Paulo de Tarso | Scott’s, Margot and Bar Boulud

Some people run restaurants.
Others define service.

Paulo de Tarso has spent his career focused on the craft of hospitality itself.

From The Wolseley and Scott’s to opening Bar Boulud London under Daniel Boulud, his reputation has been built on standards, warmth and front-of-house excellence at the very highest level.

Later, as founder of Margot in Covent Garden and as a TEDx speaker, he brought those ideas into something of his own — shaping not just restaurants, but conversations around hospitality and human connection.

This conversation is about service.

Not as performance —
but as connection.

And why guests remember how a place made them feel long after they’ve forgotten what they ate.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Go. So we are recording. We're here with Paolo and Antoine. This is episode number nine.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

No we no, I think it's eight then. Wrong.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

But anyway, let's get ourselves begun.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Over to you, Antoine. Welcome to No Reservation. I'm Antoine Melon and I'm here with Gideon Lasque, as they say in France. I spend my career inside hospitality building on running restaurants and hotels, working alongside the people who carry the pressure when the room is full. Gideon approaches it from the other side as someone who spends a huge amount of time in dining rooms and hotels and notices when things feel effortless and when they don't. The podcast is about the people who make hospitality work. The operators, the managers, the teams who all stand out when things are moving quickly. Each episode moves from beginnings to turning points to the moments that test judgment. And today we're joined by someone who understands exactly what it takes. Gideon, over to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Merci, my friend. But first, yet another town. You're looking considerably less pasty than when I last saw you. Where have you been? Let me have a guess. I was at the Valvea Beach pub.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Yeah, it was work. There are other places on the planet for you to go. I know about great client. I will tell you later in my highlight about my weekend of Marbia Club.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

I'm excited. It was raining here yesterday. Hooring. Oh, I'm so sorry. Pale. I need to get the heck out of London. But anyway, to our guest, far more importantly. So, some people run restaurants. Some people to find service. Today we are joined by someone who's built a career around the craft of hospitality itself. Paolo Di Tasso is a restaurateur and Maitre D, a figure synonymous with front of house excellence in London and indeed around the world. Paolo began working in restaurants at 16 years old in New York City, before later moving into LA, learning the industry from the ground up, service by service, shift by shift. He arrived in London in the early 2000s and began building his reputation at the Wolseley, followed by three years at Scots and Mayfair, one of the great dining rooms in the city. From there, he went on to open Bar Belude London under Daniel Belud, a mentor who shaped both his standards and his philosophy, and I look forward to hearing more about shortly. During his time there, the team won more than 29 awards. Paolo, 29 awards. Alongside that, Paolo completed the senior management development program with Mandarin Oriental, deepening not just his understanding of service, but of leadership. In 2016, he launched Margot in Convent Garden, one of my faves, an acclaimed Italian restaurant where he was a director and co-proprietor. But beyond the accolades and the openings, Paolo's known for something else: warmth, precision, belief that service is not performance, but connection. Paolo, a very warm welcome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

So excited to be here. I think, you know, I'm really excited to do this. It's really important. The connection and uh the podcast and congratulations, number nine.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

I'm number nine. Number nine, mate.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Magic number nine. We get a lot of cool cats into uh the room.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Look at this man. Fowling as if it fucking po you're getting for you're too kind. More damp on hers, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

I love this. It was so brilliant. I love how you did it. Um listen, before we go anywhere else, how did you guys first cross paths?

SPEAKER_04 3:20

When when and how? Um, from what I remember, it's one called me for a project. And well, we I knew of it one for a long time. We have very much a lot of friends, and and I, you know, I knew what you achieved and what you've done, and and I think that's what it was, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Yeah, I think we follow each other career. When you were at Mandarina, and obviously I was director for the budget in Hong Kong at the same time. I worked a little bit with Danielle, which I want to hear more from your story with him. And yeah, and then I think one day I had some interesting project I thought you would be a a great fit. And I called you on that.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Yeah, we had a great conversation. I remember exactly where I was. That's funny. Yeah. Where were you? How was the guys? I was at home in the long ago, maybe two or three years. Two or three years ago, yeah. Okay, so it's a new French.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I knew of each other for a long time, and then just kind of, you know, a couple of years ago we got two know each other.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Did you go to Margot?

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yes. You did? You had a foot restaurant. Oh nice. Oh, good. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

It feels like everybody knows everybody in hospital.

SPEAKER_04 4:32

It it's it's it's very much like Hollywood. And that's why Hollywood is so powerful, because you you'd be filming a film, and the nephew of so-and-so a director, is the cameraman, and someone that works on a cleaning department, everybody knows each other. I think hospitality is a really small world.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

And how does that work? Is it because there's lots of cross-pollination? Someone you've worked with at a restaurant goes to a hotel to work with someone else. And is is that how it happens? Is there cross-pollination?

SPEAKER_04 4:56

There is. I mean, i I mean, there there's, you know, there there's there's there was a time, there was a lot of poaching, which we didn't like. Remember that? I mean, I think for me it happened in 2010, especially when you train people really well, you know, and I think that happened a lot in our business. But it won it once when you ask permission, I think it's fine, but if you don't, but uh yeah, people, especially in as a hotelier, because hotelier, you know, part of your development is you you you get sent to different countries in order to become a GM and in order to grow and develop and become the next executive level. And I think people move a lot. I mean, I I I in six years at at Barbaloo, I promoted more people in men's or no rental hotels than anybody else. And it was great because when you when you you know it's nice when you're when you work for a big company and you're able to promote within, because a lot of people are hungry. Remember the years we were hungry, you want to develop. So it's nice that you're able to give to someone else instead of them just leaving you.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

An impossible question. How long should someone stay within a role in hospitality?

