Honey & Co: The Food Sessions

A special Christmas treat for our final episode of the season, and who better to join us than Mr Christmas himself, Rick Stein! Rick is a renowned English chef, restaurateur, writer, and television presenter, best known for his love of fresh, simple seafood and for building a culinary empire in Padstow, Cornwall. After studying English at Oxford, he started out as a nightclub owner, running club nights in Padstow. In 1975 he converted the club into The Seafood Restaurant, which became highly successful and earned him a national reputation. Rick has since hosted numerous popular BBC cooking series, written over 30 cookbooks, and runs restaurants in the UK and Australia, receiving a CBE in 2018 for services to the economy. Rick's latest cookbook, Rick Stein's Christmas is his first book entirely dedicated to festive recipes, memories, and stories. What a treat!

About the Joy Season
The world feels like a lot right now, and it can be hard to find those small moments that make us smile. In restaurants, we get three chances a day to bring joy — breakfast, lunch and dinner — but it doesn’t stop there. This season, The Joy Season, we’ll be talking to some truly brilliant people about the sparks of joy that keep them going, on and off the plate.

Rick Stein's Joy Manual
Place: Istanbul - the home of food
Restaurant: Marisqueira Cervejaria Ramiro, Lisbon, Portugal
Movie: Whiplash (2014)
Book: The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
Music: Van Morrison's entire catalogue - start with Astral Weeks (1968)
These Days by Jackson Browne, from For Everyman (1973)
Vintage LA swamp rock band Little Feat - start wtih Feats Don't Fail Me Now (1974)
Life advice: "Don't panic!" (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Life advice: "All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why" (James Thurber)

About Our Sponsor
Bring more joy to your workday — and your team — with Blink, the mobile platform built for busy restaurant teams. Goodbye, WhatsApp. Hello, employee experience app. From kitchen crew to front-of-house staff, Blink keeps everyone connected, informed, and in sync in one dedicated digital workplace. See why retail and hospitality brands — from local favourites to global food service chains — are choosing Blink to power their people experience. Visit https://www.joinblink.com/honey to start free today, and use code HONEYJOY at checkout for 20% off your first year.

Episode Credits
Sponsor: Blink
Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Sound Engineer: Tony Onochukwu
Sound Mixer: John Scott
Theme Song: Daniel Winshall
Honey & Co Team: Louisa Cornford & Winnie Thomas

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share, it really helps us reach new listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison Roman is an American food writer, chef, and internet personality known for her popular, "highly cookable" recipes that often go viral online. She built her career in professional kitchens and as an editor at Bon Appétit and a columnist for New York Times Cooking. Alison is the New York Times bestselling author of several cookbooks, with her most recent, Something from Nothing: A Cookbook published in November 2025. In addition to writing, she runs a popular YouTube series called Home Movies and has opened a small market, First Bloom, in upstate New York.

About the Joy Season
The world feels like a lot right now, and it can be hard to find those small moments that make us smile. In restaurants, we get three chances a day to bring joy — breakfast, lunch and dinner — but it doesn’t stop there. This season, The Joy Season, we’ll be talking to some truly brilliant people about the sparks of joy that keep them going, on and off the plate.

About Our Sponsor
Bring more joy to your workday — and your team — with Blink, the mobile platform built for busy restaurant teams. Goodbye, WhatsApp. Hello, employee experience app. From kitchen crew to front-of-house staff, Blink keeps everyone connected, informed, and in sync in one dedicated digital workplace. See why retail and hospitality brands — from local favourites to global food service chains — are choosing Blink to power their people experience. Visit https://www.joinblink.com/honey to start free today, and use code HONEYJOY at checkout for 20% off your first year.

Alison Roman's Joy Manual
Restaurant: Cervos', New York
Book: The End of the Story, Lydia Davis
Album: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Sarah McLachlan
Film: The Taste of Things, directed by Trần Anh Hùng
People: us!
Place: London
Life advice to find joy: Trust the process, it will all work out

Episode Credits
Sponsor: Blink
Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Sound Engineer: Melis Oslu
Sound Mixer: John Scott
Theme Song: Daniel Winshall
Honey & Co Team: Louisa Cornford & Winnie Thomas

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share, it really helps us reach new listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re joined on Honey & Co. The Food Sessions by British chef and television personality, Michael O'Hare. Known for his innovative, experimental, art-inspired cuisine and signature "rockstar" personal style, Michael gained prominence as the chef-patron of the Michelin-starred restaurant The Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds. He initially studied aeronautical engineering and trained as a pilot before discovering his passion for cooking in his mid-twenties, training at prestigious restaurants, including Noma in Copenhagen and L'Ortolan. He also studied classical and modern ballet in his youth, which he credits as an influence on his artistic approach to food presentation. Michael is such a character and we had a lot of fun talking about his journey to the kitchen and the things that bring him joy in his life.

About the Joy Season
The world feels like a lot right now, and it can be hard to find those small moments that make us smile. In restaurants, we get three chances a day to bring joy — breakfast, lunch and dinner — but it doesn’t stop there. This season, The Joy Season, we’ll be talking to some truly brilliant people about the sparks of joy that keep them going, on and off the plate.

