Nicholas without a doubt is a bona fide 'human of hospitality'.  It’s been his life’s work.  From cutting his teeth at the Chewton Glen to becoming the MD at Le Manoir. And having learnt from some of the most inspirational leaders in our sector it was time to go it alone when Nicholas co-founded Luxury Family Hotels.  Now Nicholas has found his happy place back on the coal face of hospitality with just one beautiful country house ‘Congham Hall’.

I’m talking about Kombucha.  But not just any Kombucha, but the sort that is now sitting on the menus of many of the finest Michelin starred restaurants proudly sitting along side Prosecco and champagne as an alcohol free alternative.  If you ferment some of the finest tea leaves, picked young in some of the worlds best tea gardens, with some Mother cultures, a little bit of magic and a whole heap of David’s obsession, you can create something beautiful and complex and light and delicious.

You’re going to learn just how much work goes into creating a kitchen garden for a hotel or restaurant.  The balance between productive space and a show garden space.  How to ensure those spaces always look great, but are genuinely used for a seed to plate menu.  We also touch on Ollie’s childhood and the pros and cons of living in an entrepreneurial house and his first hand witnessing of Hotel Du Vin being built around family life. 

David has been deeply buried in cogitating on what sustainable design means for a number of years. As an interior architect and design consultant at Object Space Place David has had a career in commercial interiors in a varied range of international and UK based retail stores, hair salons, restaurant concepts and luxury fashion department stores.  But more recently he's doubled down and focused on sustainable hospitality and what that might mean via a RESTORATIVE RESTAURANT FRAMEWORK.

Gregorie, from Blackthorn knows an incredible amount about salt.  His family have been involved in salt for over 140 years.  He has built an incredible wooden structure that dribbles sea water through 54 wooden taps releasing the water to trickle down a tower of blackthorn exposed to the Scottish winds and sun, evaporating the water and leaving an ever increasing saline solution.  There is something beautifully romantic and nostalgic about harnessing nature right on the waters edge in...

José touches on his books and extensive travels through Spain and just how much he loves meeting other great humans and ensuring that their recipes are recorded and handed on to the next generations.  We chat about his upbringing and some lovely memories about the smell of coffee and churros from his mum in the kitchen, who is now 87 years of age and still going strong. Olive oil, Spanish lunchtime culture and more... enjoy.

Hugh falls into my beloved category of brilliant – and possibly slightly bonkers – obsessive. Someone who describes his spirit as ‘4 years of research driven by a lifetime’s passion for being by the sea’. They really were years of intense focus: macerating countless seaweeds, then working through a long list of botanicals until he got to a point where he could collaborate with a distillery and see his idea bottled up. 

Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir has an exceptional, and well deserved reputation.  It's had two Michelin stars since 1981 and their organic certified kitchen gardens are legendary.  Gary has had a fascinating journey, working at Le Manoir on two separate occasions, most recently for 21 years, to working for Richard Branson on Necker Island and having received Michelin Star accolades from scratch at two other venues.  He’s also a black belt in karate, practises yoga and is a busy Dad to 3 teenage...

Has our long-term familiarity of this staple grown a bit of contempt? More and more breakfast menus  mention the provenance of their Cumberland and chipolatas.  But all too often, bacon is just categorised as ‘bacon’, with no idea where it’s come from, how it’s been produced and whether or not it’s been plumped up with salt and water.  Ellen is well aware of how bacon falls in and out of favour.  Since 1994 her family’s farm has stuck to their principles of giving bacon the care and att

The Alchemist has an exceptional reputation and with 20 cocktail bars and restaurants dotted around the UK is a good hospitality barometer. We touch a little bit on lockdown and the fast tracking of initiatives, particularly around technology such as ordering at the table. We discuss some of the design elements of their venues since I’m always personally fascinated by spaces that can transition from breakfast through to late evening drinkers. And even rent negotiations crop up...

Although originally from Skegness, Ben is more obsessed with Sicily and one day would like to move there.  This has had a huge influence on his favourite style of food and he’s even written an awesome book called ‘moorish'. We touch on Ben’s time at the Salt Yard and his latest restaurant Norma in the West End of London, and even his recent move into dark kitchens with Mediterranean pizza concept Gallio.

Adam works hard and has achieved a lot very fast. He joined me just 48 hours after re-opening The Frog, his flagship restaurant in Covent Garden.  Adam has been through a particularly traumatic pandemic closure period where he has lost four of his venues and learnt a great deal about the business side of running restaurants. Adam speaks openly and honestly about the financial, physical and mental aspects of closure, but he’s kept a huge number of his team and he’s keen to find another...

Robin Hutson knows his stuff.  With Hotel Du Vin, Limewood and The Pig to his name he oozes common sense and his attention to detail is exemplary.  They say never meet your heroes, and I was worried having finally organised a meeting I’d be disappointed.  But Robin was generous with his time, enthusiastic with his stories and I felt privileged to get to poke and prod at one of our hospitality greats in his own venue.  The perfect 100th guest of the show!

