New long-form hospitality documentary podcast lifts the lid on the realities, resilience and chaos behind some of the UK’s most exciting restaurants.
Hospitality entrepreneur and founder of Ladies of Restaurants, Natalia Ribbe, is launching Staying Open. The new documentary-style podcast series explores the people behind Britain’s restaurants and what it really takes to survive in one of the toughest industries in the country right now.
Part food documentary, part business conversation, part emotional unpacking, Staying Open, produced in partnership with global payments company Square, and travels the UK meeting the operators, chefs and founders behind some of the country’s most talked-about restaurants, pubs and hospitality businesses.
From labour shortages and burnout to scaling nationally, maintaining creativity, navigating rising costs and building cult followings, the series asks one central question: How the hell do you stay open?
The first season features conversations with:
Will Beckett - co-founder at Hawksmoor, International
Emma Reynolds - co-founder at Tonkotsu, National
Sunaina Sethi - co-founder and people director at JKS, International
Mary Wilson & Jan Ostle - co-founders at Wilsons, Bristol
Emma Dent - founder at Pablo EggsGoBao, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Sheffield
Jamie-Lee Job - owner at Summerhouse, Alcatraz & The Watering Hole, Cornwall
Missy Flynn & Gabe Pryce - founders at Rita's, London
Across intimate table conversations, Ribbe digs into the stories behind the businesses that have managed to weather storms and keep going during an incredibly volatile moment for hospitality.
The series combines honest industry conversations with the warmth, humour and emotional honesty of long-form documentary storytelling: think No Reservations meets a late-night kitchen conversation.
“This industry gives so much to people, but we often take it completely for granted,” says Ribbe.
“Restaurants are where we celebrate, mourn, date, reconnect, hide out, fall in love, have difficult conversations and create memories. But behind the scenes, hospitality is under huge pressure right now. I wanted to create something that felt honest about that, something that celebrated the people still showing up every day and asked the difficult questions about what it actually takes to keep a restaurant alive.”
Ribbe has worked in hospitality for more than 20 years. She owns independent restaurant Sète and founded the women-in-hospitality community Ladies of Restaurants, a series rooted in a genuine love of and obsession with restaurants and the people behind them.
Each episode blends candid conversation with immersive storytelling, travelling listeners into dining rooms, kitchens and wine bars across the country.