SPEAKER_04 6:00

Really good question. I'm very loyal. I'm a Leo and I'm loyal by nature. I'm a Leo with a Yeah, and I I I I I could have left Danielle Bulu. I my 2010 we opened May 16, to May 10, 2010. I mean, in two, three years of or two years of Jew and Barbaloo, I was getting poached everywhere. And I really big moves. But I decided to stay loyal to Danielle. I think I a few years. I mean, now it's so short, but I think people people make side moves. You know this better than anybody else. So so my message to the young people out there is don't make side moves, stay loyal because your salary salary can increase dramatically. And what you learn from being loyal to a company, still people in these days, they for an extra 10 grand, which is nothing, they will make side moves and they keep doing that. And and those people would never end up anywhere. You stay loyal for a company. You know, I was with Danielle, he had 14, 15 restaurants, he's got 35 now. So imagine if you stay loyal to him where you could have been in that. Incredible.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

How do you know when you're stuck then? Uh so if you've been in a so I love the loyalty thing, I I preached that as well. Um, if you're in a role and you haven't been offered the opportunity within your organization, when is the time to go? If you've been there for two years, five years, 10 years is too long.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

So uh after two, three years, you you you need to start asking questions. But I think, you know, from from from approaching that company in the beginning of your career, you should have already known that, right? Where's this company going? What's the direction from your first interview for your first meeting is is growth? Where how where can I go? And if there's none at the time, you're two, three years, you've got to start asking those questions. And if the promotion is not coming in and you haven't those questions, can we create a promotion for me or can I do something else? And if it's not there, then you've got to look for somewhere else to go.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

I say two, three years. Two, three years. Yeah, part, totally agree. Yeah. Part of your world, right, is you're like the honeybee of the hospitality world, kind of seeing talent over there that maybe has outgrown a place and moving it somewhere else. Do you risk pissing people off when you do that, like the bosses and the owners?

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Um, or is it just an established part of the world and if someone leaves your first you wish it's confidential, so usually the owners don't know how that person got the the role. Um obviously, if it's one of my clients, I would never approach some of his staff and uh move to and over of my client for sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Um this kind of these So if you want to protect, you would say we have to become a client of and find hell on.

SPEAKER_04 8:37

But at the same time, let me let me let me give you a scenario, right? So this guy, the Edson, is gonna move somewhere. Just got married, uh, and he's about to have a family.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:49

He's gonna increase his salary by a certain amount, he's gonna put him in a place in a position where he can grow and develop, right? So in a way he's doing someone good.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

Yeah, and often when I look at who I approach, as people that I know kind of they reach their peak in the role they are, and it's time for them to move, but maybe the company where they are cannot offer that next move. So it's helping them to uh avoid those sideways moves that Paolo warned us about. Oh, I want to I've got a question for Paolo, because of course Daniel Bulli is coming back to London.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Are you gonna be involved?

SPEAKER_01 9:22

I'm not sure. We think you should be.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Yeah, I know. Holy he's opening at the World of Astoria with Guy Oman, probably will be one of our guests, hopefully, in the future.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Oh no, when is that hotel opening? This year. This year, at some point.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

You know, it's the arches.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

I was gonna say, how much has been spent on it? It's oh looks, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

That's been under renovation for like four or five years, I think. Forever. It's been a long, long time. And I'm not quite sure when its opening should be quite. You've got Daniel Boulou coming back from New York, French from Lyon.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

And then you've got Claire Smith, who's got three Michelin Star in Nottinghale, also opening a restaurant there.

SPEAKER_04 10:01

Great combination. You know, I think a lot of people were extremely sad when Barbew, Daniel Boulou left Manzuran Ran. So I think that I think that was a big mistake. I mean, a really big mistake. Why? I I uh Was it Daniel's decision? I couldn't I I couldn't say, you know, probably in the contract. I don't know what the decision came from, but for me, I mean Daniel was incredible.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

I thought the look I didn't pre- I didn't like so much the location because it was a egg. You could see it was an ex-banqueting room converted into a restaurant. So not much light, low ceiling. But in terms of concept on food, it was amazing.

SPEAKER_04 10:33

But that's a that that's that's a great point if you if you really think about it, right? So it was a basement that nobody used. I remember our first review was Faye Mashless saying it's a basement. It's not really a basement because it's ground level, low ceilings completely. And and and then you have dinner by Hassan upstairs facing the park. But you know, we did a thousand covers a day. That place at everybody you can think of in in Hollywood was there all the time. And and and it was, you know, you think about it, you can for value for money, you can get a a Frogwa burger and and and a glass of wine for almost nothing. And so so we create what we create that with that room, and imagine if we had the dinner by Haston. People often tell me that. Can you imagine if you had it still be there?

SPEAKER_02 11:18

I think that restaurant could have been closing dinner by announced two weeks ago.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

And uh what's happening in that room, do we know? Not quite sure yet. Well, Mondarin had a time where they were bringing always the best chef around the world to do their restaurant, which I'm not a big fan of automatically. I think you need to also create your own concepts which are more embedded with the uh local community. Um, but it sounds like now they're changing. I don't know who they haven't announced who's gonna come.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

No, and yeah, also I think upcoming chefs, I think we're we're forgetting it's it's always the user suspects going from place to place. I think we need to you know work and focus on on upcoming pro you know, there's a lot of great upcoming chefs.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

So I've got some gossip. Hi. How about Daniel Bolup? First, he's from Lyon and he's a he's a star and amazing guy, and I I had a chance to meet him when he was starting the project. He came in Hong Kong to see our flagship, and such a nice personality. But one day, when I had four restaurants in Madrid, one of them was uh a meat restaurant called Estique E-S-T-I-K. And to kind of make some noise about it, I created the most expensive we created with a chef and my partner, the most expensive hamburger in the world. So I looked which one was the most expensive was Daniel Boleu in New York, which was a patty with Fuagua on Black Truffle. But ours was with Kobe beef, so wow. So we were like 85 euros. I'm talking about like 12 years ago. So amazing, we get like a great press. I applied to be in the Guinness record book. But one day I had uh an interview on the radio in Barcelona uh with Daniel Bolie and I. Funny, too. One in Madrid, one in New York, both French from Lyon. Um, and he's like, Well, his burger is not a burger because the meat is not meat. I say, well, I like to eat a burger. Originally was a steak data, flip on uh pan fried and eat in uh between two pieces of bread. And he was created in Hamburg, Germany, so uh ours was also a burger. Anyway, in order to avoid for us to come in the to be the most expensive, he did a double deck, so he doubled his price.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

And is he in the Guinness Book of Records? Which one was better in your opinion?

