- 1 week ago
Jon Spiteri, veteran London restaurateur, shares how more than 100 years of family hospitality shaped his approach at The Latimer. For Spiteri, taking care of people and telling your story are at the heart of hospitality.
Watch now to learn why taking care of people matters, how storytelling builds relationships and what 100 years of family hospitality can teach us.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
Watch now to learn why taking care of people matters, how storytelling builds relationships and what 100 years of family hospitality can teach us.
Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by:
• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI
• PepsiCo Foodservice: https://entm.ag/RIPepsico
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NewsTranscript
00:00When did you start in restaurants?
00:01Well, it's interesting.
00:02My parents, they came to England in 1957, the year I was born.
00:06Opened a guest house, a little guest house and snack bar.
00:10So we were in the hospitality business.
00:12Born into it.
00:13Born into it.
00:26Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:29I'm your host, Sean Walchuk.
00:31This is a Cali BBQ Media production coming to you from West London at the Latimer.
00:37I'm so excited for today's conversation.
00:39In life, in the restaurant business, and in the new creator economy,
00:43we learn through lessons and stories.
00:45Every business, especially restaurant businesses, are also family businesses.
00:50John Spiteri, John...
00:52Spiteri, please.
00:53Spiteri.
00:54John Spiteri.
00:56You are a legend in London.
00:59You have built so many lasting brands, memorable brands.
01:04I'm honored to be here, be welcomed by your son this morning,
01:08and now having you on the show.
01:10Thank you for your hospitality.
01:12Thank you for welcoming us.
01:13It's a pleasure.
01:14Absolute pleasure.
01:15It was so lovely meeting you yesterday.
01:17So we got to meet yesterday at the Customer Advisory Board, International Customer Advisory Board meeting.
01:22I led a presentation on storytelling, something that I'm very passionate about because of my grandfather.
01:28My grandfather, actually, the last time that I was in London was with him,
02:01and I was collecting materials for his book.
02:03You have all things across the road from us, and then you have houses, and I really like this area.
02:08It's a mixture, and that's what I love.
02:11We were offered this pub from a friend of ours who said he'd bought it, and he wanted us to
02:18come in here.
02:18And we've always been in the hospitality industry.
02:22Well, actually, if you tally it all up, it's over 100 years of hospitality.
02:26100 years of hospitality.
02:27Well, that makes me very old is the point.
02:31So we were interested in having a pub, especially nowadays because restaurants are very tricky.
02:39But we've all been in the restaurant business, and I actually ran pubs, and we thought, well, why not?
02:45And this opportunity came along.
02:46We've been looking, but it's quite difficult to find the right place.
02:50And this was, and we love the size.
02:53You know, one of my sons is a chef.
02:55He lives upstairs.
02:57The other son, who you met, is a manager, barman, in front of house.
03:02And my daughter is also involved, but she works somewhere else, but she's involved.
03:06And my ex-wife.
03:08Amazing.
03:08So it's amazing.
03:09So this is the first time the families come together on their own project.
03:13It's the first time we've all five of us have done something together.
03:16We've all worked in bits together at different times.
03:20But yeah.
03:21So bring me back to your beginning.
03:23When did you start in restaurants?
03:25Well, it's interesting because you talked about your grandfather.
03:28Yes.
03:28And I love that sort of thing.
03:30So my parents were Tunisian, North Africa.
03:33Okay.
03:33They came to England in 1957, the year I was born.
03:38And they, my father had worked for Vag on Lee.
03:41I don't know if you know Vag on Lee.
03:42You will.
03:43It's the train, sort of the catering on trains across Europe.
03:47Oh, wow.
03:47They were very smart back in the day, probably less smart now.
03:52And, well, maybe they're not.
03:54And he learned the hospitality business there.
03:58And then he opened a guest house, a little guest house and snack bar in Tunbridge Wells,
04:04which is a tiny sleepy town in Kent.
04:07Okay.
04:07And we all, my sister had been born and I was born that year.
04:13Yeah.
04:13And we lived above this guest house.
04:15We had 18 rooms.
04:16And so we were in the hospitality business.
04:18Born into it.
04:19Born into it.
04:20Not particularly liking it at that point, I have to say.
04:24But, you know, because surrounded by other people.
04:26Yep.
