All writing.
Essays on restaurant economics, pricing, people, and culture — written from inside two working restaurants in Bristol. Most pieces free to read on Substack.
OFM 30 · Observer Food Monthly 2026 “An intelligent, witty insight into the business mechanics and emotional pull of hospitality.” — Tony Naylor, OFM 30, Observer Food Monthly, 2026
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Restaurant economics, pricing decisions, and the people behind a good night out — written without jargon. Three or four times a month. Most issues free.
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All essays and notes
Leave Them Wanting
On the two kinds of full — and why the best meals end with the guest already planning when to return.
CultureWhat I Actually Want
On ingredient-first cooking, and what we lost when supermarkets gave us everything, always, regardless of season.
EconomicsBusiness Rates, Explained
How the business rates system works, what it costs independent restaurants, and why the current structure makes no sense.
People & ServiceYour Eyes Betray You
On reading a room — what an experienced server sees that a guest doesn't, and why it matters.
CultureThe Difference Between Taste and Judgement
The line between food criticism and restaurant criticism — and why conflating the two produces bad writing.
PersonalWhy I Can't Switch Off
On the particular difficulty of leaving work at work when work is always open — and whether you'd want to.
PersonalWhat I Ate (and Read) in 2025
A year in meals and books. The plates that stayed, and the reading that shaped how I think about food.
PersonalThe Joy of Waiting for Dinner
On anticipation — the particular pleasure of a booking you haven't eaten yet, and what restaurants can do with it.
People & ServiceTable 14 & The Missing Ticket
The difference between running plates and looking after people, told through one forgotten order on a Saturday night.
EconomicsHow This Budget Actually Hits Restaurants
A plain-language breakdown of the Autumn Budget — what changed, what it costs in practice, and what independent operators can do.
Food & TravelCooked at Home: The Gougères That Got Me Cooking Again
The recipe that pulled me back to cooking at home, and why that matters more than it sounds.
EconomicsWhere the Money Went
An honest accounting of the year — what was spent, what held, and what didn't.
CultureWhy Most Restaurants Shouldn't Do Tasting Menus
A tasting menu closes. A good à la carte brings people back. The case for knowing which one you actually are.
People & ServicePlated & Opinionated #2: Same Room, Better Service
The same room, a year on. What changed in the service, what the food learned to do, and what still isn't right.
EconomicsThe Fit-Out Mirage
On the trap of expensive interiors — and the restaurants that spend on the room instead of the kitchen.
EconomicsLet Restaurants Make Money
Profit is pay, not a perk. The case for restaurants that actually make money — and what stops them.
EconomicsHow UK Wine Duty Eats Your Bottle
A breakdown of what the UK's duty structure costs on every bottle you pour — and what it does to a wine list.
EconomicsWhat We Really Sell
It's not the food. It's not the service. A closer look at what actually brings people back — and how most restaurants get it wrong.
Food & TravelDrink Portugal Smarter
A practical guide to Portuguese wine — what to order, who makes it, what to spend, and what to avoid.
Food & TravelOma Restaurant Review, Porto
Notes from Oma in Porto: what it does well, what the room teaches, and what came home to Bristol.
Food & TravelCity Guide: Porto, Portugal
Three days of eating in Porto — what to order, where to sit, and what the city teaches about running a restaurant.
People & ServiceHire the Heart, Train the Hands
On why attitude matters more than skill in hiring — and what that looks like in a working interview.
EconomicsWhy the UK Never Feels Cheap
What a Porto lunch taught me about wages, VAT, rent, and the buying power we mistake for culture.
CultureThe Solo Diner
A love letter to eating alone — and the particular freedoms of a table for one that restaurants rarely honour.
Food & TravelSpend Like a Guest, Think Like a Host
Three days eating in Paris. What it taught about margins, service cadence, and flavour that pays its own way.
People & ServiceHot Pork. Cold Beer. Truth.
On the kind of meal that doesn't need explaining — and why that is harder to make than it sounds.
People & ServiceBack to School, Back to Service
September in a restaurant. What returning to full service after summer teaches the team — and the manager.
CultureThe Dining Room Isn't Your Stage
A short piece on entitlement at the table — and the one thing that reliably fixes it.
CultureLet's Stop Doing "Best Of" Lists
On why year-end restaurant lists say more about the list-maker than the restaurants — and what we lose when criticism becomes curation.
CultureLet People Order Less
The case against minimum spends — and for hospitality that trusts the guest to spend what the meal is worth to them.
People & ServicePlated and Opinionated #1: Stop Overthinking Dinner
A Michelin walk-in, one plate that stayed with me, and why not every meal needs to start a revolution.
CultureThis Might Kill You (But Sure, Don't Tell Us)
Inside the complicated, occasionally dangerous world of restaurant allergy management — and why the current system fails everyone.
EconomicsThe Real Price of a No-Show
What a no-show actually costs — in money, in food waste, and in the team's evening. The number is larger than most guests think.
Culture'Let Me Eat for Free': Surviving the Influencer Economy
On the influencer economy, what restaurants actually get from it, and when to say no.
People & ServiceThe Business Model of Kindness
The only thing that's ever made restaurants work — and the part the industry keeps overcomplicating.
People & ServiceThe Quiet Nights That Count
On slow services, empty tables, and why the quiet nights often teach more than the busy ones.
People & ServiceThe Cost of Applause
What awards, reviews, and glossy coverage don't tell you about surviving in restaurants.
PersonalHow We Really Eat After Service
What the kitchen team actually eats when the guests have gone home. It is not what you'd expect.
CultureThe Invisible Class Divide on Every Menu
On the assumptions baked into how menus are written — and who they are written for and against.
People & ServiceThe Next Table is Waiting
On the particular pressure of turning tables — and what it costs when it is handled badly.
PersonalAfter the Guests Go
The hour after service ends. What gets said, cleaned, eaten, and decided when no one is watching.
EconomicsService Charge Shenanigans
A plain-language breakdown of the service charge — where it goes, how it's split, and what restaurants are getting wrong.
Food & TravelA Letter from Ducasse
On eating at L'Arpège and what a three-star kitchen teaches about restraint — and the gap between ambition and discipline.
EconomicsThe Truth About Restaurant Wine Pricing
Why restaurant wine costs what it does — and when the markup is fair, and when it isn't.
PersonalI Gave My Restaurant Away
On the strange experience of handing your room to someone else for a week — and what you learn when you do.
EconomicsWhere the Money Goes: Anatomy of a British Restaurant in 2025
A full breakdown of what it costs to run a British restaurant in 2025 — from payroll to napkins to the margin that's left.
CultureWhat Makes a Bad Review Good
On what useful criticism actually looks like — and the restaurant reviews worth reading even when they sting.
People & ServiceEveryone Thinks They Can Run a Restaurant
On the gap between watching someone else do this job and actually doing it — and why that gap is larger than it looks.
PersonalHow I Got Here
Coffee, barista championships, a Dutch supermarket contract, and the accidental path to opening a restaurant in Bristol.