SPEAKER_02 13:42

They were very different. I mean his was extremely rich. I've tried it in in New York.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Ours was obviously uh very different, but um both very very good. Can I ask, can we go back to the Waldorf Astoria for a minute? I was just traveled back through London today and I was thinking about kind of the the footprint of London and where where movement was happening. And obviously you had the the OO Raffles open up what three years ago now? Huge investment. Waldorf Astoria These are very non-traditional areas for high-end luxury. Simpson's on the strand. So is there a movement to this part of London? That is the best question.

SPEAKER_04 14:23

I try. I try I know I I I really, I really listen. It's I remember when they were building Corinthians, okay? And I know the people that built it, and I think that area they Corinthians, let's start it back then. Example, they had to lower their room rates, okay. Raffle, you know, with all the protests and everything that happens there, that's not necessarily a place where you want to be. And I will go back, you know, people hate me for this, but look at Rosewood. Yeah, okay. If you yes, so so now, you know, let's think as an American or as a Chinese or or or any someone that that's visiting London, right? If you're staying in Mayfair in that part of the world, you can literally think about it. Not even take a cab, or maybe perhaps the only time you're gonna take a cab, Americans, they're gonna go shopping, they're gonna go self-ridges, you make a left. They're gonna go either Scots, they're gonna go down the Mayfair, they're gonna go everywhere, they're gonna walk around. The only time they're gonna take a cab is to go to Coven Garden to watch a play. And that's all the things that they do. So don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the area, but there's a lot going on in the area. So I I find I find interesting, you know, you think about it. I mean, you know, I think the world doesn't need any more hotels and restaurants, but we have the peninsula coming in, we got the rosewood coming in. It's it's a lot going on. So I think that's a really I I can't wait to see what's gonna happen there because you know it there's a lot of it's definitely it's off pitch.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Is that why these hotels are investing in signature restaurants? Because you mentioned the new Rosewood there, and obviously they've got some very big name chefs in there. If you are opening a hotel that's not in Mayfair, are you needing to do that?

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Well, there's always a bit in Europe, it's a restaurant in hotels is more like an amenities. You need to have it because you need obviously to have breakfast, you need to offer food on a bit of choice for the customer, you know, also to justify your rate. But is FNB profitable? Not often, actually, unfortunately. Banqueting, yes, but restaurant now, they struggle. And when they bring big chefs, obviously there's a huge cost to it. So it's it's a lot of PR exercise. Um, but I think the Rosewood took a lot of risk by doing 10 restaurants. I was actually with the managing director this week for dinner, Michael, and my God, he was like, I'm full this week. Uh it's only sweets. They got an average room rate of £1,500. I mean, well done, guys. It's amazing. It's nearly the double of what London uh five-star hotels are.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

Um so Yeah, you you nailed that spot on. But also, I mean, you gotta you you gotta take the hat off, right? So you gotta just think the three of us are coming from New York. We're staying in a mentor in Oriental, right? So, so we we we we kind of want to just have a burger, some, some, some steak and frites, you know. So we will go to Barbaloo, for example, right? And then you have some important meetings with some major clients from from Lend Rover that you want to entertain. Yes, you go jitter by Haston. It's a rainy day. So you kind of want to have those chefs that you can you can literally the goal is to have uh your guests stay in a hotel where your wife is doing the the the spa, and you never leave, right? So that's always a hotelier concept of of generating, you know, that so so that's why they I I think what Mandarin has done in terms of chefs and and I mean think about it. Before we came into Barbaw 2010, you got a incredible chef from Lyon that nobody knew who he was, because he's not famous here. He's famous in America, he's huge in America, right? So he's got 35 hotels. Nobody really knew. Then you have a gentleman that owns Fat Ducks, one of the best chefs in the United Kingdom at that time. So as a client, and and having the spa and facing the park, you you can go to Buckingham Palace. As a client, if you take off the hat, there's a lot of options for you.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

So I think that's that's what they're trying to create. In these high-end hotels, what makes you more money? A high-end spa or a high-end restaurant? Bedrooms. No, I'm that's not that's not my choice. And I know the bedrooms, but the other two. Because you get you obviously there've been some new openings. Is it one and only that's just opened with the hot very um no six senses with the amazing spa, which clearly they've invested a huge amount of money in.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, actually, in terms of percentage of Ibipta, the spa is more profitable than for the moment. Really? Yeah, I've got less staff. You need what? You need receptionists and you need therapists. Whereas F and B, you need chefs, porters, waiters, managers, battenders, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

But also when, you know, you if you hit it right, like we did at Barbaloo, when you do an 800 to a thousand covers a day, that's a different story, right? So, and also, you know, it's I mean, I wish restaurants, you know, rooms, it's all about rooms. Can you imagine if I sell a steak in January for 72 pounds in November or September, that steak is 250 pounds, right? People will be going, whoa, what happened in here, right? So he's his spot on, is rooms, and what you know, places like Rosewood has, the rooms are large, and that's what people want.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

You know, so right. Let's pause from our five-star hotels and three-star restaurants for a minute and go way back, Paolo. Before the career. What's your very earliest memory of hospitality, be that be a hotel or a dining room or a dish you ate?

SPEAKER_04 19:49

I I have two little stories there. I think in my family, I was the youngest out of six, and I had an incredible single mother who cooked every single day. And so our our lunch, our dinners at home, getting together the whole family, everybody had a job. My job was to make freshly squeezed orange juice, my sisters was to make the salad, everybody had a job. And when we all sat down on the table, it was just great. You know, I I probably didn't speak much back then because I was the youngest. But um, but uh, but I just watching everybody breaking bread and talking about school and talking about their day at work and what happened, it was just such a great thing that I don't think I appreciated until I left. And then every Sunday we had to get ready to go out to eat in an Italian restaurant. And uh I I it was just something to look forward to. And it was just breaking bread and and being with your family, and we all dressed up, and I remember my hair had to be slick back, and I I had to be really dressed. Those memories were the best. Memories are on the table. You're on the table. I I call it breaking bread. I think it's a spiritual journey. The same way the three of us are here sitting here together today. There's no coincidence in life.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Golden stories. I love those. Was there a point where you thought, this is so me defining that I need to spend my career in?