04:26Less of a family life, more of a social life.
04:29Taking care of other people's life.
04:30Yeah.
04:31But it was inbred.
04:33Really, it's in our bones, that whole thing about people and looking after people.
04:38And I still love that.
04:40I still get the thrill from that, really.
04:42So, yeah.
04:43When I first started, my grandfather, he was a medical doctor.
04:46He came to the United States.
04:47He invested in property.
04:48We opened up a restaurant.
04:50And on the weekends, I used to spend time with him playing sports and doing things until
04:55we opened up the restaurant.
04:56And then on the weekends, I was bussing tables and washing dishes.
04:59So, I was 13 years old, kind of forced into it.
05:02I never thought that I would here have a career owning my own restaurants and telling stories
05:07about restaurants.
05:09There's something magical about taking care of people and opening up places.
05:14Can you share?
05:15Absolutely.
05:16I mean, I think, and that's really funny, because the same with my children.
05:19I didn't think, I didn't push them into hospitality.
05:22You thought you'd push them away.
05:23Anywhere.
05:24I mean, at one point, I tried to leave this industry.
05:26I thought, I can't do this.
05:27I want to do film work or something.
05:30And it pulls you back in, as they say.
05:33You just can't leave.
05:34And they did the same.
05:36I was really surprised that they wanted to do this.
05:38And they all do.
05:40And anyway, sorry.
05:43You asked me what it is, the magic of it.
05:46It's just, every day is different.
05:49And we don't, it's funny.
05:50I've just done this podcast, and we talked about VAT, which is a big issue in this country
05:55at the moment.
05:55It's very high.
05:57It's a sales tax.
05:58It's 20%.
05:59Yeah.
06:00I learned about it yesterday with the Black Cactus gentleman, the run Black Cactus.
06:05And there's a big movement now to bring it down, reduce it to 10%, which would make a huge
06:12difference.
06:12And of course, you're going to get opposition from it, but 20 restaurants a week are closing
06:18down.
06:18Oh, wow.
06:19In England.
06:20It's just dreadful.
06:22Yes.
06:22Anyway, and my point is, you don't do this for money.
06:26Yeah.
06:26You can't.
06:27I mean, there are a lot easier jobs.
06:29There's much easier jobs.
06:30You don't work nights.
06:31You don't work weekends.
06:32Holidays.
06:33Yeah, pension.
06:34Yes.
06:34I mean, there's a ton of things you couldn't be doing.
06:37You don't because you love it.
06:38Yeah.
06:38And it's very difficult to do anything else once you've started.
06:41And I think that's what my family have found, that they love it.
06:45And what's interesting about a pub as opposed to a restaurant is that people come to a pub
06:49much more often.
06:50Yes.
06:50You'll have people that come twice, three times a week, and there's much more of a social
06:54aspect to it, whereas the restaurant is more formal.
06:57So people sit down, and so you don't get that interaction as much.
07:01But anything, anywhere where you can sit down and talk and eat is the perfect place to be,
07:08I think.
07:09Tell us about a pub, a proper pub, an English pub.
07:12Well, they're very, okay, so for a long time, they were just about drinking and not about
07:17eating.
07:18And you had, and they were smoky, and they were filled with men mostly.
07:22And it was sort of, that's what it was for a long, long time.
07:26And then, and I think there's been the demise of pubs.
07:28People drink less nowadays.
07:30And so, and people want better conditions.
07:34So, so they, they used to be quite dark and smoky places.
07:37Now they're light and airy.
07:39Women feel safe going into a pub now, which they probably didn't before.
07:44People eat well.
07:45It used to be sort of terrible food, but now you eat well.
07:48And what I love about it is that you can eat a very little bit.
07:52You can come in and have a half a pipe of beer and a packet of crisps, or a soft
07:57drink
07:57and a packet of crisps coffee.
07:59Or you can then work your way up to having maybe something more.
08:02Or we have burgers here that my son makes her fabulous.
08:05And then you can eat in the dining room.
08:07And so you can, you know, elevate your experience if you want.
08:10So there's a lot of things to do.
08:11You have choice.
08:12Yes.
08:13And it's also a place where locals come.
08:15I mean, we, because of social media, as much as we love it, and we do, it separates
08:21people in a lot of ways.
