Your Table's Ready

Today we bring to you a special spotlight episode about Lebanon. 

I was in Beirut August 4th when the worlds 3rd biggest explosion happened - it killed more than 200 people, injured over 5,000 and 300,000 were made homeless. The collective loss is estimated between $10-15 billion. 

The devastation of the blast compounded with a failing government and a collapsed economy is what makes this horrible incident even more catastrophic.

One of the ways I thought I could help is to bring you the story of how one of the most loved Lebanese restaurants in London came to be. I'm talking of course about Comptoir Libanais. When I contacted Tony Kitous, the founder, he was delighted to come on and chat with us.

Kitous brought Lebanese food to the masses with Comptoir Libanais. His vision was to make Lebanese food as popular as the Italians made pizza. In this episode you’ll learn of how an 18 year old moved to London from Algeria with nothing and worked the equivalent of 10 years in 4 to save enough money to open up his own restaurant. You’ll hear about how he built his empire but also what changes he had to make to save the company when they hit trouble a few years back.  

Kitous has also written and released 4 cookbooks. In fact he has so kindly offered to donate 15 signed cookbooks to help raise money for Lebanon. If you are interested in buying a signed copy please email me [email protected] or DM me on instagram -@yourtablesready.

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Today, July 27th 2020, is Ugly Dumpling's 3rd birthday!

Ugly Dumpling is a super casual global fusion dumpling restaurant right in the middle of Soho.They serve really delicious twists on the typical Asian dumpling. Here you’ll find creations like the cheeseburger dumpling, fish and chips dumpling, mushroom truffle dumpling, pecan pie, cheesecake and Nutella dumplings - yes I know they sound so wrong (except for the desert ones) but trust me they are so good. And all they're all 3 for £5. 

Ugly Dumpling was one of my biggest saviours during lockdown - I really loved their frozen dumplings hand delivered by Philipp Chaykin the founder himself!

Chaykin quit his job in big corporate consulting land to start a dumpling restaurant. He found street food operator - The Ugly Dumplings run by Ping Wong and asked is she would go into business with him. And that was the beginning of Ugly Dumpling. Chaykin's is an interesting story because he basically outsourced everything about this restaurant which really shows if you have the money and have done the right research you can open your own restaurant without any real experience in the industry.

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This week we're chatting with - Alex Head - founder of London's go-to catering company Social Pantry. Social pantry is considered a leader in fashioning event menus with a creative edge. Head also runs 3 restaurants in London -Soane's Kitchen in Ealing, Cranes kitchen in Peckham, and Social Pantry Cafe on Lavender Hill.

Alex regales us with tales from catering various events of product launches by Rihanna and the beauty company Nars as well as celebrity parties such as Gigi Hadid's slumber party. 

Her breakthrough moment was in her early 20s she won the Brentford football club account - and she's been growing ever since. 

Social pantry is not only a huge success in its own right but its social responsibility is exemplary. They insure that 10% of their staff are ex offenders. Helping those being released from prison re-acclimate to society by giving them the opportunity to work a full time job in one of her companies. 

I really enjoyed chatting with Alex. She's light hearted and full of amazing stories and ideas. Her story is fascinating, her entrepreneurial streak actually started as a child when she decided to make some money by selling sandwiches to her dad's colleagues at work - as a result of being expelled from school.

So that's where we will begin.

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Today we're speaking to Ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons.

Ben started a company called Venue Group where he is CEO, his brother CFO (who comes from running Soho Houses finance) and his dad the chairman.

Venue Group is the company that brought us Flat Iron Square in Southwark and Goods Way in Kings Cross (which launched in March just one week before lockdown).

He’s on a mission to create more grassroots music venues in London and help build the live music and night scene. His thinking is that we need to bridge the gap between being massive and people having no idea who you are. That’s why grassroots venues are so important.” 

Omeara was the first live music venue to launch occupying 3 of the arches in Flat Iron Square the rest of would be be food and drink vendors which ben ended up taking management of It seemed a natural next step as music food and nightlife all go hand in hand.

Flat iron square is a massive laid back outdoor food hall that is gorgeous for summer time but works just as well all throughout winter. They have vendors like Mother Clucker who we spoke to last week, Breddos, Where The Pancakes Are, and Lupins.

Then just before lockdown Goods Way in Kings X launched which included the live music venue Lafayette and indoor food and drinks hall. 

The vibe of Goods Way is more cleaned up with a New Orleans cobbled streets and iron balconies theme running throughout. They have a very cool looking bar that looks like a modern twist on an old time southern saloon. Some of the same vendors from ft iron moved over with them like Breddos but they have also brought in new vendors like Duck Truck, Temple of Seitan and Sushi on Jones the much loved sushi place in NYC.

Sadly Goodsway was only open for a week before lockdown but it promises to please once it is safe to get back in there.

Something i really loved from what Ben said was that he wasn't creating a venue that was about the brand staying and that being the end of the road for them. In fact it was quite the opposite - he wants Flat Iron Square and Goods Way to be launching points for these guys. He wants then to benefit from the collective footfall and then carry on growing into something of their own eventually. Much like the path Mother Clucker are on.

Something else I love is that he has sort of taken on this role of helping build the economy both here in London and in the US. He explains some of the work he does with the government to understand how venues like his help to provide jobs and strengthen the economy for the towns and cities they are in. 