SPEAKER_04 21:19

No, no, not at all. So how did how did that? So the the way it happened, it was it was literally by accident. It was a a friend of mine, a friend of my family, Francisco Silva, who was a famous architect in Brazil. He was fed up with the with the his industry and he was moving to New York to open a coffee shop with a friend who was half Brazilian, half American. And uh one day I asked him, uh, can I come? And he said he said yes. Um, but he was joking. But I took it very seriously and I told my family, I'm going. I went and I got a visa, I did uh the whole thing, and and uh he ended up taking me uh to New York. You left Brazil, so I left the Brazil I was uh I yeah, I was fifteen, turning sixteen. And I was, I went with him and I wanted the experience. And we went. And we got there and and it was serious. We, you know, so I I learned how to look for location. I I I saw him dealing a landlord deal. I uh, you know, it was a coffee shop. And and and and it was really young. And but I I I was like a sponge. And I so so to answer the question, when we built that and we we opened in Brooklyn, you know, one guy's 15 years old, the other one is 30, completely different frame of mind, or or you know, and but I I learned everything. And and and and to, you know, I what I fell in love with, one was built, and people start coming in, and I saw someone having a coffee for the first time and eating our croissant, I was fascinated.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

What a pivotal moment, which we're gonna talk more about in a minute. But before we do, highlights and lowlights, please. Your hospitality we Antoine, you look very excited.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

I've got plenty. Oh no!

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Okay, let's go. All right. Today later, I'm going to the launch of a new rum by the Rolling Stones. So maybe Mick Tager or Kifritel will be there. It's called Crossfire by my friend Vincent Gillet. Uh, and it's created by, as I say, the Rolling Stones when they moved to uh Jamaica for a few months. Uh, so an amazing story on a beautiful bottle. That's one. I've got a second one, Marbella Club. Uh, last week I was there to do uh relaunch of the uh beach club, which is the oldest beach club in Spain created by Don Alfonso in 1958 with a swimming pool on the beach. Very uh amazing place. And um I did a training about EQ, which is uh I always like to do it, which I try to teach people that nowadays in hospitality is not about how smart you are if you went to hotel school, but it's more how you make people feel an emotion, something. And I was it was actually the the people from uh that work in a grill and then they go to the beach club after the breakfast to work there for lunch, and they've been there in hotel for a very long time. So they're a bit old school, like super pro guys. But I could feel the resistance, like what is he talking about? EQ and feeling on heart and so on. But I got through at the end and I could feel the emotions when I asked them about their story, like your amazing story. And when people realize that the passion and what makes them work in hospitality and why they work in this hotel, um, and you hear your friends telling that, and actually you don't actually automatically know because you don't sometimes ask those questions when you to your colleagues on where you're coming from, why you choose hospitality and so on. And the story that came out was so touchy that I think everyone felt the connection and the emotions in the room. And so I was very uh very happy. Highlights. Are you crying? I was during during the training at one point I was definitely uh and then the uh low light was British Airways. We talk about it a bit. I mean, why food nowadays is so bad in airplanes, and the only thing they offer you free of charge is like sugar and uh like all the things that are not healthy that you shouldn't hit. And uh and then if you pay, you have what maybe like preta manger style sandwiches, which is I'm sorry, but we can do better. We are like we always try to uh to get better in hospitality, but it sounds like hospitality in airplanes has gone worse from the 70s where you used to be glamour and amazing, and now it's kind of like it's a margin dame, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 25:47

As we spoke about Heston Blumenthal earlier. Do you remember when he did the BA menu? Did he? Yeah, they did a collab. Yeah, but it was not an economy, it was probably first class only. Oh, you were traveling in an economy where you're in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:02

Um look, highlights is legado. You know, I uh Nieves Barragon is uh a good friend of mine. And uh I I my office is um that I share, it's in on Madoc Street, so I uh I'm often a mar uh at uh sabor. But legado, I just I love what she's accomplished there. I love the food, and uh it's uh I've been raving about it too. Everybody I see, yeah, you have to go. Um I I love her food and I I love I love everything about it.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Also is great. She did. It's beautiful. It's like a theater. You what you're just like watching all night the chef moving on it's it's it's great, and also the the area.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

I don't go to the area often. It's nice to have more options there. So I I love that. All right.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Any low lights for you?

SPEAKER_04 26:48

Yeah, I um I think you've spoken about this before, but I am getting frustrated with the pricing, the price of coffee. Uh I was charged $540 for a flat white, and it was in Mayfair, but I mean, don't get me wrong. I mean, I I we know that um after you know uh doing COVID, all this pastry shops and coffee shops open up and it's great, and I love a great cup of coffee. But uh I um I'm not gonna mention the place, but I I um I um I told the owner, I pulled them aside and I said, uh, this is not right.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

See, I'm okay with you guys that don't drink real coffee and drink flat whites and lattes and stuff being charged $540. Yeah. Where I get angry is I drink real coffee, just the black coffee. Just black coffee, yeah. That's I'm gonna change to that. There's no milk, there's no skin, there's no talent. Yeah, yeah. Don't charge me $540 for that. You're right.