08:23You feel that you're close, but you're not really close.
08:25Whereas there's actually a pub is a place where people are in it together.
08:30And every night's different, as always.
08:34I mean, that's what keeps you alive, I think.
08:36For sure.
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09:55So yesterday, we were at the customer advisory board meeting for Toast.
09:58Toast is the title sponsor of this show.
10:01They believed in me.
10:02I brought Toast into my restaurants in 2020.
10:05I had an unboxing.
10:07It was me and my business partner.
10:08We unboxed the hardware.
10:10And we shared a video basically because we knew that other restaurant owners were thinking about technology,
10:16thinking about, you know, we were just in the pandemic.
10:19So we were thinking about takeout orders, lots of different things that we wanted to do.
10:23Toast gave us a huge opportunity to have this platform, to have conversations like this.
10:27Can you share a little bit about how did you learn about Toast?
10:31That's interesting.
10:33I think I started telling you earlier that people don't really like change.
10:37You know, you'll find that they...
10:39Humans don't like change.
10:39It doesn't matter where you are.
10:40Wherever you are.
10:41You choose a system that you use.
10:45You want to be loyal.
10:46Well, yeah, there's that.
10:48Yes.
10:48But also, you just don't want to go through that pain of change.
10:52Yes.
10:53And also, you just don't know what it's going to be like.
10:55But I still...
10:56I met...
10:57Sorry, I don't know how I actually met them.
10:58I think I met them through someone who worked for them.
11:01Okay.
11:01And I really enjoyed the way they spoke.
11:03And I really liked the fact that they were big in America.
11:07And, you know, they're changing.
11:10They're perfect for the moment.
11:12Yeah.
11:12But they're also looking to the future.
11:14Yes.
11:14And we always have to adapt.
11:15And I really liked the way they spoke.
11:18I love the fact that the advisory board, where they listen to what you have to say.
11:22Yeah.
11:22And they are learning as we all are.
11:25And our industry changes.
11:26You know, things that you didn't need before, you need now.
11:30And things like...
11:31What I really liked...
11:32I mean, I wanted to have it here, but it's not appropriate.
11:34But I love the kiosks.
11:36Yes.
11:36You know, the way that people behave in a kiosk, the way that people upsell.
11:40Yeah.
11:40You buy more.
11:41I buy more.
11:42I'll go to a burger place, and I don't really eat chips a lot.
11:46But then I think, oh, I might have chips.
11:48Yeah.
11:48And I'll press...
11:49I think maybe it's about pressing buttons.
11:50Yes.
11:51But there's something about you're not rushed, and you feel in control.
11:54There's a noodle bar that's just opened near me in Kentish Town, and they've also got kiosks now.
12:00And I just love that interaction between, you know, always the kitchen and you.
12:06A hundred percent.
12:06It's great.
12:07And I mean, we went for pudding last night.
12:09Pudding!
12:11We had some proper pudding, but we went, and there was a kiosk outside of a busy place,
12:17but it allowed them to have less staff.
12:19And for restaurants with tight margins, we understand why technology helps us run better businesses.
12:25You said something interesting.
12:26You said that you didn't think that you belonged in the room.
12:30Why is that?
12:32I think when there were people who had more restaurants, we did.
12:35And the thing is about us is that we change our menu all the time.
12:40Yes.
12:40So it's difficult to do, like, inventory in that way and costings and things.
12:46And so whereas a lot of the other people had chains, which they stuck with the same menu,
12:52which is fine.
12:53I understood that.
12:53And I, from both my daughter and I, because my daughter works at Coya, and she is operations,
13:00so she looks after three places.
13:02It was really interesting to see those controlled places.
13:06And the thing about restaurants is that we all, it's all very generous.
13:10You know, pop open, a bottle of champagne.
13:12Very generous.
13:12You know, here, have another plate for you.
13:13You wonder why the margins are small.
13:15There is that.
13:16And then what we have learned in time, we have a company that looks after our finances.
13:23Yes.
13:23And they are actually really close to them, and they're investors.
13:27Yes.
13:28They are partners in the restaurant.
13:30And they just keep control of those margins.
13:33And I talked a lot about this recently, is that staff, we adore staff.
13:38Yes.
13:38And staff is what makes the restaurant.
13:40When you're not here, they run your restaurant.
