What is food PR? It can sometimes seem like a lot of eating, drinking and talking about restaurants - and yes that is part of the job but it's so much more! Here we chat to a real PR powerhouse, Gemma Bell. Gemma spent years working in hospitality before moving into the communications sector of our industry. She has worked with some of the best restaurateurs and chefs out there including Ottolenghi, Angela Hartnett and the team behind Trullo & Padella. Gemma believes PR is more about storytelling, and getting the word about what a place is doing/creating - what they want you to feel or know. Here we spoke about the future of PR in a world post-covid, cook at home boxes and if we will ever eat out the same way we did pre-corona. If you were ever interested in working in PR, listen to this!  

Rachel Roddy has this effortless way of writing about food. She's engaging and fun and honest, no filters, no bullshit. In a world saturated by social media, Rachel writes and works honestly. The author of two already published books, and her third coming out in July, she is also a real history nerd when it comes to the subject of food. In our chat we talked all about being an expat in her home of Rome, what social media is good and bad for and the Italian dining scene. If you don't want to get on a plane to Italy after this, I don't know what will. 

I think after this weeks episode we will all be going out and getting a job in procurment, because Lorraine makes it sound so fun! Lorraine Copes is the founder of the social enterprise, Be Inclusive Hospitality, which promotes a more inclusive industry and shines a light on POC through their events, mentorship programme and social media content. Lorraine is also a very accomplished procurment manager, business coach and consultant. She is a true inspiration and we love all that she has done and is doing for the restaurant world. 

It is a real thing to be a restaurant nerd. A food obsessed person who wants to know how things are made, taste and served. Pamela Yung is that person. Currently the head chef at the sister property to Lyle's, Flor, Pam is someone we truly connected with in terms of her passion for our industry. She's the mastermind behind ASAP Pizza, loves to travel and shared her emotional story of closing her first restaurant. We tip our hat off to you Pam. 

We could not be more excited to have two of hospitality's most legendary people join us this week. Laura Montana and Seb Fogg have worked for some of the greats, yes, but beyond that they have service and business and care running through their veins. They ARE hospitality. They have opened huge restaurants, turned failing properties around and lived the glory days of the 90s London dining scene. They have so much insight into our industry and they are too much fun to hang out with. Here we spoke about then and now, how our industry has changed and also the future of restaurants in a post-pandemic world. 

You are in for a real treat this week, as we spoke to cookbook author and catering company founder, Lara Lee. Lara has SO much energy it's infectious. She also has excellent career advice if you're looking for a change, want to try something new or thinking about writing a cookbook. Here we talk all about her jump from IT sales to catering for the Australian Embassy. Plus her best selling cookbook all about her Indonesian heritage, Coconut & Sambal. We know by the end you'll be dancing around smiling ear to ear. We sure were! 

Sourdough was always a thing even before the pandemic hit, but this weeks guest rose to Instagram notoriety thank to her starter AND for starting a little supperclub series called Muff Dining. Martha De Lacey credits her meltdown working in journalism as the reason she launched into a career in food. She is laugh out loud, totally transparent, non-stop chat and we couldn't be happier to listen. Here we spoke about setting up a supperclub business, not making a business plan, the effects of the pandemic and SO MUCH MORE (so much we had to edited some of it out, but we kept the most important great bits). 

Episode 2 we have our first male guest, and what a good one he is! Danny McCubbin is a real life, walking hug. He is joy, happiness and kindness so it is no wonder he is a judge for The YBF's in the Giving Back category, or that he bought a one euro house in Sicily not as his vacation home, but to turn into a community kitchen for the town of Mussomeli. Danny is a true inspiration and believes food has the power to change the world. We could not agree more! 

For our first episode we reached out to our friend Henny Fox, who has had a very impressive career front of house. She loves hospitality almost as much as she loves her dogs, and we welcomed Henny as our inanugural guest to tackle a rather big topic - alcohol and drug abuse. While her passion for restaurants is certain, it was in April 2020 she was faced with the reality that drinking and drugs were becoming too much a part of her life and it was time to make a change. Here we talk about baking failures, coming up as a young manager and how she tackled her addiction while continuing to work in food and drink. We are so grateful to Henny for being open and honest about her experience with drink and drugs. If you would like to talk to someone about your addiction, we strongly encourage you to reach out for help to your local GP, friend or family. We hope this episode helps make a positive shift for us all when it comes to substance abuse, something we all have been witness to or experienced first hand. Thank you for listening. 

WELCOME TO THE L.O.R. PODCAST

A weekly show shining a bright light on the incredible people doing amazing things in and around the world of food, drink and then some. Each week we’ll interview someone who has a great story to share about their work in our industry. We really want to showcase the varied professions available in hospitality and how you might start as one thing and end up as another. Or how there isn’t always a degree you can or need to achieve, and there are so many lessons to be learned from working in hospitality. With a little more time on our hands in lockdown, we’ve started recording these sessions via zoom - making our sound a bit less Michelin star and a bit more bib gourmand. Nevertheless we hope you enjoy listening.