SPEAKER_04 27:41

And how much are you paying for that? Four quid. It's a lot, right? Yeah. I mean, I I don't know if I spent too much time in Lisbon last year where pricing is so great, or never you, you know, the three of us can go out to a Michelin store, one Michelin store restaurant, and it will be less than 180 euros, and we've had everything. But I just um the London prices are just getting to me a little bit. It's just too much. It's it's not sustainable.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Talking good value. So my retail retail hospitality highlight uh was in Copenhagen. Nice. I love Copenhagen. I just want to go on record for saying it's just beautiful, wonderful people, walkable city, very pretty. Certainly my favorite, I think, of the Nordic capitals. Um, so I landed, I was there for 24 hours, landed quite late, wanted to eat somewhere, got a recommendation from a guy, uh, our friend Eric, who lives there half the time, and he said, Go to a restaurant called Montagarde. I've probably butchered the pronunciation, so sorry to our Danish listeners, Montegarde. Um I arrived late, I knew the kitchen was shutting at 10, it was a rush to get there. I got there at 9.45 p.m. And it turns out it's an eight-course tasting menu. Oh no. But this and the staff are like, you turned up a quarter of an hour. But they made it work. They spoke to the chefs in the kitchen and they said, This nutter has just arrived because his mate Eric said he should. He's when you run across Copenhagen. I was on my own, and you know I'm not usually good at eating on my own, but it was a supervised day, it was chill, beautiful dining room. And they spoke to the chefs and said, What can we do? And they said, Listen, we can't do eight courses. But we'll do you four special courses. How do these sound? And I had the most beautiful food. I was there for 45 minutes only, but it was astonishing. And they still charge you four eight courses. They did they no, no, no, it was super reasonable with wine. I mean, gosh, in terms of good value, I paid less than 100 euros. Oh, wow. So absolutely fantastic. Um, low light, hospitality low light. So two low lights. I'll talk about the low light and then I've got a question for you. Um, so I was at a restaurant in a members' club, one you may or may not have been thrown out of Antoine and no longer a member of in North London. Um and we we ate. It was it was a very mere experience. And let's come on to the question about food in members' clubs. Um, we ordered a nice bottle of wine, and I had a full glass of wine, and the waitress, bless her, spilt it over me, over the table. More importantly, I didn't get to have that last glass of wine that I wanted, and the bottle was empty. But did you replace it? They did not replace it. Oh no. What? I know. And I made a bit of a th I made a bit of a thing, and I was made to feel very awkward for making a bit of a thing. But it's what would you do in a situation like that? So it was a bottle that had been open for the table. They didn't serve that glass by that wine by the glass.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Well, if you want to really wild a guest, you bring another bottle on us. If you want to just at least replace the glass uh from the guest because you tilt it, you definitely uh give one glass. But of course the other guest might feel a bit like left out. It should have been a bottle, shouldn't it?

SPEAKER_04 30:58

The the first thing is is is move you out of the table. Get you move you out of the table, get you completely moved your different table, lay out different table, and and and depending where you were, if you finish main course, whatever, then the first thing is a bottle open pour, and then I would have come the whole bill. So that's simple. So the whole bill of the table. Oh yeah. Is that is just uh just you? I was there with a friend.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:21

I'll I'll I'll I'll so so it would be. And it was a red wine? It was a white wine. White wine, okay. So, but still, I I I I a dry clean offer, I would I would have come several things. Uh not only the bottle, but I would have done more. So that because it it's it's it's it's a very frustrating thing.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

But that's an American way, because I I think the British usually tend to be quite tangent in the world.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Well, yeah, in the left front, but it brings me on to the next part of my question, which is restaurants in members' clubs. So this was not a standalone restaurant that maybe have been run by a proper restaurateur. This was the place you go and get food in a member's club. Well, still listen, I I hospitality is about generosity. But this comes to my question. This this is this is the nub of my question. So these members' club have restaurants in them. They need to run them as restaurants. The quality of the food was meh, the service was meh, the pricing was way up there. It was a very bad experience.

SPEAKER_04 32:22

So don't get me wrong, it's when I'm gonna say this, but you know, yeah, during COVID and during COVID, it's a is a transition of a lot of things that have to happen. You know, a lot of people have left London, a lot of people within restaurants and hotels got moved up to the positions that they don't know what they're doing. So a good general manager, good manager in that restaurant should have should have totally taken care of the situation. It was created by by their staff. So I think everybody now is in and I I'm gonna twist things. You go to an Italian restaurant now, you go to any restaurant now, people charge you for bread and butter. That is completely wrong. That is an offer that it should be it, it's a price that should be hidden on the menu, and and and you shouldn't see that. Who charges for bread and butter? Who charges for bread? So, so there's there's now I go to restaurants a lot, okay? And and I generosity has completely disappeared, you know, because when when you get people, for example, like me and you or you, I if I like a restaurant, I would tell a thousand people. Or I'll post an Instagram where a million or a lot of people are gonna be see, and you come back and you become a regular. So the whole point of the restaurant tour is about creating loyalty. So if you're if you cannot be generous in a situation like this, I think that is is poor management.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Period. Is there a restaurant within a private member's club that you guys can point to that you think is doing this right?

SPEAKER_02 33:51

I think the arts club uh restaurant offering is one of the best as a members club in London.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

And how do they get it right? Do they have a dedicated GM to the I think I think they run restaurants like a restaurant. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

I think they they do. Because it's true that I agree that in general, members' clubs struggle to offer great quality because they always think, oh, because it's a members' club where people might just have some nibbles, they just you need to have the staple scissor salad, club sandwich, and which then becomes quite not inspiring for a chef, so you don't attract talent.

SPEAKER_04 34:24

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I have to give a shout out to the Soho Muse. Uh they I've been there several times, and I'm a member, and I've never been a member of Sohouse because I just never needed to. But I think they're doing something right there. They're they're they're they're doing some something. Yeah, it should definitely I I I I uh I I went I I went a few times before I I was invited, and uh I I enjoyed it. Good.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Okay. Let's talk about some of the moments that have shaped you. I'm still thinking back to that beautiful story about the orange juice and the Italian meals out and stuff like that, and then going to New York from Brazil. What happened after New York? Tell me about other people in your life that kind of shaped you, people that helped take you on this journey.