Robin Shephard is the Chairman and founder of Bespoke Hotels.  Bespoke look after over 5000 hotel rooms, 6000 team members and £500 million pounds worth of assets.  But they particularly interested me, because many of you will know I love the independent hospitality sector.  Bespoke are fascinating, because although they’ve become a significant player, they keep their personal brand and business very much behind the scenes. 

Exclusive is a superb example of a family owned business. They take a long term view, are not hugely leveraged and as you’ll hear in this conversation Danny is a genuine human with a sincere love of the hospitality sector. We touch on Danny’s role as the Chair of Master Innholders and what that has meant to him. We get into the details of the operational changes Exclusive have made in re-opening after Pandemic lockdown and whilst optimistic, we also touch on potential challenges ahead as...

Tim has worked with such culinary luminaries as Fergus Henderson, Alistair Little, Marco Pierre White and Mark Hix, as well as a stint managing VIP catering for the Ferrari F1 team in Europe. A return to his roots saw him lead the team at River Cottage Axminster, where he regularly appeared alongside Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on both the River Cottage series on Channel 4 and the Fish Fight campaign. I caught up with Tim to find out how he is carving a niche in hospitality, without the...

This episode was recorded just before COVID-19 was a thing in any of our minds, so does not come up in our chat. In this conversation Tim takes us through his journey.  Starting with a child free Sunday morning, reading the paper and sipping on a cup of Jamaican Blue coffee.  Off then to discover about the volcanic soil, the hand picked beans, losing up to 30% of the crop through the finest hand check standards, through to the blue mist on the mountain slowing down the ripening process.

Andrea is a walking philosopher with some very strong opinions on the ethics of business and the community around food and drink. I’ve interviewed Andrea before about his business and journey, but today we focus on the recent opening of his latest venue in an absolutely stunning old church in Mayfair. Andrea stayed open in some guise throughout the lockdown since their business is pretty diverse from a deli, bakery and shop through to street trade units. 

David has enjoyed a fascinating career history having been at the helm of the Roux’s portfolio, Managing Director of Simon Roganics restaurants, Managing Director of Richard Corrigan’s Restaurant business as well as culinary director of Peyton and Byrne. He has maintained many Michelin stars and is obsessed with sustainability and local provenance. He has been at the forefront of RA tackling the challenges that covid poses and is responsible for re-opening almost 300 restaurants and cafes.

I first saw Karl speak at a in March where I was impressed by some of the insights and data that he and the CGA team had collated.  It was nice to see so many of the thoughts and impressions that I had of the sector backed up by some scientific data and commentary. Now seemed like the perfect time to put some data behind the theory of what re-opening may look like. We discuss if there are any clues as to what we can expect and what we should be focusing on as a sector.  .  

Kris is a very experienced operator who has had both a successful corporate, as well as more entrepreneurial career in hospitality.  We discuss EIS funding schemes and some great perspectives on why debt is quite often not the answer.  We also have a great conversation around hospitality as part of the rejuvenation and placemaking of towns and cities. Kris has some excellent and creative thoughts on rent negotiations and how thinking outside the box and looking for win win opportunities.

After a crazy couple of months of lockdown I thought it was a great time for a follow up with Griff.  From how trade had been in the 6 months before lockdown to the rollercoaster of shut down itself. And in his ever positive manner we switch to pivots to deliver Friska at home and wether his sweet spot will still be busy lunches near glass fronted office blocks, or if he’s having to rethink his strategy. I’m sure you’ll get a nugget or two and enjoy the conversation. 

From chickens, to my relief that Sally was not actually born in a pub, to how a 40 million pound refurbishment actually turned into an 85 million pound refurbishment, as well as Sally’s desire to create the happiest hotel in London and what that actually means. Sally is much more about the team and asking for opinions, than demanding results.  And with consecutive years in the Times Employer of Choice awards her approach is paying huge dividends, both culturally and financially.

David from Grind, a collection of coffee shops, cocktail bars and restaurants, started his hospitality journey by inheriting a mobile phone shop, where he loved the building but not the business. David has managed to walk that tricky operational and design tightrope where his venues are both a great stop off for a daytime coffee, but also a sit down meal, and by night transform into a busy cocktail bar.  Through innovative crowd funding Grind has expanded into some high profile locations.

Robert has an MBE, is a Restauranteur, a patron of Hospitality Action, president of the Restaurant Association, founder of the Nth Degree Global, and has even been covered in the FT as a power dresser with his very dapper suit collection.   We discuss the Young Chef Young Waiter competition and Robert really has done an incredible job of revitalising this event, upping the stakes to the point where you can win a Mercedes Benz and a night in a top London hotel. We also touch on all things...