13:42They are, the connection between you and your customers, there's everything about it.
13:48And I want to, I want them to be with us on this journey for as long as they want.
13:54Yes.
13:54I want to support them if they want to go to another journey.
13:57I want them to grow with us.
13:59And it's so vital.
14:00But because the costs of wages and everything like that is just becoming so prohibitive,
14:06you have to be so careful about every hour you spend.
14:09So things like controls are absolutely necessary.
14:14And there's a lot of these things like the handhelds.
14:17Because we were all like, oh, no, you have to have bits of paper and pens.
14:21And actually, it's sort of crazy.
14:22It's crazy.
14:23Because no one can read, you're right.
14:24There's bits of paper flying all over the place.
14:26You think doctors have bad head writing.
14:28How about servers?
14:28Really?
14:29And server has to translate it to a cook.
14:31And we should be.
14:32And we wonder why the order's wrong.
14:33But I've got to say, I had a moment of joy the other day.
14:36A moment of toast joy, I have to say.
14:39We were doing a podcast for GoToFood.
14:42Yes.
14:42And my ex-wife and I were first.
14:45Okay.
14:46Because there were five of us.
14:48And then the kids were later.
14:50And I was listening to what they had to say.
14:52And at one point, my son, who's the chef, said,
14:56he's really loving the screens in the kitchen.
14:59The kitchen display screens.
15:01And I said, it warmed my eyes and cried.
15:04The time it took to say, to convince anyone.
15:08You know?
15:08I mean, there are difficult people in restaurants, but chef's quick.
15:12Chef's.
15:13The time has become the top of that difficult list.
15:15Yes.
15:15Yes.
15:15We know.
15:17We were, the biggest concern we had was our back of the house staff.
15:21Yeah.
15:21Was that, how are they going to react to not having tickets?
15:23Because in a busy restaurant, there's lots of tickets.
15:25But you have a process for how do you go through the tickets.
15:29So when you have a screen, people are like, well, I don't want a screen back there.
15:32But then you get it.
15:33And then all of a sudden, you realize, wait, we didn't lose the ticket.
15:37I mean, I was just so happy.
15:39Because I thought I was never going to win that one.
15:41Yeah.
15:42I just didn't think I was.
15:43I just think he would do it, but be grumpy about it.
15:46But actually, he loved it.
15:48And the other thing is, you know how it changes color?
15:51Yes.
15:52So when, after a certain amount of time, so it goes to yellow.
15:54And it makes them spin up.
15:56It makes them do.
15:57And it just, they react to it without having to go back to another piece of paper.
16:02I was just so pleased about that.
16:04And that's, like I say, the more technology they bring in, the more they're listening to what we have to
16:10say.
16:11And the more we need it.
16:13Yes.
16:13We will use it.
16:15And that relationship, it's so important.
16:18We have certain suppliers that we'll always use because we know them, we love them.
16:23And you're right, loyalty.
16:24But also because of what they do.
16:25Correct.
16:26And I don't want to have to look for another point of sale.
16:29Yes.
16:30If we have this relationship with Toast, they will grow, you know, they'll come along with our journey with us.
16:35100%.
16:36That's what I want.
16:36Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada, and UK?
16:44It's an incredible company.
16:45I'm on the Toast Customer Advisory Board.
16:47They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
16:50We couldn't do it without their support.
16:52They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
16:55If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your primary technology partner at
17:02your restaurants, please reach out to me.
17:04I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
17:07You can reach me at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
17:11Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling, the power of
17:17hospitality.
17:18Back to the show.
17:20So back to the voice in the room.
17:23You're in a room with a lot of more successful entrepreneurs.
17:27In your opinion, I would argue that your voice is crucial for a company like Toast or anyone serving restaurants
17:37to have voices of the independence of the people because not everyone gets a seat into that room.
17:43So you actually have a big responsibility to speak up on behalf of all of the vendors that might be
17:49in a market.
17:50You know, they might be a caterer, but they're using the technology and you're able to go out and speak
17:55on behalf of them.
17:56I think you're right.
17:56I think you're right in that way is that we lose ourselves with a mass of those big restaurants.
18:03I've spent my whole life, especially with Toast.
18:05I've been fortunate to be invited to them going public on the Wall Street X.
