HUNGRY.

What does it take to survive London's notoriously brutal restaurant industry? And how do you build a restaurant that has something money can't buy — soul?
Dan Pope sits down with Ben Tish, chef, restaurateur and culinary director of the Cubitt House group, to unpack the highs, lows and hard-earned lessons of a career in hospitality.
From escaping Skegness at 18 and being thrown into the ruthless kitchens of The Ritz by Jason Atherton, to helping build the celebrated Salt Yard Group, Ben reveals how discipline, resilience and great leadership shaped his career.
He opens up about the devastating Jay Rayner review that questioned the future of Salt Yard, why some restaurants never find their soul, the dangers of opening to enormous hype, and what it really takes to create a loyal following.
They also explore the reinvention of British pubs, the economics of running restaurants in London, the magic of Sicilian cooking, and the personal toll of leaving a business you've helped build.
A candid conversation about ambition, failure, creative confidence and why the toughest moments in hospitality can teach you the most.

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:10 Jason Atherton, Andre Agassi and Surviving The Ritz
00:06:00 How Jason Atherton Saved Ben's Career
00:10:00 The Hidden Cost of Following Your Passion
00:15:00 Why Running Restaurants Is Really About People
00:20:00 How One Bad Service Can Destroy Morale
00:24:00 The Restaurant That Almost Destroyed Salt Yard
00:28:00 Jay Rayner's Brutal Review and Restaurant Failure
00:33:00 Why Chefs Take Criticism So Personally
00:36:00 Jason Atherton and the Evolution of British Cooking
00:41:00 What Jason Atherton Taught Ben About Discipline
00:47:00 Why Restaurant Hype Doesn't Guarantee Success
00:51:00 The Mistakes Behind The Stafford London
00:56:00 Escaping Skegness for a Life in London
01:03:00 Why Ben Refused to Give Up
01:08:00 Discovering Britain's Best Food Destinations
01:12:00 Sicily's Extraordinary Food Culture
01:15:00 Ben Tish's Perfect 20-Minute Dinner
01:18:00 What Happens When Britain's Pubs Disappear?
01:23:00 The Secret to a Great British Pub
01:28:00 The Challenges of Running The Princess Royal
01:33:00 Why Notting Hill Diners Will Pay More
01:38:00 What Makes a London Pub Successful?
01:43:00 Can You Reinvent a Failing Restaurant Space?
01:47:00 From Classical Music to Mediterranean Cooking
01:51:00 The Wildest Travel Experiences
01:55:00 Sicily, The Mafia and The Godfather
01:59:00 What Japan Teaches Us About Craftsmanship
02:03:00 The Painful Reality of Leaving Salt Yard
02:08:00 Imposter Syndrome and the Cost of Ambition
02:12:00 Finding Confidence and Moving Forward

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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 
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🤝 Let's Connect! 
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) 
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) 
This episode was edited by: G.Thomas Craig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gthomascraig/) 

Ayra is your external front of house. An artificially intelligent communications manager that lives on your website and across your social channels, chatting and responding to customers 24/7 with warmth and personality.
She's trained on your business and built to act. Taking the reservation, holding the card, sending the reminder, recovering the lost booking. Instantly and autonomously.
click the link to learn more.

📙Download HUNGRY Big Banging Reading list here
🧾 HUNGRY survey would be so grateful if you may please fill out

What does it really take to become a sushi master? And why does one of London's most celebrated Japanese chefs believe that mastering the knife is the easy part? Dan Pope sits down with Endo Kazutoshi, the chef behind Kioku, to explore the extraordinary discipline, philosophy and creativity behind Japanese cuisine. From 17-hour working days and a brutally demanding apprenticeship to a 100-year-old sushi sauce passed down through generations, Endo reveals how tradition has shaped his approach to food, leadership and life.
They explore the Japanese philosophy of Ichigo Ichie, why Endo sees sushi as his punk rock, the importance of respecting farmers and fishermen, and his belief that a great restaurant depends on a golden triangle of guests, team and suppliers.
Along the way, they dive into samurai wisdom, Zen Buddhism, Steve Jobs, Japanese calligraphy, the dangers of social media, and what Pep Guardiola can teach us about building extraordinary teams.
A conversation about much more than sushi: curiosity, craftsmanship, creative rebellion and the pursuit of excellence.
ON THE MENU:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:18 The Brutal Reality of Japanese Sushi Apprenticeships
00:03:15 Born Into a Sushi Dynasty
00:05:18 What Sat Bains Teaches Chefs About Thinking
00:08:34 The Golden Triangle of Restaurant Success
00:12:35 The Japanese Philosophy of Ichigo Ichie
00:15:07 Why Sushi Is More Than Food
00:18:08 Japanese Spirituality, Language and Culture
00:22:00 How Life Experiences Shape Japanese Cuisine
00:26:17 The Unspoken Lessons of a Sushi Master
00:30:20 Chris Williamson's 2D vs 3D Life Lessons
00:35:00 Has Technology Made Learning Too Easy?
00:39:45 The Correct Way to Eat Sushi in Japan
00:43:57 Why Great Restaurants Need a Little Madness
00:48:30 Bruce Lee's Be Like Water Philosophy
00:50:49 Don't Look at the Tree, Look at the Forest
00:54:31 Why Endo Calls Sushi His Punk Rock
00:59:00 Japan vs London: Two Different Worlds
01:05:18 Japan's Loneliness and Work Culture
01:10:56 Samurai Wisdom and The Book of Five Rings
01:16:12 What Really Stresses a Sushi Master?
01:23:21 How Do You Come Back Stronger?
01:26:31 Are We All Living in The Matrix?
01:30:07 Steve Jobs, Calligraphy and Japanese Creativity
01:34:37 Is Sushi Really a Form of Art?
01:39:05 The Discipline Behind Extraordinary Kitchen Teams
01:44:38 Why Respect Is the Ultimate Business Weapon
01:49:19 Michel Roux, Pep Guardiola and Aggressive Leadership
01:52:04 Why Great Chefs Must Embrace Uncertainty

