NO RESERVATION - The Hospitality Podcast

23 Episodes

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Simonetta & Livio | Ida Restaurant I Mother, son and the family restaurant

2026-10-3101:15:31

Send us Fan Mail What’s it like when the family restaurant is also the place you grew up? Mother and son Simonetta Wenkert and Livio Reichenbach join Antoine Melon and Gideon Lask for Episode 23 of No Reservation, with Ida, their family’s Italian restaurant in Queen’s Park, at the centre of the conversation. Simonetta opened Ida with her husband Avi in 2007. Livio grew up around the restaurant and has worked across its kitchen and dining room. Together, they talk about the realities of workin...

Gresham Blake I The Savoy, Soho House & Nobu | What a uniform says before you do

2026-10-2358:36

Send us Fan Mail What does a uniform tell you before anyone says hello? Gresham Blake joins Antoine Melon and Gideon Lask to talk about dressing hospitality. His clients include The Savoy, Soho House and Nobu, but the conversation keeps coming back to the people wearing the clothes: how they move, how they feel and how much of themselves they can bring to work. We hear how insurance and sculpture gave way to tailoring, what his mother taught him about making clothes, and why a designer needs ...

Martin Williams I Gaucho, Quaglino’s, Bluebird, M & Evolv

2026-10-1901:02:03

Send us Fan Mail Martin Williams joins Antoine Melon and Gideon Lask to talk about creating restaurants people want to come back to, and the pressure of keeping them going. The founder of M and CEO of The Evolv Collection tells us about putting his home on the line, returning to Gaucho and the lessons he took into Covid. We get into the reopening of Quaglino’s, what to keep and what to change when you inherit a much-loved restaurant, and why hospitality is part dinner party, part theatre. The...

Zoë Paskin I Palomar, The Barbary, Blue Post, The End & Studio Paskin

2026-10-0845:09

Send us Fan Mail Zoë Paskin went back to London to help at The End for a month. She stayed for a decade. The co-founder of Studio Paskin, behind The Palomar, The Barbary, Evelyn’s Table and The Blue Posts, joins Antoine Melon and Gideon Lask to talk about what makes a room come alive — and the work behind a great night out. Zoë recalls returning to restaurant service at Hawksmoor, the trip to Jerusalem that turned a pop-up idea into The Palomar, and how music and counter dining bring guests i...

Des Gunewardena | Quaglino’s, Bluebird, Conran, D&D, D3 Collective

2026-09-2601:03:25

Send us Fan Mail Antoine used to work for Des Gunewardena. So we start with the openings they remember rather differently — including Bluebird, which took time to become the London institution it is today. Des joins Antoine Melon and Gideon Lask to talk about the work after opening night: rescuing a restaurant that has lost its way, knowing when a spectacular room is actually a sound business, and giving a place time to belong to its neighbourhood. He takes us from Quaglino’s extraordinary st...

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NO RESERVATION - The Hospitality Podcast