0 0; }
+.journal-summary { color: var(--muted); margin: .75rem 0 0; max-width: 54ch; }
+.journal-more { display: inline-block; margin-top: .85rem; font-size: .9rem; }
+.journal-article-title { font-family: var(--serif); font-weight: 400; font-size: 2.5rem; line-height: 1.08; margin: .5rem 0 0; text-wrap: balance; }
+.journal-article .eyebrow a { color: var(--gold); }
+.journal-back { margin-top: 2.75rem; padding-top: 1.5rem; border-top: 1px solid var(--rule); }
+.prose { margin-top: 1.6rem; font-size: 1.06rem; }
+.prose > * + * { margin-top: 1.1rem; }
+.prose h2 { font-family: var(--serif); font-weight: 400; font-size: 1.55rem; margin-top: 2.1rem; }
+.prose h3 { font-family: var(--serif); font-weight: 400; font-size: 1.25rem; margin-top: 1.7rem; }
+.prose ul { margin: 1.1rem 0 0 1.2rem; }
+.prose li + li { margin-top: .35rem; }
+.prose a { text-decoration: underline; text-underline-offset: 2px; }
+.prose code { background: var(--surface); padding: .12rem .38rem; border-radius: 4px; font-size: .9em; }
diff --git a/theme/templates/collection-blog.php b/theme/templates/collection-blog.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..509c401
--- /dev/null
+++ b/theme/templates/collection-blog.php
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * The Journal (/blog) — the restaurant's blog, served by the official Blog plugin
+ * over a plain `blog` collection. Published posts, newest first.
+ *
+ * @var array{handle:string,name:string} $collection
+ * @var list<array<string,mixed>>        $entries
+ * @var callable                         $e
+ */
+?>
+<section class="menu-page">
+  <div class="wrap">
+    <header class="menu-head">
+      <p class="eyebrow">The Copper Table &middot; Journal</p>
+      <h1>From the pass</h1>
+      <p class="lede">Notes from the kitchen &mdash; what&rsquo;s on, where it comes from, and what&rsquo;s new.</p>
+    </header>
+
+    <?php if ($entries === []): ?>
+      <p class="empty">No entries yet. Check back soon.</p>
+    <?php endif; ?>
+
+    <ul class="journal-list">
+      <?php foreach ($entries as $post): ?>
+        <?php
+          $fields  = is_array($post['fields'] ?? null) ? $post['fields'] : [];
+          $slug    = (string) ($post['slug'] ?? '');
+          $summary = trim((string) ($fields['summary'] ?? ''));
+          $date    = (string) ($post['published_at'] ?? '');
+        ?>
+        <li class="journal-item">
+          <a class="journal-link" href="/blog/<?= $e($slug) ?>">
+            <h2 class="journal-title"><?= $e((string) ($post['title'] ?? '')) ?></h2>
+          </a>
+          <?php if ($date !== ''): ?><p class="journal-date"><?= $e(date('F j, Y', (int) strtotime($date))) ?></p><?php endif; ?>
+          <?php if ($summary !== ''): ?><p class="journal-summary"><?= $e($summary) ?></p><?php endif; ?>
+          <a class="journal-more" href="/blog/<?= $e($slug) ?>">Read the entry &rarr;</a>
+        </li>
+      <?php endforeach; ?>
+    </ul>
+  </div>
+</section>
diff --git a/theme/templates/entry-blog.php b/theme/templates/entry-blog.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c0733b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/theme/templates/entry-blog.php
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * A single Journal post (/blog/{slug}). The Blog plugin contributes the SEO <head>
+ * (canonical, Open Graph article, Twitter, JSON-LD); this template renders the body.
+ * The body is a small, safe Markdown subset rendered in-theme (the restaurant image
+ * ships no Markdown plugin), escaped-first so post content can never inject HTML.
