HUNGRY.

Most companies talk about strategy as if it’s a spreadsheet problem. At Tony’s Chocolonely, strategy is about choosing which risks you’re willing to live with — permanently. In this conversation, Doug from Tony’s Chocolonely breaks down how real strategic decisions get made when the stakes are high, the information is incomplete, and playing it safe isn’t an option. This isn’t theory. It’s what happens when your strategy has real consequences — for margins, growth, and an entire global supply chain. 
=============== 🍫 ON THE MENU =============== 
🎲 Why business strategy is closer to poker than chess 
⚖️ How Tony’s decides which risks to carry — and which to refuse 
🚫 Why “sensible” decisions often lead to weak strategy 
📉 What most companies lose when they optimise for safety 
🌍 Making strategic bets at global food scale 
🧠 Leadership decisions you only face when the stakes are real Whether you’re a founder, marketer, operator, or senior decision-maker, this is a masterclass in how to think about risk, trade-offs, and long-term bets — without hiding behind frameworks. 
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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. 
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What the monk?! Saiphin Moore, the visionary founder of Rosa's Thai Cafe, recounts how her ex-husband once invited a Buddhist monk to convince her to sell the burgeoning business. This extraordinary anecdote perfectly encapsulates Saiphin's journey, which began in a remote Thai mountain village where she lived without electricity until age 15, learning to cook on charcoal from seven and even raising a pet pig for income. Her leap to Hong Kong as a nanny, where she encountered hoovers and rice cookers for the first time and learned English from a single piece of paper, set the stage for her entrepreneurial spirit. Saiphin’s philosophy blends Buddhist principles of calm, acceptance, and forgiveness with a fierce drive to be "better than anyone else" and "honest with the customer" – a commitment she refused to compromise, even when faced with monastic persuasion. Now, with Rosa's Thai expanding to nearly 50 sites and a new venture in Dubai, she continues to champion authentic Thai cuisine.
ON THE MENU: 
1. Growing Up Off-Grid in the Thai Mountains
2. Mountain Wisdom: Competition Without Jealousy
3. Buddhist Lessons for Business and Life
4. The Monk Who Told Me to Quit My Restaurant
5. From Rural Thailand to Hong Kong Culture Shock
6. Why London Was Ready for Real Thai Food
7. Street Food Principles: Honesty, Quality, Simplicity
8. Reinventing Delivery Without Killing the Food
9. Scaling Restaurants Without Losing Consistency
10. Trust Your Gut and Cook Authentically

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Robin Gill is a serial restaurateur who has built multiple, entirely different restaurant concepts — not chains, not repeats. In this episode, Robin breaks down why great hospitality isn’t about big gestures or surface-level creativity — but about systems, discipline, and invisible details that customers feel without ever consciously noticing. Drawing on years of building restaurants from scratch, we explore what actually creates loyalty, repeat business, and long-term success — in hospitality and far beyond. =============== 🍽️ ON THE MENU =============== ⚙️ Why great hospitality is mostly invisible 🧠 Performance vs delight — and why it matters 🚫 Why removing friction beats trying to impress 🔍 The small details customers feel but never articulate 🏗️ Building restaurants as systems, not vibes 🎯 Why doing fewer things perfectly wins 📈 What hospitality teaches any business about human behaviour This isn’t about food trends or hype. It’s about how well-designed systems quietly win. 

 Got empty tables? EatClub connects your restaurant with diners in real time, turning quiet hours into profit.
Contact us: [email protected]