In this brutally honest conversation, Tom Kerridge joins Dan Pope to unpack what it really takes to survive—and thrive—in modern hospitality. From building The Hand and Flowers into a two-Michelin-star pub, to closing businesses post-Covid, navigating razor-thin margins, and separating ego from decision-making, Kerridge offers a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and realism.

Plus they explore why restaurants are “pirate ships” full of misfits and intensity, why front of house matters as much as food, and why most chefs overestimate their own importance. Kerridge opens up about addiction, ADHD, chaos versus control, and replacing alcohol with obsessive focus—first swimming, then lifting, then business... what an unbelievably candid conversation with one of England's hospitality legends. But, this isn’t a romanticised chef story. It’s a clear-eyed look at pressure, responsibility, fear, and why hospitality only works when passion is matched with brutal commercial discipline.

📺Check out the video on Youtube :yt: for an even Hungrier experience

=============== 🍽️ ON THE MENU ===============

🔥 Why hospitality is one of the hardest businesses on earth
💸 The brutal economics behind why restaurants barely make money
🚪 Why opening a restaurant “makes no sense” on paper
🧭 Tom Kerridge’s non-negotiable business principles
🦠 Why Covid sharpened—not softened—decision-making
🧠 The difference between thinking like a chef vs a restaurateur
🔄 When to kill ideas, pivot concepts, and move on fast
🤝 Lessons learned from working with Gary Neville
🏋️ Talent vs relentless work ethic in elite kitchens
⭐ What Michelin stars really change (and what they don’t)
🏴‍☠️ Why kitchens are “pirate ships” by design
🛎️ How front of house quietly makes or breaks restaurants
💥 The tiny irritants that destroy great hospitality
👫 Building businesses with partners—and surviving it
⚡ ADHD, chaos, control, and creative intensity
🍺 Replacing addiction with obsession
👨‍👦 What success actually means as a parent
🏉 Why rugby explains kitchens better than business books
📱 The invisible chef WhatsApp networks
🏆 What separates a three-star human from everyone else
📺 Navigating TV without becoming a caricature
🏅 How Kerridge won Great British Menu
💣 The one truth chefs hate hearing

Whether you’re a founder, operator, chef, or creative leader, this episode is a no-nonsense masterclass in pressure, responsibility, and building something that actually lasts.

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On The Menu:
00:00:00 The Hospitality Industry Is a Monster
00:03:45 Why Restaurants Barely Make Money
00:04:45 Why Opening a Restaurant Makes No Sense
00:07:00 Tom Kerridge Business Principles
00:08:35 Radical Transparency With Staff
00:12:15 If It Was Easy Everyone Would Do It
00:13:25 Why Kerridge Loved Covid Problem-Solving
00:15:05 Chef vs Restaurateur Thinking
00:16:45 When Concepts Fail and Must Change
00:18:20 Lessons From Working With Gary Neville
00:22:40 Talent vs Relentless Hard Work
00:29:50 Putting Personality on the Plate
00:30:55 One Star vs Two vs Three Michelin
00:34:45 Kitchens Are Pirate Ships
00:36:20 Making Michelin Feel Safe
00:38:20 The Coach’s Ridiculous Burger Explained
00:41:45 Silent Irritants That Ruin Restaurants
00:42:30 Front of House Creates the Experience
00:48:15 Building a Business With Your Partner
00:52:55 ADHD, Chaos, and Control
00:55:35 Replacing Alcohol With Obsession
01:03:00 What He Wants His Son to Learn
01:06:45 Rugby, Kitchens, and Team Roles
01:08:35 The Chef WhatsApp Inner Circle
01:14:45 What Makes a Three-Star Human
01:15:45 Navigating TV and Media Without Becoming a Caricature
01:20:35 How Kerridge Won Great British Menu
01:24:45 The One Truth Chefs Hate Hearing

🔥10x creativity beats 10x budget. Want a life changing HUNGRY Creative Workshop for your team? DM brother

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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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Let's Connect!
►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)
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🔥10x creativity beats 10x budget. Want a life changing HUNGRY Creative Workshop for your team? DM brother

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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.

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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 🍲

🤝 Let's Connect!

►Let’s link-up here ​ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/)

►Stalk me here ​ (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)