+ *
+ * @var array<string,mixed> $entry
+ * @var callable            $e
+ */
+$fields = is_array($entry['fields'] ?? null) ? $entry['fields'] : [];
+$body   = (string) ($fields['body'] ?? '');
+$date   = (string) ($entry['published_at'] ?? '');
+
+$inline = static function (string $s) use ($e): string {
+    $s = $e($s);
+    $s = (string) preg_replace('/\[([^\]]+)\]\((https?:\/\/[^\s)]+)\)/', '<a href="$2" rel="noopener">$1</a>', $s);
+    $s = (string) preg_replace('/\*\*([^*]+)\*\*/', '<strong>$1</strong>', $s);
+    $s = (string) preg_replace('/(?<!\*)\*([^*]+)\*(?!\*)/', '<em>$1</em>', $s);
+    return (string) preg_replace('/`([^`]+)`/', '<code>$1</code>', $s);
+};
+$render = static function (string $src) use ($inline): string {
+    $html = '';
+    foreach (preg_split('/\n{2,}/', trim($src)) ?: [] as $block) {
+        $block = trim($block);
+        if ($block === '') {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (preg_match('/^###\s+(.+)/s', $block, $m) === 1) {
+            $html .= '<h3>' . $inline(trim($m[1])) . '</h3>';
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (preg_match('/^##\s+(.+)/s', $block, $m) === 1) {
+            $html .= '<h2>' . $inline(trim($m[1])) . '</h2>';
+            continue;
+        }
+        $lines = preg_split('/\n/', $block) ?: [];
+        $bullets = array_filter($lines, static fn (string $l): bool => preg_match('/^\s*-\s+/', $l) === 1);
+        if ($lines !== [] && count($bullets) === count($lines)) {
+            $html .= '<ul>';
+            foreach ($lines as $l) {
+                $html .= '<li>' . $inline(trim((string) preg_replace('/^\s*-\s+/', '', $l))) . '</li>';
+            }
+            $html .= '</ul>';
+            continue;
+        }
+        $html .= '<p>' . $inline(implode(' ', array_map('trim', $lines))) . '</p>';
+    }
+    return $html;
+};
+?>
+<article class="page journal-article">
+  <div class="wrap measure">
+    <p class="eyebrow"><a href="/blog">The Copper Table &middot; Journal</a></p>
+    <h1 class="journal-article-title"><?= $e((string) ($entry['title'] ?? '')) ?></h1>
+    <?php if ($date !== ''): ?><p class="journal-date"><?= $e(date('F j, Y', (int) strtotime($date))) ?></p><?php endif; ?>
+    <div class="prose"><?= $render($body) ?></div>
+    <p class="journal-back"><a href="/blog">&larr; All entries</a></p>
+  </div>
+</article>
diff --git a/theme/templates/header.php b/theme/templates/header.php
index ea252a7..915c4a1 100644
--- a/theme/templates/header.php
+++ b/theme/templates/header.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     <nav class="site-nav" aria-label="Primary">
       <a href="/">Home</a>
       <a href="/menu_items">Menu</a>
+      <a href="/blog">Journal</a>
       <a href="/order">Order</a>
     </nav>
   </div>
diff --git a/theme/templates/layout.php b/theme/templates/layout.php
index a7de0dd..0ae06eb 100644
--- a/theme/templates/layout.php
+++ b/theme/templates/layout.php
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
 $pageTitle = isset($title) && $title !== '' && $title !== $appName ? $title . ' · ' . $appName : $appName;
 $meta      = $meta ?? [];
 $cssVer    = substr((string) @hash_file('crc32b', __DIR__ . '/../assets/app.css'), 0, 8);
+// On blog/tag pages the Blog plugin contributes the full, correct <head> (canonical,
+// Open Graph article, Twitter, JSON-LD), so the shell defers its own canonical/OG
+// there to avoid emitting them twice.
+$path           = (string) (parse_url((string) ($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ?? ''), PHP_URL_PATH) ?: '');
+$pluginOwnsHead = str_starts_with($path, '/blog') || str_starts_with($path, '/tag');
 ?>
 <!doctype html>
 <html lang="en">
@@ -23,15 +28,17 @@
     <meta charset="utf-8">
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
     <title><?= $e($pageTitle) ?></title>
-    <?php if (!empty($meta['description'])): ?>
-        <meta name="description" content="<?= $e($meta['description']) ?>">
+    <?php if (!$pluginOwnsHead): ?>
+        <?php if (!empty($meta['description'])): ?>
+            <meta name="description" content="<?= $e($meta['description']) ?>">
+        <?php endif; ?>
+        <?php if (!empty($meta['canonical'])): ?>
+            <link rel="canonical" href="<?= $e($meta['canonical']) ?>">
+        <?php endif; ?>
+        <meta property="og:site_name" content="<?= $e($appName) ?>">
+        <meta property="og:title" content="<?= $e($pageTitle) ?>">
+        <meta property="og:type" content="<?= $e($meta['og_type'] ?? 'website') ?>">
     <?php endif; ?>
-    <?php if (!empty($meta['canonical'])): ?>
-        <link rel="canonical" href="<?= $e($meta['canonical']) ?>">
-    <?php endif; ?>
-    <meta property="og:site_name" content="<?= $e($appName) ?>">
-    <meta property="og:title" content="<?= $e($pageTitle) ?>">
-    <meta property="og:type" content="<?= $e($meta['og_type'] ?? 'website') ?>">
     <?= $head ?? '' ?>
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="/theme/assets/app.css?v=<?= $e($cssVer) ?>">
 </head>