 ============================================== 
♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 
============================================== 
🤝 Let's Connect! 
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) 
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) 
This episode was edited by: G.Thomas Craig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gthomascraig/) 

Ayra is your external front of house. An artificially intelligent communications manager that lives on your website and across your social channels, chatting and responding to customers 24/7 with warmth and personality.
She's trained on your business and built to act. Taking the reservation, holding the card, sending the reminder, recovering the lost booking. Instantly and autonomously.
click the link to learn more.

📙Download HUNGRY Big Banging Reading list here
🧾 HUNGRY survey would be so grateful if you may please fill out

============================================== 
♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 
============================================== 
🤝 Let's Connect! 
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) 
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) 
This episode was edited by: G.Thomas Craig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gthomascraig/)

Restaurants lose bookings because nobody can answer the phone during service. Staff get pulled off the floor to handle repetitive questions, customer emails pile up until after the shift, and enquiries that come in at the wrong moment simply get missed.
Arran Campolucci-Bordi, founder of Ayra and operator of Liverpool institution Casa Italia, is building an AI solution around exactly that problem: a restaurant-trained assistant that can communicate with customers 24/7, understand the individual business and answer questions without adding more work for the team.
Arran joins Dan to explore what AI can actually do for restaurants beyond the hype — from handling guest communication and reservations to analysing margins, labour, menus and customer behaviour. They discuss why AI becomes dramatically more useful once it understands your specific business, how operators are already using ChatGPT and Claude to solve real-world restaurant problems, and where technology should never replace hospitality.
The conversation also digs into the brutal economics facing restaurants, VAT, marketing and PR, before Arran shares the remarkable 50-year story of Casa Italia, the importance of consistency, great service and why Liverpool remains unlike anywhere else.
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:04 What Is AI Actually Good For?
00:11:07 Can AI Make Hospitality More Human?
00:14:07 Why Restaurants Shouldn’t Pay for Reservations
00:16:08 AI-Powered Personalised Restaurant Marketing
00:22:15 The Restaurant Margin Problem
00:25:35 Let AI Analyse Your Restaurant
00:29:13 Can ChatGPT Fix Your Menu?
00:34:57 Systemising the Magic of Hospitality
00:42:50 Turning Gut Instinct Into Data
00:50:05 Could AI Eventually Run Your Business?
00:57:16 Why Restaurant VAT Is “The Problem”
01:03:36 A Marketing Campaign Restaurants Can Learn From
01:05:07 Why Press Still Beats Influencers
01:10:00 Growing Up Inside Casa Italia
01:14:13 Why Casa Italia Never Changed Its Menu
01:21:18 Three Ingredients of a Great Restaurant
01:24:09 Why Service Matters More Than Food
01:27:02 What Makes Liverpool Different?
01:31:08 How Liverpool Reinvented Itself
01:37:10 Why The Beatles Changed Everything  Ayra Edit RSS 2
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♨️Still bloody HUNGRY? Course ya are. Each week I spend 15 hours writing my newsletter. It’ll take you 5 mins to read. Full of wisdom from the biggest names in food and drink. Subscribe here - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 
============================================== 
🤝 Let's Connect! 
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) 
►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) 
This episode was edited by: G.Thomas Craig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gthomascraig/) 

Ayra is your external front of house. An artificially intelligent communications manager that lives on your website and across your social channels, chatting and responding to customers 24/7 with warmth and personality.
She's trained on your business and built to act. Taking the reservation, holding the card, sending the reminder, recovering the lost booking. Instantly and autonomously.
click the link to learn more.

📙Download HUNGRY Big Banging Reading list here
🧾 HUNGRY survey would be so grateful if you may please fill out