So we will weave in and out of music and food throughout the episode as it is all part of his story. 

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Berenjak set out to reinterpret the classic hole-in-the-wall kabab houses lining the streets of Tehran. Kian Samyani, founder and head chef -who is Iranian born himself- brought his vision to life from memories of visiting Tehran as a kid. From the vibrant open plan kitchen, the fresh bread being made in the tanour by the window, to the distressed feel of the place with its exposed brick, Persian rugs and foliage. The small boho chic Persian has such a unique charm that we were really missing here. 

This episode is quite different to the others because Berenjak is backed by JKS group (JKS group own Hoppers, BAO, Gymkhana, Lyles, Brigadiers, Rice Error and a few other very successful restaurants. 

So it's not a restaurant or brand that had to start completely from scratch like the others we have chatted to so far. For that reason we don't spend too much time talking about funding and advertising. This is more of a spotlight on this chef's journey and what his vision was for this incredible and unique restaurant. 

I was delighted to see that they will be opening back up in July. Check out their instagram to see when from. In the meantime they are delivering on Deliveroo and their own website via Slerp.

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Mother Cluckers' chicken strips are some of the best fried chicken you can find in London it's tea brined, buttermilk soaked and twice battered flavour-full amazingness. 

The entire business was born out of a New Orleans gal's craving for southern fried chicken in London but nothing really making the cut. This was 2012 before the fried chicken craze happened. So she rolled up her sleeves and started experimenting in the kitchen purely for her own consumption. Her recipe was so tasty that her friend and now business partner, Ross curnow, convinced her to start selling it. 

They soon found themselves moving further away from the music industry and selling friend chicken out of an ex US military ambulance.  

You will have seen these guys at Kerb, Street Feast, Flat Iron Square, Spitalfield and various festivals. In 2018 they opened a permanent store in Exmouth market. Interestingly Britney talks about how they found running permanent kiosks and restaurants more financially viable than the trucks and pack up and down market stalls. - I found this fascinating.

This episode is particularly interesting for anyone thinking to test running a market stall themselves.

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While we usually talk to the founders of restaurants or bars today I have a very special guest - Pippa Murray - founder of Pip and Nut peanut butter. 

I wanted to bring Pippa onto the show not only because she is literally every entrepreneurs dream scenario- she left her 9-5 job to test a product out that she made herself which was instantly profitable and 5 years on from inception it is worth nearly 20 million.

But she categorically changed the much neglected nut butter industry with her innovative package design of the nut butter sachets for on the go consumption. 

She transformed how we all perceive nut butters as a food and introduced new ways for us to use them.

She essentially livened up a snack that was perceived as unhealthy and dull.

If you're an entrepreneur yourself, you'll want to take notes during this episode, she gives a lot of useful tips.

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Today we are speaking to husband and wife team Sam and Sam Clark - yes they are both named Sam Clark(e) before they were married!

They are the creators of the 20 year old multi-award winning Mediterranean/ Moroccan fusion restaurants Moro and Morito. 

This episode is a very enjoyable listen, it's truly a story of two people who just love cooking and want to share their creations with the world- not really bothered about the business, marketing and financial side of it all. 

I'm rushing this episode out because Morito is opening up this Friday (June 5th) to serve their famous brik with a new duck filling. Brik is a delicately crafted Moroccan pastry constructed of very thin layers of warka - sort of a filo pastry - that is usually stuffed with chicken, orange blossom and few other spices.

When Moro first opened in 1997 they created a twist on the brik with a crab filling and won over Londoners hearts from then. It's really quite poetic that they are going back to that dish to relaunch. 

If you can't make it tomorrow I do recommend buying a voucher to dine there once lockdown is lifted. You can buy these on their website- vouchers include amount to be redeemed along with a free drink and desert.

Restaurants really need us to do things like this to help them stay alive.

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Nightjar is London's most highly acclaimed speakeasy. It's been named in the top 50 bars in the world several years running and holds multiple industry awards. The entrance to Nightjar is through an unmarked door near a chicken shop on Old Street roundabout. You can just about hear the live jazz playing and taste the craft prohibition style cocktails being made in the bar below. Today there is no shortage of speakeasies in London but when this husband and wife team created Nightjar back in 2010 they really pioneered the trend. One review of the bar said "Nightjar is the kind of place all other speakeasies aspire to be when they grow up". The pair went on to open two more successful bars - Oriole in Smithfield Market and Swift in Old Compton Street (nearly at the same time). In this episode you'll hear of the couple's journey opening all three bars, bumps they hit along the way and how they overcame them, and the kits you can get from them during the lockdown. But first we spoke to Roisin about her experience contracting Corona virus at 28 weeks pregnant!

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James started his love affair with Middle Eastern cuisine 15 years ago by making falafel at a Jordanian guy's stall in Borough Market. He since took over that business and blew it up by opening several market stalls, selling their products in retail, running the longest standing concession in Selfridges Foodhall, and opening two permanent restaurants one in Borough and the other in Kings Cross's Granary Square. 

We catch up on what James and the team at Arabica are doing for lockdown - Beiruti falafel DIY kits as well as mezza platers - and then his journey of building the Arabica empire.

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