“Subscribe to free weekly news letter HUNGRY FRIDAY FEAST here ” I thought Karan would define success in the usual restaurant terms — reviews, covers, repeat customers. His answer went somewhere way more interesting. In this episode, I sit down with Karan Gokani to talk about how Hoppers became one of London’s most iconic restaurants — and how it has stayed busy, relevant, and loved for over a decade in an industry where that feels almost impossible. Karan shares the principles behind that succe...
Jun 01, 2026•1 hr 45 min
============================================== ♨️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 - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 ============================================== 🤝 Let's Connect! ►Let’s link-up here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) ►Stalk me here (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) This episode was edited by: G.Thomas ...
May 29, 2026•8 min
“Subscribe to free weekly news letter HUNGRY FRIDAY FEAST here ” Jeremy King doesn’t just talk about restaurants — he talks about change, class, creativity, ego, instinct, death, literature, leadership, and why the best dining rooms become tiny theatres of human behaviour. In this conversation, the legendary restaurateur behind The Ivy, Le Caprice, The Wolseley, Arlington and now Simpson's in the Strand explains why “maintaining standards” is actually the road to bankruptcy, why great restaurant...
May 25, 2026•2 hr 16 min
============================================== ♨️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 - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 ============================================== 🤝 Let's Connect! ►Let’s link-up here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) ►Stalk me here (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/) This episode was edited by: G.Thomas ...
May 21, 2026•8 min
“Subscribe to free weekly news letter HUNGRY FRIDAY FEAST here ” "Hospitality happens for people, not to them." In this masterclass of an episode, Unreasonable Hospitality author Will Guidara sits down with Dan Pope on the Hungry podcast to unpack the magic behind Eleven Madison Park's meteoric rise to the best restaurant in the world. From leaving a full bottle of cognac with the bill, to systemizing serendipity with Tiffany & Co. engagement flutes, Will explains why true excellence require...
May 18, 2026•2 hr 39 min
============================================== ♨️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 - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 --------------------------------- 🤝 Let's Connect! ►Let's link-up here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) ►Stalk me here (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)
May 14, 2026•6 min
A rare behind-the-scenes roundtable with four of the UK’s most exciting challenger brand founders — Toby Hopkinson of All Things Butter, Jack Scott of DASH Water, Imme Ermgassen of Botivo, and Florence Cherruault of The Pickle House — filmed live at Strakers. Dan digs into the messy, brilliant reality of building modern food and drink brands: when to stay focused, when to diversify, how to win retail listings, why hospitality can build cultural credibility, and what happens when your “side idea”...
May 11, 2026•1 hr 41 min
May 07, 2026•11 min
Building a great restaurant starts with something unexpected: chaos Controlle chaos. This week on Hungry Phil and Abs of Poor Boys talk high-energy design, bold menu choices, and how creating a memorable, slightly disorienting experience gets people talking—and coming back. They share how they turned unconventional ideas into a powerful brand, including how they used an ingredient chefs have been throwing away to create something customers couldn’t get enough of. The conversation dives into how ...
May 04, 2026•1 hr 51 min
============================================== ♨️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 - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 --------------------------------- 🤝 Let's Connect! ►Let's link-up here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) ►Stalk me here (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)
Apr 30, 2026•6 min
Your Restaurant should slightly confuse people when they walk in. Yes you heard that right. According to Lukie Farrell (Speedboat), that tension—between chaos and clarity—is exactly what makes a place unforgettable. In this episode, Lukie breaks down how he built one of London’s most talked-about Thai restaurants by embracing controlled chaos, bold design, and just the right amount of confusion. From smuggling authentic Thai ingredients to refusing Western shortcuts, he explains why authenticity...
Apr 27, 2026•1 hr 32 min
Apr 23, 2026•9 min
“Subscribe to free weekly news letter HUNGRY FRIDAY FEAST” here” Once you hear this, you’ll never walk down a supermarket aisle the same way again. A sensory scientist walks into a supermarket… and suddenly nothing you buy is accidental. In this episode, Charles Spence breaks down how evolution, psychology, and a bit of brand mischief shape everything from what we crave to what we click “add to basket” on. From the savannah to the supermarket, your brain is still wired to hunt for energy-dense f...
Apr 20, 2026•1 hr 58 min
============================================== ♨️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 - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 --------------------------------- 🤝 Let's Connect! ►Let's link-up here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) ►Stalk me here (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)...
Apr 16, 2026•7 min
Welcome to the chaotic, beautiful, and brutally honest world of Ravneet Gill. In this episode, the acclaimed chef and Junior Bake Off judge peels back the curtain on the grueling realities of hospitality. Ravneet opens up about the messy middle of launching her hit London restaurant, Gina, navigating the dual guilt of motherhood and entrepreneurship, and learning to let go of perfectionism. She also shares hilarious anecdotes about accidentally convincing the internet David Blaine was moving int...