SPEAKER_04 35:15

Um, I uh before I tell you that, I I have to tell you something really important that happened that switched and changed my life. So from from the the coffee shop that was, you know, it was open for eight months, 18 months to two years, they separated the partners. So I didn't want to go back to Brazil. And I went to work as a dishwasher in the Japanese restaurants where I worked for six months. And I was taking rubbish out and I cut both my legs. The next morning I was fired. Um, so I went out from that being fired. I went out to a coffee shop and I got a coffee shop, I got a coffee and I got a bagel and I got the New York Times. And and Columbus Avenue was the most important place for restaurants at that time. And I walked up and down and I went to 17 restaurants until I got the job and I got a call to work front of the house. And went to working front of the house, where I was dressed in a nice uniform. I I watched briefing happen with you know, a general manager that was so much passion in the room. And I I I I was a tool, I I became this very eager to learn Busboy, where my job was really simple to refill water, do iced teas, do coffee, bring bread, and clear the table. And after several weeks, every head waiter was fighting to have me in their station because I was great. But also when I got paid every night, and I took $150 a night back then, uh I made more than I made a whole month as a dishwasher. So that opened up my eyes to, and I knew that I'd be I was really good with people. So that that really changed. That changed my approach, and I just knew exactly what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

What your strength was.

SPEAKER_04 37:06

And and I knew I had to be front of the house. And then um, you know, setting the table, the book by Denny Meyer, really changed my my perception on on how wonderful the industry is. And if you're really focused and if you really work hard, you you can really move up. You know, back back back in those days, for you to start as a busboy dishwasher to you become a GM, it's 12 years. Now there's days you can do it in four, five, six. So that really, that that book really changed changed my perception, and I just I just knew exactly what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

What's the biggest gamble you made in your career? Wow. I I mean moving from Brazil to New York obviously was fantastic. And it's struck when I look at your kind of resume and hear about your past, it feels like you've taken some big bite.

SPEAKER_04 37:59

I I think I've always done it. I I always wanna I'm always I just I just want to wake up every morning and you know and discover something new, you know, the the cures intelligence. I just wanna I I think everything I've done is a is been no gamble.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

Um have you made any mistakes in your career?

SPEAKER_04 38:16

Yes. I I as as an operator, you you want to you want to reach perfection. The discipline is very high. So my mistake was always to think that we need to run restaurants and operations like a military. But once I as a as a leader, when you understand, and that takes back to my quote. There's a quote by Maya Angelou. People people will forget what you said, people forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Once you really lead your team with humility, and you bring humility, connection, passion, that's one you thrive. So by my my biggest mistake would not was not to realize that for a long period of time. Because once I connect the dots and I and the the difference between service and operation in America, we hire on personality. Okay, and and Europe sometimes is very mechanical. When I came here, really technical ability is really high, but very mechanical. You know, I love football. If you watch the the the the the the Barclays Premier League, every it's now it's it's there's there's no really they're talented, but every everything's working as a union. If you watch PSG, it's peer talent of every position, and they will it they would they will just take you quickly. Within seconds, they'll score a goal in you. And I think that the ability to to to really look at your staff member and and and really ask the hard questions as what you love. Okay, this is this is this is my restaurant, this is how we're gonna operate. We this is we're gonna push you hard, we're gonna drive you hard, because I was a very driven operator. But this is working under me in two years, you your CV will be incredible anywhere in the world. I'll guide you, I lead you, I will, I will be a father figure out, whatever it is. But that I think was my mistake, not to understand that for a long period of time, because when it clicked, I I knew exactly who I wanted to be.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 40:38

Can I have that quote one more time? So it's Maya and Julou, people will forget what you said, people forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. So I so if you saw my Tad talk, it was above me, and uh that quote, and uh, I live by that.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

We often talk about people we've worked for and how they've impacted us. But I was trying to do the maths. There is thousands of people that have worked for you, Paolo, over your career. Are there particular people that have helped shape you as a manager and a leader that you could point to? Maybe people that have gone on to do amazing things.

SPEAKER_04 41:16

Um as as as a mentor or as a staff member?

SPEAKER_00 41:20

Both.

SPEAKER_04 41:20

Okay. I I have to um I think Danny Meyer has uh has been incredible. I know him personally. Uh he's always there as a sounding board. I I love what he's achieved. I he leads with passion, uh compassion, humility. He's kind. Danielle Boulud uh has taught me to uh be humble, humility, and and and and uh really see people. Really see people, look at people and really understand them, you know, pay attention and uh lead with humility. I I think um I have I have to really be grateful for those for those two gentlemen.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Now I imagine you make a great father figure to people that have worked for you. Have people that have worked for you gone on to do amazing things that were named?

SPEAKER_04 42:13

I I I I I'll I'll give you a perfect example just now. I was in Lisbon uh for 11 months working in in five different projects. And there's a couple there. Uh Alexis is French and Agnes. They work for me, Barbaloo. And both of them, she was my uh sister maestra D, and he was a head waiter. And today they own several businesses. And I was really tough on them. I probably made them cry more often than than um than most people. But uh when I was in Lisbon, I had the pleasure of eating under a restaurant called Boo Boo's and uh with Agnes, and and they told me how much they appreciate everything I did for them. And they would never be where they are without my support and my health. And uh yeah, I was I was very tough. But I think I believe that um, you know, if you really you have passion and you love people just like my boys, I'm I'm very tough on them because I want them. The world is is is a tough world out there, and the competition is very high. But you have to have your your standards, your morals, your values.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

What a lovely story. So that's Boo-Boo in Lisbon. In Lisbon. So everyone should go check that out.

SPEAKER_04 43:25

You should, yeah. Please let me know whenever you're Lisbon.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Um we're we're talking to you here from London, where you've spent much of your career here. How has London changed you?