18:1020 restauranteurs, way more successful than we are, but we have the courage to speak up on behalf of the
18:16ones that don't get a voice typically.
18:18And it's important that little restaurants get the same help than the big ones do.
18:23Definitely.
18:24And it's funny, that argument about VAT is like, well, you know, just big chains are going to make more
18:28money.
18:29Well, you know, we're all in this together and everyone needs, we need to train people up, we need all
18:35of that stuff.
18:36And so, yes, they do listen to me.
18:38I just felt that was something that lots of people were speaking up and they were very good.
18:43I say, well, I'm really like what they say.
18:45I love what you say.
18:46I don't know anything.
18:47Well, I applaud you for being there and for having the perspective, but also the courage to go and take
18:56your time.
18:57Restauranteurs, we're busy.
18:58We don't have a lot of time, but going into rooms like that is really important for company, especially when
19:04it's not the things that they don't expect, because the critical moments are where they can actually build something powerful.
19:10Yeah.
19:11Especially at the rate of change of technology.
19:13Well, I just like the way they listen.
19:15Yes.
19:15And whoever listens to you, you know, I mean, you know, they look at you.
19:19It's refreshing from a restaurant.
19:21It's amazing.
19:22Somebody's listening.
19:23Yeah, really.
19:23And they've got, you know, they've got power to make change.
19:26Yeah.
19:27And, you know, and actually, I think they're great as a company in all ways.
19:33I love the way that we work with each other.
19:35And I just think it's so nice that.
19:37Tell me about some of the projects that you're proud of that you've been fortunate to be involved in.
19:43Well, I started a long time.
19:44I mean, I've got to say, a lot of the restaurants, I was very lucky.
19:50So I was a house, let's say, I worked in restaurants as a wager and a barman.
19:55I worked a bit on the floor.
19:57I worked for other people.
19:58And I loved all that.
19:59And I tried to do as much as I can.
20:01I even worked in the kitchen for a bit.
20:03And then I were a friend of, well, Fergus Henderson, who wanted, who opened St. John.
20:10But we knew each other.
20:11I knew him when he was much younger.
20:13And we wanted to do something.
20:15We had no money.
20:16And no one has any money.
20:18No one has the money.
20:19Someone has the money, but it's not me.
20:21And we were looking, but we found a friend of ours who had a pub in Soho.
20:29It's called the French House.
20:30It's a really great pub.
20:33It's a history, historic pub.
20:36Wonderful little pub.
20:37And they only serve, they serve half pints of beer, only no pints.
20:41They do one day a year, they do pints.
20:43Anyway, they have a little room upstairs, a dining room.
20:45It was tiny.
20:46It had a piano in it, had pictures in it.
20:48And she said, well, do you want to do something there?
20:52And Fergus and I, and Fergus had just met Margot.
20:55And Margot came along.
20:56And all three of us opened this little room, this restaurant, in a little room above this pub in Soho.
21:02And we thought we'd do it for three months.
21:04And we did it for years.
21:06And then my wife at the time, she came and joined Margot.
21:11And then Fergus and I went to open St. John.
21:13And, you know, the rest is history.
21:15And it just came, we had, my parents had been in a guest house.
21:18And we had old sheets as tablecloths.
21:22Because we literally spent no money at all.
21:24We had the uniforms, we got the sign made, and that was it.
21:26And we thought, let's try it out and see what happens.
21:29And it just went on.
21:30And there's now a lovely restaurant there above the French House pub,
21:34which is called the French House, I think.
21:36And it's Neil, Neil is a chef there, Neil Borthwick.
21:40And it's amazing.
21:40So, yeah.
21:41And then we did that.
21:42Then we went and worked in St. John.
21:44That went swimmingly.
21:45Then I left.
21:47I stopped drinking.
21:49My life changed.
21:5120 years.
21:51I haven't drunk now.
21:53And I went and did other things.
21:55I did some consultancy.
21:56I opened other restaurants.
21:58Opened Sessions Arts Club, which is a beautiful, another beautiful restaurant.
22:01I was part in that.
22:03Left there.
22:04I like change.
22:06Yes.
22:06And this is one that we're hopefully going to grow as a family.
22:12How do you build something that lasts?
22:15I think, you know, it's funny.
22:16We were talking about that the other day, is that we don't have a plan.