Apr 13, 2026•1 hr 38 min
Full episode here! 👉🏻 https://youtu.be/cVG8TqtxJQE After 20 years running The Hand & Flowers and 35 years in kitchens, Tom Kerridge says something most chefs won’t: restaurants don’t make money anymore. In this clip, Kerridge breaks down why margins have been wiped out, why being “busy” means nothing, and why opening a restaurant today can actually be the worst financial decision you make. It’s a brutally honest look at hospitality — from pricing, staffing and VAT, to the hard leadership c...
Apr 09, 2026•15 min
Dan Pope sits down with Jack Rubin, co-founder and CEO of Purdy & Figg — a cleaning brand that somehow turned selling countertop spray into one of the fastest-growing consumer businesses in the UK. Jack explains how a company that started with almost no marketing orthodoxy managed to rocket toward £100M scale by focusing on something surprisingly unglamorous: customer acquisition, ruthless simplicity, and relentless testing. Thousands of creatives, endless A/B tests, and years of building a ...
Apr 06, 2026•1 hr 48 min
============================================== ♨️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 - https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/🍲 --------------------------------- 🤝 Let's Connect! ►Let's link-up here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/) ►Stalk me here (https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/)
Apr 02, 2026•4 min
Ever wondered what it takes to build a £10M restaurant empire? Chef Adam Handling joins Dan Pope to unpack the brutal realities of building a £10M restaurant empire. From nearly losing his parents' house during COVID-19 to making £148,000 on Valentine's Day via home deliveries, Adam's journey is a masterclass in resilience. We dive deep into his Chanel vs. Hermes philosophy on brand building, why his team researches guests online for the ultimate dining experience, and his bold mission to redefi...
Mar 30, 2026•2 hr 20 min
Mar 26, 2026•7 min
Former professional footballer Hal Robson-Kanu discusses how adversity shaped both his football career and his business philosophy. Reflecting on being released by Arsenal F.C. at 15 and suffering serious ACL injuries, he explains that real resilience comes not from eliminating doubt but learning to live with uncertainty and continue acting despite it. He argues adversity is essential for development, because only through facing difficulty do people discover their capacity to persevere. Robson-K...
Mar 23, 2026•1 hr 4 min
Mar 19, 2026•10 min
Ivan Orkin is one of the most unlikely success stories in the world of food. A Jewish kid from New York moves to Tokyo, opens a tiny ramen shop in the suburbs, and somehow ends up becoming one of the most respected ramen chefs in Japan — a country famously protective of its culinary traditions. In this conversation, Dan sits down with the founder of Ivan Ramen to unpack how that happened. Ivan talks about teaching himself ramen, opening his first shop in Japan with barely any money, and the mome...
Mar 16, 2026•1 hr 40 min
Mar 12, 2026•11 min
*updated version* A masterclass in the nuts and bolts of running a world-class restaurant. In this episode, Dan sits down with one of Britain’s most uncompromising chefs to talk about building a two-Michelin-star restaurant in the least glamorous location imaginable — a strange little oasis tucked under a Nottingham flyover, surrounded by graffiti, traffic, and the occasional burning car. But that’s exactly the point. Sat explains why great restaurants aren’t just about food — they’re about thea...
Mar 10, 2026•2 hr 28 min
Mar 05, 2026•2 min
From bricks through the window in 1960s Skelmersdale to queues around the block in Liverpool, this is a story of immigrant hunger, insecurity, obsession with standards — and building something that blesses a city. Dan sits down with Nisha Katona — founder of Mowgli Street Food — the woman who turned authentic Indian home cooking into the first national Indian street food chain in Britain. Nisha breaks down why Mowgli was never meant to be a “curry house,” why Hindu home cooking avoids garlic and...
Mar 02, 2026•1 hr 33 min
Feb 26, 2026•8 min
This week on Hungry, the founders behind SULT — the electrolyte brand turning “unhinged luxury” into a cultural movement. From building a status-driven brand that people actually want to post on Instagram, to rewriting the rules of marketing in the age of TikTok and YouTube, this is a masterclass in modern brand-building. We get into why unpredictability creates obsession, why most brands overcomplicate business, and how SULT uses storytelling, sex appeal, humor, and world-building to stand out ...
Feb 23, 2026•2 hr 3 min
Most companies bet everything on one big launch. Doug Lamont thinks that’s how you kill growth. In this clip, the former CEO of Tony's Chocolonely and Innocent Drinks breaks down a radically different way to scale — one built on rolling innovation, layered bets, and removing fear from failure. Instead of over-researching, over-launching, and over-spending, Doug explains why the smartest brands: - test cheaply - back winners late - kill losers fast and never rely on a single “big idea” to carry t...
Feb 19, 2026•17 min