SPEAKER_04 43:34

Look, I I I I I love London. I I you know I spend incredible years with with with Chris Corbin, Jeremy King at the Woolsley, and I I I we were doing 1500 covers a day. I I I I I came in, uh, you know, my I I think you know, three and a half years that I spent there, my name was not even Paolo. My name was the American, get the American, he's get the American, get the America, he's the best, get the America, get get the American, you know. And a lot of people throw all this. Dutch, I'm like, what? I I I I'm not Dutch. And and I I I really learned a lot. I think I drove Jeremy King completely insane with how many questions I had a day. But but there I found the difference. I I found the American hospitality in and I I came up with my own hospitality, my way of joint service. I I put together the, you know, for me it's personality. You gotta have personality. I I want I wanted to hire someone that that that the only thing they want to do is make someone happy, right? And then I want that person also to have the technical ability in order to to read people, anticipate, and and just rejoice the world. And in, you know, and so I I learned a lot in London because that really defined who I was. And then when I by the time I went to Scots, where my wife, you know, Heidi was pregnant with Luke, and I I had to make more money, and I I had to to, you know, they were after me for a year, and what I kept saying no, but then you know, Richard Cairn put those numbers on the check, and and you have to to follow that. And I I did Scots where I work with the most incredible people in in my career. Uh you know, incredible people. And I think what we we've done as Scots, and I and I hope that I I had a touch there of what I do, because that place will be there for the next 150 years. So for me, you know as an operator, you're always building something that's you know, lived longer than you. So London, London has been incredible to me. I I I I I I was really welcome here, and I learned a lot here.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

I love that. It's a beautiful homage to the city. Yeah. My city, thank you. All right, so we're gonna shift gears slightly. I'm gonna put you under pressure, I'm afraid. Yeah. You're not gonna cry, don't we? Yeah, we've had enough tears today. Thank you, Antoine. Um, okay, so I'm gonna give you a number of different scenarios. Yeah. Quick, fast. I want to know what you do. Okay, Saturday night, your dining room's completely full, maxed out, you've already got a waiting list of people. VIP walks in, proper A-lister. What do you do?

SPEAKER_03 46:07

That's easy, very easy. Uh been doing that all my life.

SPEAKER_04 46:11

Uh uh as a good maitre D, you're you're a magician. You always have something on the side. Uh, you always have a table, you always have a spot fire. If you don't, you put them somewhere that is that's kind of and out of the way, so people don't, especially when you got the big boys or the big ladies or you know, people that people s people see those Tom Cruises, that they see those bread bits, they go crazy. So you gotta you gotta find a way. You gotta find a way, you gotta protect them. So you it's it's one of those things that you put them in in in a bar, you put them in the lounge somewhere that you have managers around them, and you and champagne is is is is coming and and a little little charcuterie board and you keep them until the ticker's ready.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

So Tom Cruise is happy. Yeah, same but that same Saturday night, your head chef walks out. Yeah, okay, pissed off, he just disappears and he's not coming back. Okay, you do.

SPEAKER_04 47:00

Wow. So I do the ways the way you always build restaurants is the chef underneath him is ready for the role. So I always have a head chef underneath executive chef for that purpose. Also, you even when you know you open multiple locations. My executive chef between us, he would never do that. I will not let him walk out. Uh, I will have a chat with him. I'll keep make sure that he goes back and finishes the shift, and then we'll have a long talk. But um, you you always have someone underneath that's ready to take on.

SPEAKER_00 47:30

You it's it's a you always have a co-pilot. Okay, so Tom Cruise is sat down, your head chef has stepped up, things are feeling okay. Yeah, the owner of the restaurant walks in, pissed off with the lighting, he doesn't like the music, he starts to change everything. How do you manage him or so?

SPEAKER_04 47:46

Before I came on board to work for that owner, I've already told him that that's never gonna happen. He's never gonna call and show up with 20 people, and he's never gonna change anything in service. So that I already established that. I'm running the place. Okay, good. I like that. All right, yeah, because otherwise you you can't. It's like management. If you if you let them go and turn the air conditioning for everybody to ask for the air conditioning to be turned on or off, it's gonna be a shit show.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

All right. So owner pacified, walks away, which is great. Notice in the corner of the room, high spending regular, he's put his kids out. It's Saturday night, they're on their iPads, the iPads are out laying, they're being brats. So how do you deal with this?

SPEAKER_04 48:27

So from the beginning, you would have put them in a place where they're they're not gonna they're not gonna bother anybody else. So you re- and if that you don't have that, you go and speak to him. You you have a chat. And you it's the same thing, you know. I never I I don't do tables of larger than six. Why? Because you have an anniversary or or something, and then there's eight blokes going crazy and drinking and changing the entire atmosphere of restaurant. So I never do table larger tables than six because I want a restaurant is a control environment, and what you need to respect is every single bubble. And if there's a bubble that's disrespecting the environment, you you you take care of it.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

I like it. Other end of the restaurant, yeah, a little kafuffle with the staff, yeah, big table. They've eaten a lot of food, they drunk a lot of wine, they don't want to pay their bill because they don't think the food lived up to standards. All right, now I I'm gonna sound very cocky.

SPEAKER_04 49:22

I've had that scenario once, and the gentleman walked out. Um, I found out where he worked, and I emailed his CEO, and he came in and paid the bill. I love that. So I have we have the history of everybody that's coming into the restaurant, and we have ways of getting back to them because that's not something you do. And you know what? And and and and the sad thing about that that scenario was everything was perfect. Um, and and and we checked every single moment of that table. He came with his mother, but then in the end, he wanted to show off to his mother by walking out, and that was the biggest mistake that he made.

SPEAKER_00 50:01

Well done for handling him so well. All right. Other corner of the record, right by the lot of the Ride by the window. I love it, I love it. By the window. Big influence, uh, millions of followers, but she's setting up tripod camera lighting, she's brought changes of outfit. She's beginning to piss off other guests, but she's very important.

SPEAKER_04 50:20

What do you do? Okay, so I I come from the you know, Scots day, we didn't allow people to take pictures. At the Wolseley, you would never take a picture. So I would never allow that, period. Yeah, we wouldn't allow it. All right. We have to be strict because you if you allow that, people come into a restaurant to eat, and your regulars will be really bothered by that. And then the lights, and now it's big uh Jeremy King is talking about that right now. They're changing the bathroom. Look, it's not a restaurant is is is a serious business.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

I like it. Okay. Um middle of the restaurant. Yeah. They've ordered a very expensive bottle of wine. Yeah. The wine is fine, but they're saying it's not, and they're not wanting to keep the bottle of wine, they're sending it back.

