In this episode of Hot Gossip, we sit down with Roya Shanks, Maitre D' at The Odeon in Tribeca. The Odeon has been at one of New York City's most iconic restaurants since 2001. But Roya's story is far more than longevity, it's a masterclass in what it looks like to build a genuinely values-driven life inside an industry that rarely gets credit for it.

A Yale graduate who walked away from medicine, Roya came to New York two months after 9/11 with a sublet in Brooklyn, a Village Voice listing, and no restaurant experience. What followed was over two decades of serving, managing, acting, voice recording, motherhood, and becoming one of the most distinctive presences in New York City's dining world, recently recognized by Vogue as a best-dressed style icon.

We explore what true longevity in hospitality really means: how a dining room can become your living room, how the art of the host is quietly disappearing, and why Roya's approach to difficult guests, meet them exactly where they are, love them into comfort, is one of the most radical acts of service we've heard described on this show.

This conversation touches on the quiet courage of choosing creativity over convention, being visibly pregnant in a dining room for nine months, what New York looks like in 2026 for someone who's lived it across four decades, and why color, bold, vintage, joyful color, is not just a fashion choice but a philosophy for living.

00:00 Roya’s Colorful Magic

01:42 Service as Style

02:32 Values and Guest Care

04:35 Podcast Welcome and Bio

07:17 The Art of the Host

08:24 Finding Odeon After 9/11

10:30 Why She Stayed So Long

13:36 Passion and Community

18:00 Motherhood Night Shifts

20:00 How Odeon Changed

25:29 Yale to Acting Pivot

26:46 Impact Beyond Money

32:11 Crafting the Maitre D

33:32 Walk In Chaos Strategy

34:50 Defusing Grumpy Guests

36:00 Hospitality As Community

36:37 Style That Commands

40:30 Vintage Shopping Secrets

42:26 Color Travel Influence

44:47 Pregnancy In Public

48:48 New York Then Now

53:37 Subway Life Perspective

55:55 Wild Dining Room Stories

57:32 Hard Won Life Lessons

59:17 Rapid Fire Wrap Up

01:00:50 Where To Find Roya

01:01:49 Closing Thanks Support

Follow Jacob and Roya:

Connect with ROY Hospitality

Website: https://www.thisisroy.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hospitablyroy/

Connect with Roya: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roya-shanks-110b5951

Website: http://www.royashanks.com/