22:20You don't have a plan.
22:21No.
22:21It's about hospitality, isn't it?
22:23Yeah.
22:23And if you act from your heart, if you're not just craving financial success, because good luck with that one.
22:33And if you just do it and you're just honest about it, honest and straightforward, and understand, you know, you
22:40have to be flexible in this business.
22:43One minute, people will love me, and then vegetarians out there.
22:47You're like, what?
22:48I mean, you know, I remember at one point I helped with this no-meat burger thing, and I thought
22:55that was going to be the huge thing.
22:56It just wasn't.
22:57It just wasn't.
22:58Yeah.
22:58And so we're all changing up.
23:01We're looking at how we live our lives in terms of our health, you know, so we're always having to
23:05adapt.
23:06Like, my sons don't drink.
23:07I don't drink.
23:08I don't drink.
23:09And you don't drink either?
23:10I was a professional drinker, so I retired.
23:13Really?
23:14Well, I'm glad we didn't meet in that situation.
23:17Yeah, me too.
23:18No, I mean, that's been life-changing.
23:21And I stopped at 46, and you stopped way younger.
23:25But I thought I couldn't live without it.
23:28Yeah.
23:28And everything else that went alongside it.
23:30Yeah.
23:30And I have...
23:32It's more fun.
23:33More beautiful.
23:34It's so wonderful.
23:36Nothing more I love than helping other people along this journey.
23:39And there are a lot of us in this industry, I don't know why, that need it.
23:43And it's just fantastic.
23:45So, yeah.
23:46Do other restauranteurs come in and seek advice from you?
23:49They have.
23:49And what advice do you give?
23:50If someone that's watching this, listening to this now...
23:53Anyone that's watching, listening to me, DM me.
23:56I'll help you.
23:56That's amazing.
23:57Without a doubt.
23:58Because, you know, helping someone else helps me.
24:00I'm sure you know that.
24:01Yes.
24:02And I think there's very simple things to do.
24:04What are the things that you teach your team now?
24:08Like, what do you want to...
24:09The next generation of people, of restauranteurs, what do you want them to know?
24:13What I've heard so often is, leave your problems at the door.
24:17And I say the absolute opposite.
24:19Bring your problems to work and let's see if between us we can sort them out.
24:23Ah.
24:24And I just think...
24:24I love that.
24:25Well, I think that, you know, this isn't...
24:27You can't...
24:27If something terrible's going on at home, you know, good luck if you can leave it at the door.
24:33You know, you just can't.
24:34And it just affects the way you work, affects the way you think.
24:36And we don't need that.
24:39We don't need that.
24:39We've done that forever.
24:41And also, you know, I hit so many problems before.
24:44Yes.
24:45And now I expose all the problems and the way, you know, shine the light on a problem, it disappears
24:51really.
24:52And so we share it all.
24:53And we've all been there.
24:55Yes.
24:55And anything in terms of alcoholism or drug addiction or any of those sorts of things, it's the same thing
25:03for everyone.
25:04You know, the story's slightly different.
25:07It's a global story.
25:08It's a global story.
25:09Well, yeah, it absolutely is.
25:11And the people I've met through that have been the most amazing people.
25:16Yes.
25:17And just extraordinary.
25:18And the way that I can, you know, I can share everything I can with these people, it's life-changing.
25:24So you and your daughter yesterday said that you were thinking differently about storytelling.
25:30Can you share a little bit about...
25:31Well, I mean, so we have an Instagram account.
25:36And I love the way that you said things like LinkedIn and YouTube and all of that stuff.
25:40And because in a way, maybe it's a British thing, you know, you have to be very careful about what
25:45you show.
25:46Oh, really?
25:46Is that a British thing?
25:48I don't know.
25:49And you don't think it's changed at all?
25:50I think I had to hear it from you.
25:53We were both of us.
25:54So we were enthused about a lot of things we heard yesterday, but we were both magically...
25:59All the notes were about you.
26:01Oh, thank you.
26:01But honestly, because it was shameless.
26:04It was like, go out there and say...
26:05We are who you are.
26:06You are who you are.
26:07And I wanted what we said.
26:08I want to include our staff and all of that.
26:11And I don't have...
26:13I don't want people to say what they...
26:15What we think.