SPEAKER_04 51:07

Yeah, uh, you don't question it. We we both know the the simulier and I though he's taste the wine, we check the wine, the wine's fine. He's just trying to show off to whoever he's entertaining. You just just give him a different bottle. Oh, even if it's it's you, you you you you you you you have the you you sell it by the glass, you do something special, but arguing with that guy, it's not gonna take you anywhere. So, so and and also you probably don't want him back at the restaurant because it's always gonna be the same problem. So we are very smart in taking those notes and and making sure who we're gonna let him in the restaurant again. Most likely that person will never get in.

SPEAKER_00 51:45

I like your approach. Okay, it's been quite a night. It's 9 45, coming up to 10 o'clock. The power goes out.

SPEAKER_04 51:51

Oh, I d oh I love this. This is a good question. Okay, all right. Are you ready? Are you ready? Okay, I hope you're ready. It's um it's Friday night, it's uh 8 15. I'll never forget this. Ever. Okay. I have 500 and 500 people come in for dinner. It's 8.15, and the the power goes out. When the power goes out, the way it is set up is the gas in the kitchen stops. The first people to evacuate is the chefs. So when did it happen? Automatically we just call the kitchen, make sure everybody walks out. You get all the managers together, you're gonna give your business cards to every single table and let them know that we have to evacuate, and next time they come in, we're gonna come their bills. So I'm walking, giving my card to a table, and they're going, is this part of the show? Is this happening? Is this and people did not believe what we were saying. And we had to evacuate the entire restaurant, and it was a nightmare. But you know what? That prompt me, that prompted me to happen at Bar Balou again. And I took every all my clients, I had my staff take all my clients with a free bottle of champagne to Pierre Kaufman. And Pierre Kaufman was like, Paul, only you should do this. I go, Pierre, I got more, I got six more, and I got four more, and I got four more. So whoever wanted to go to a different restaurant, that's what we did. So, so those situations, it's funny that you ask, but it makes you a better leader. Because you're only gonna develop and grow when shit happens.

SPEAKER_00 53:30

Paolo, you are calm under pressure, my friend. Now, Antoine, when he's not talking about EQ and having a little cry, likes to talk about the future of hospitality. This sounds like a man, Antoine, that knows a lot about the future.

SPEAKER_02 53:45

Yeah, I heard on Instagram the other day someone say hospitality in UK is fucked. So unfortunately, it's very doom and gloom at a moment. We hear three year old closure a day. What what do you think is gonna happen? How will it change? Will it get better?

SPEAKER_04 54:02

So so first of all, let's yeah, I I think, you know, I I think the world is having a problem with government officials and and and leadership. I think, you know, especially now that I'm working outside the country and and so many projects are coming in. Uh Lisbon is a place that is doing incredibly well. You know, start with the government by inviting people to come in with 500,000 pounds. You go to Lisbon today, you have British, French, Brazilians, Americans. Um, you know, you you you see the price uh of your pass, your your your oyster card is 39 euros. You get a cab 45 minutes, Uber is 17, 16 euros. You get a pint, it's two euros. They're doing something right. Milan is the next place that's gonna it's gonna be is gonna do really, really well. Now, London is a place that I love and is always gonna attract investment. We gotta be very cautious with the investment that is coming in this country. Where are they coming from? You know, it needs to be checked, it needs to be done. So, so now look, we and you've been around, we've been around a long time to see proper operators doing incredible things. Um, there's not a lot of proper operators anymore. There's a lot of restaurants, people that wanted to get in our business doing things, and that's why we're seeing no generosity anymore. It's all becoming about the purchase, the money. It's it's it's so I think I think it's it's it's gonna take a long time in order for us to go back to what hospitality truly means. Because, you know, first of all, we need um initiative from the government to help us because all those rates, all those rates are not gonna help. If I if you're my landlord and I'm coming into your building, it needs to be a partnership between me and you. This is the concept, and so I'm hoping to do, is that okay? Like we did at Margot. It's a beautiful site. Look how much we spent, look what we did. Do we create 72 jobs? Yes, we did. Do we provide a good service? Yes. Do we provide a good meal? We were part of uh of uh of everything from Michelin to every chef in the world from Island to Cascam and you know, three, four times a month came to see us. Those are two guys that started from nothing. Now, though that that that's the story that you want to hear. Not because it's my story, but it's a for me, especially this country has always welcomed everybody. We're going the wrong direction now. Where everything, look at me fair, what it used to be and what it is now. You know, so I think I think we're on the rough right. I think paying people what they deserve to repay. I think, you know, there's something. Look, this is why I don't understand from government officials. We are a family of four from New York, and you go to London, you stay in a five, four, three, two-star hotel, right? You're gonna have breakfast, whether it's buffet, or boom. You're gonna go, whether you go to the zoo, you're gonna go to the theater, you're gonna go, everywhere you go, it's peer hospitality. What we bring to this country early, billions of pounds. And yes, we are here, and I see all the chefs and I see all these people constantly begging for the government to support us. I mean, I'm so sorry. We shouldn't be begging for anything. This, this, what we do here, we provide jobs, we provide so many great things in hotels and theaters and everything that we do. So I think our government needs a big wake-up call, and I don't know what is going to take it because I'm sure they travel, and I know I know a lot of them, and they eat out a lot. And and I'm sorry, it's a long, I agree, long I agree.

SPEAKER_00 57:48

May I agree the government needs a big wake-up call in so many ways, but hospitality is is uh underappreciated, undernourished, and could be something to drag us out of the horrible state this country is now in. Paolo, thank you. Pleasure. That was honest, detailed, passionate, and incredibly entertaining. It's why we like doing this. In hospitality, a reservation guarantees you a seat, but it does not guarantee you a great night. That part is earned by people like Paolo. It's earned by the people you rarely see, the ones carrying the room when it really matters. If you've enjoyed this, please share it with someone in hospitality who deserves to be heard. Thank you for listening. Antoine, all that leaves me to ask is Is there room for me at your restaurant? So as you don't, there is no reservation.