Michael O'Hare's Joy Manual
Restaurant: Aponiente, Cadiz
Film: F1, dir Joseph Kasinski
Place: France
Advice: Find something that makes you happy and do it often
**bonus question** Piece of clothing/accessory that brings you joy: Hedi Slimane 2005 Dior Homme shoes, a pair in gold & a pair in silver

About Our Sponsor
Bring more joy to your workday — and your team — with Blink, the mobile platform built for busy restaurant teams. Goodbye, WhatsApp. Hello, employee experience app. From kitchen crew to front-of-house staff, Blink keeps everyone connected, informed, and in sync in one dedicated digital workplace. See why retail and hospitality brands — from local favourites to global food service chains — are choosing Blink to power their people experience. Visit https://www.joinblink.com/honey to start free today, and use code HONEYJOY at checkout for 20% off your first year.

Episode Credits
Sponsor: Blink
Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Sound Engineer: John Scott
Sound Mixer: Paul Brogden
Theme Song: Daniel Winshall
Honey & Co Team: Louisa Cornford & Winnie Thomas

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share, it really helps us reach new listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re joined on Honey & Co. The Food Sessions by renowned Mexican chef, Enrique Olvera. Enrique is celebrated for elevating traditional Mexican cuisine to a fine-dining level. He is the chef-owner of the acclaimed two-Michelin star restaurant, Pujol in Mexico City, which is consistently ranked among the best in the world, and has opened many more successful restaurants globally, including Cosme in New York City. He is also author of several cookbooks, including his latest, Sunny Days, Taco Nights. We talked about early memories of joy, what brings him happiness in his day to day, how to keep going at such a high level and we took a deep dive into molé.

About the Joy Season
The world feels like a lot right now, and it can be hard to find those small moments that make us smile. In restaurants, we get three chances a day to bring joy — breakfast, lunch and dinner — but it doesn’t stop there. This season, The Joy Season, we’ll be talking to some truly brilliant people about the sparks of joy that keep them going, on and off the plate.

Enrique Olvera's Joy Manual
Dish: Quesadilla
Book: Demian, by Hermann Hesse
Experience: Fasting for a month
Restaurant: Máximo Bistrot or Nicos, both in Mexico City
Earliest memory of joy: Baking a cake

About Our Sponsor
Bring more joy to your workday — and your team — with Blink, the mobile platform built for busy restaurant teams. Goodbye, WhatsApp. Hello, employee experience app. From kitchen crew to front-of-house staff, Blink keeps everyone connected, informed, and in sync in one dedicated digital workplace. See why retail and hospitality brands — from local favourites to global food service chains — are choosing Blink to power their people experience. Visit https://www.joinblink.com/honey to start free today, and use code HONEYJOY at checkout for 20% off your first year.

Episode Credits
Sponsor: Blink
Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Sound Engineer: Tony Onochukwu
Sound Mixer: John Scott
Theme Song: Daniel Winshall
Honey & Co Team: Louisa Cornford & Winnie Thomas

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share, it really helps us reach new listeners.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re joined on Honey & Co. The Food Sessions by Ravider Bhogal. Ravinder is an award-winning British chef, food writer, and restaurateur known for her "no borders" cooking style that blends Indian, Kenyan, and British flavours. She is the founder of one of our favourite London restaurants Jikoni in Marylebone, which is celebrated for its proudly inauthentic, immigrant-inspired cuisine. Ravinder is a dear friend and a wonderful storyteller, and it was pure delight to spend an afternoon talking about the things that bring her joy.

About the Joy Season
The world feels like a lot right now, and it can be hard to find those small moments that make us smile. In restaurants, we get three chances a day to bring joy — breakfast, lunch and dinner — but it doesn’t stop there. This season, The Joy Season, we’ll be talking to some truly brilliant people about the sparks of joy that keep them going, on and off the plate.

Ravinder Bhogal's Joy Manual
Dish: Dhal, rice achar, or kitchari
Book: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Restaurant: Quo Vadis, London
Film: Caramel, Dir. Nadine Labaki
TV: White Lotus
Place : Kenya
Advice : Keep yourself rare

About Our Sponsor
Bring more joy to your workday — and your team — with Blink, the mobile platform built for busy restaurant teams. Goodbye, WhatsApp. Hello, employee experience app. From kitchen crew to front-of-house staff, Blink keeps everyone connected, informed, and in sync in one dedicated digital workplace. See why retail and hospitality brands — from local favourites to global food service chains — are choosing Blink to power their people experience. Visit https://www.joinblink.com/honey to start free today, and use code HONEYJOY at checkout for 20% off your first year.

Episode Credits
Sponsor: Blink
Producer: Miranda Hinkley
Sound Engineer: Melis Uslu
Sound Mixer: Paul Brogden
Theme Song: Daniel Winshall
Honey & Co Team: Louisa Cornford & Winnie Thomas

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share, it really helps us reach new listeners.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.