26:16Yes.
26:16We want them to say what they think.
26:17What they think.
26:18Because...
26:19Who cares what we think?
26:20It doesn't matter.
26:21I'm bored with what I think.
26:23It's what I think, too.
26:24I know.
26:25But, you know, I just...
26:26And I loved it.
26:27And I loved it that...
26:28Like you said, we would just get one person.
26:30Hi.
26:31Hello.
26:32Hello.
26:32I'm going to order some burgers at me.
26:33Excellent idea.
26:34Welcome.
26:35Welcome.
26:38Well, as I...
26:40Everyone thinks differently about things.
26:42Yes.
26:43People want different things.
26:44And I love...
26:45What you said yesterday, that's what it was.
26:46You said, if you just get one person that comes in.
26:49Just one.
26:50That's fine.
26:51One.
26:51And that conversation...
26:54Because people forget.
26:55And it's funny.
26:56We had a PR...
26:57My boys had a PR company looking after their last restaurant.
27:02And then, of course, due to finances or whatever, they stopped it.
27:06Very expensive.
27:07And it just went down.
27:08You know, and you have...
27:09It's part and parcel.
27:11When we opened St. John, we would never have had a PR company.
27:14Well, that was 30 years ago.
27:16It's not like that anymore.
27:17You have to be on there.
27:18And you have to be relevant.
27:20And you have to be honest.
27:22And you have to be straightforward.
27:23Transparent.
27:24I love that.
27:25Well, I mean, the beautiful thing is...
27:27And this is no shame to PR companies, because there are some incredible PR companies.
27:31But it's public relations.
27:33We are in the public relations business.
27:35And we no longer need to ask for permission or spend money.
27:38We have everything that we need in our pocket.
27:41Yeah, exactly.
27:41In our pocket, we have YouTube.
27:43We can connect with anyone across the world.
27:45I mean, there's people that come to our restaurant that literally, from the other side of the world...
27:50I know.
27:50And that wasn't the intention of starting the podcast.
27:53Well, let's see...
27:54That wasn't the intention of starting the YouTube channel.
27:56It was just to share.
27:57Yeah.
27:57It was to share and connect with other restaurant owners.
27:59But now, we have a community of people.
28:01I met 15 people yesterday at the Outer Net.
28:04People that I've never met in real life, but they've interacted on LinkedIn, on Instagram, on Facebook, on TikTok.
28:09They listen to the podcast.
28:11And they're either restauranteurs or they're running technology companies.
28:15And they've become close friends.
28:17Completely.
28:18Completely.
28:18And the other thing is, you don't know who your customers are.
28:21No.
28:22You open this restaurant, you think, oh, all these people are going to come.
28:25When I opened my restaurant, I thought all my friends would come.
28:27They don't come.
28:27I don't know.
28:28They're useless.
28:29Useless.
28:30Useless.
28:31I agree.
28:31You guys hear that?
28:32They came maybe once for the free meal.
28:34For the free meal.
28:35I'm not saying a word.
28:36For the soft opening.
28:38But that's it.
28:39But also, you need to engage with those.
28:42You need to understand why they come and what it is they like.
28:45And, you know, develop your business because of your cocktail.
28:49You know, and we opened in Soho and we thought all those Soho people would come to St. John.
28:55And they didn't.
28:56And the West London people, they don't travel out of West London.
28:59So you just have to, yeah, learn from your customers.
29:03And that's, yeah, no, completely.
29:04And I think talking, not being afraid to say something and letting people interact with you about stuff.
29:11It's okay for people to not like you.
29:14It's okay.
29:14I've learned that.
29:15It's totally okay.
29:17Yeah.
29:17I mean, you speak your truth and then you connect with the people that matter.
29:20I think that's.
29:21It's interesting.
29:22When we were talking about this VAT last night, Rav Gill, who's an amazing pastry chef and restaurateur,
29:28she opened a restaurant in Chingford in Essex and, you know, she serves really delicious meat
29:34and it costs a lot of money because meat, well looked after meat, costs money.
29:40And, but then you can go to a butcher and buy pretty horrible meat for a lot less.
29:45And she, and people are complaining about the prices and things.
29:48And she got 40 customers to come in.
29:50And her to explain the economics of a business, you know, and it's just because people don't know.
29:57They don't understand.
29:57They think restaurateurs are swanning around in Rolls Royces.
30:00It's just not like that.
30:0246, National Restaurant Association in the United States, 46% do not make any money.
30:0746% of operating restaurants lose money.
30:09Yeah.
30:09And the average of the ones that are making money, the average profit margin is 2.8%.
30:14Yeah.
30:15Don't tell me that.
30:17That's America.
30:18It's different here.
30:19It's different here.
30:19We make a lot more money.
30:21We make a lot more money.
30:22No, but you're right.
30:23You said, but it isn't like that.
30:24And we, we can't, we don't even look at it.
30:26Correct.
30:27It's just about if we can go day by day, week by week, grow.
30:30Everyone learns, everyone has fun.
30:33Has fun.
30:33Enjoy it.
30:34Are you having more fun now?
30:36I'm so much more fun than I was like 25 years ago.
30:39Oh yeah.
30:40Hell of a lot more.
30:41I want to live now.
30:42Yeah.
30:42I didn't want to live before.
30:43And I want to see, I want to do more of these.
30:47You think so?
30:47There's going to be more, more, more Latimers or a different concept?
30:51More pubs.
30:52Have you ever opened two of the same concept?
30:55No.
30:56Would you ever?
30:58I haven't.
30:59Would I ever?
31:00No, because I think buildings lend themselves to different things.
31:04Areas lend themselves to different things.
31:06And also there are lots of great little things that I like.
31:08I was in a, I was in a noodle bar that's opened in, in Kentish Town the other day.
31:12And they had kiosks.
31:13Yes.
31:14And I loved it.
31:14It was just like one guy behind the counter.
31:16These two kiosks, you ordered, you got your tray, you sat down, you ate it.
31:20You're in and out in 15 minutes.
31:22Yes.
31:22And it costs 15 pounds of the Coke.
31:24I thought, fabulous.
31:25That's what I want.
31:26Oh wow.
31:26That's amazing.
31:27It's when you just, it's at the edge of all, very clean and neat and, you know, it's just,
31:31so there's lots of different things I'd like to do.
31:33Definitely.
31:34Amazing.
31:35Yeah.
31:35Well, we appreciate you taking the time.
31:37What should we eat today?
31:38You should eat everything.
31:40Everything.
31:40You should certainly eat the pork skewers.
31:42Pork skewers.
31:42Pork skewers.
31:43Okay.
31:43Wonderful.
31:44Amazing.
31:45We're going to enjoy the pork skewers.
31:46If you guys are watching, if you're listening, what's the best place for people to keep in touch
31:50with you?
31:50On Instagram.
31:51On Instagram.
31:52Hopefully soon on YouTube.
31:53On LinkedIn.
31:54On YouTube.
31:55On TikTok.
31:56On all the platforms.
31:57On Reddit.
31:57On Reddit.
31:58Yes.
31:58The blog.
31:59All of it.
32:00Definitely.
32:01Do keep in touch.
32:02If you want to keep in touch, please.
32:04I love the interaction.
32:05100%.
32:05We'll put links.
32:06If you guys want to keep in touch with me, I'm weirdly available at Sean P. Walchef.
32:11Instagram, LinkedIn, those are the fastest, but TikTok, all the platforms, we are grateful
32:15that you're listening to the show.
32:17Please come to the Latimer.
32:18Let them know that you listened to the show.
32:20Let them know that you came here.
32:22Wherever you are on the earth, the further away that you come, even better, because then you've
32:25got a great story.
32:27As always, stay curious, get involved, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
32:31We appreciate it, John.
32:32Thank you so much.
32:33Absolute pleasure.
32:40Thank you for listening.
32:41If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
32:44You're part of the tribe.
32:44We can't do this alone.
32:46We started.
32:46No one was listening.
32:47Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
32:51Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
32:56It's a Substack newsletter.
32:57It's free.
32:58It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
33:01Also, go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
33:05Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
33:07We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
33:09Hopefully, you guys like that content.
33:11If you want to work with us, go to etheshow.media.
33:14We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
33:18We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
33:22You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
33:25I'm weirdly available.
33:27Stay curious.
33:28Get involved.
33:28Don't be afraid to ask for help.
33:30We'll catch you next episode.
33:31Bye-bye.
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