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Grateful for Hospitality

Grateful for Hospitality

Written by: Mason Potter
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 The Grateful for Hospitality Podcast features candid conversations with founders, operators, and experts shaping the sector. Practical insights, honest stories and ideas to make you think.© 2026 Mason Potter
Episodes
  • Service is the Plate. Hospitality is the Feeling - Paulo de Tarso on the Soul of the Industry

    Service is the Plate. Hospitality is the Feeling - Paulo de Tarso on the Soul of the Industry
    Apr 23 2026
    Episode SummaryPaulo de Tarso opens the Grateful podcast with the clearest working definition of hospitality you'll hear all year. Service is the mechanics of getting a plate from the kitchen to the guest. Hospitality is how that guest feels walking out of the door. One is a process. The other is a memory. Paulo traces his unlikely 35-year arc from a Brooklyn coffee shop and a dishwashing job in Soho, through Beverly Hills, to London's most iconic rooms - The Wolseley, Scott's Mayfair, and six years with Daniel Boulud at Bar Boulud - and into opening his own restaurant, Margot, in Covent Garden. Honest, opinionated, and full of practical lessons for anyone who serves a customer for a living.About the GuestPaulo de Tarso is a Brazilian-born hospitality leader who started as a busboy in New York in the early 90s and moved to London in 2005. He worked as maitre d' at The Wolseley under Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, served Richard Caring at Scott's Mayfair, and spent six years with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud at Bar Boulud inside the Mandarin Oriental. In 2016 he opened his own restaurant, Margot, in Covent Garden. Post-COVID he stepped away from day-to-day operating to launch his own hospitality consulting practice, which he runs today.Key Topics CoveredThe one-sentence distinction that separates great operators from average onesHow to hire for personality when everyone else is hiring for CVWhy a real smile still out-performs a slick scriptThe US vs UK service gap - and what each can steal from the otherHow to build confidence in junior team members by investing in product knowledgeThe tronc transparency problem, and why service charge has to belong to the whole teamReading the table - upselling by holding the customer back, not pushing more on themTurning one good meal into a lifetime regularWhy hospitality is a discipline every industry now has to learn (retail, banking, hair salons)How to protect margin in a squeezed London market without cutting the training that makes the marginWhat We DiscussedWelcoming Paulo to the Grateful premiereThe accidental start - a Brooklyn coffee shop with a Brazilian architect friendGetting fired as a dishwasher in Soho and walking up Columbus Avenue looking for a busboy jobDiscovering the craft on the floor - the uniform, the interaction, the tipsThe Guatemalan head waiter in Beverly Hills who said "every smile is a dollar"Reading Danny Meyer and finding a philosophy without a mentor in the roomThe London years - The Wolseley with Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, Scott's Mayfair with Richard Caring, six years at Bar Boulud with Daniel BouludOpening Margot in Covent Garden in 2016Stepping away during COVID and launching the consulting practiceThe working definition - service is the plate, hospitality is the feelingRegulars three times a week, and why consistency beats noveltyReading a table - stopping a guest from over-ordering and offering a tasting portion insteadWhy the customer walking out is your best PR agency, and the worst if it goes wrongThe most underrated skill on the floor - a genuine smileConfidence comes from product knowledge - a company responsibility, not a staff flawThe Four Seasons hiring standard and the interview question that instantly disqualifies a candidateValues as the operating system - integrity, honesty, raising your arm when you mess upThe white wine spill in Beverly Hills and the 25 dollars out of the pocketHiring for personality in the US, technical skill in Europe - and why the best rooms do bothTipping cultures - chasing a tourist down the street in LA, receiving 2 pounds at The Wolseley from a table of fourThe tronc problem - why the UK system lacks transparency and what should changeService charge belongs to the whole team, back of house includedWhy customers should be kind to staff, tip well, and stop removing service charge by defaultHow Paulo handles a guest who wants the service charge removedHospitality is empathy - not judging a late guest because you don't know their dayHospitality beyond the restaurant - retail, banking, hair salons, motorcycle dealershipsCustomer loyalty in a cost-of-living squeeze - why you can't afford bad service in 2026The London market - Brexit, rents, tax, and the value-for-money challengeWhat excites Paulo about London hospitality right now, and why UK dining may now be the best in EuropeThe closing answer - the single thing anyone can do to improve hospitalityKey Quotes"Service is how you get a product from the kitchen. What's hospitality? How do you make the recipient of that product feel?" - Paulo de Tarso"You give me 50%. I give you 50%. Together, we're a team. And that is really hospitality. It's teamwork." - Paulo de Tarso"Hospitality is to have empathy in your heart. It's to not judge. You never know what someone is going through." - Paulo de Tarso"The reason nobody ever complained about the 15 percent, where it was 12 and a half everywhere else, is because we never had a bad service." - ...
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Making Tips Matter: Inside the Tipping Culture Divide Between US and UK

    Making Tips Matter: Inside the Tipping Culture Divide Between US and UK
    Mar 26 2026
    Episode SummaryIn this debut episode, Mason welcomes Steve from TipHaus to explore the nuts and bolts of modern hospitality - specifically how technology, tipping culture, and genuine human connection intersect. Steve brings a transatlantic perspective, having gone from investment banking and venture capital to building an eight-location restaurant chain, selling it, serving as president of Ethan Stowell Restaurants through the pandemic, and eventually joining TipHaus as Co-CEO. Their conversation spans the wide gap between American and British attitudes toward tipping, the critical importance of payment friction in the guest experience, and how forward-thinking hospitality tech isn’t about replacing people - it’s about giving them more time and headspace to do what they love. You’ll hear real talk about industry challenges, a breathtaking memory from Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in Italy, and why grace matters more than perfection.About the GuestSteve is Co-CEO of TipHaus, a US-based technology platform that automates tip calculations, ensures compliance, and enables digital tip payouts. His path to hospitality is anything but conventional: computer science and economics undergraduate at the University of London, investment banking, venture capital in tech and telecom, business school, and then - in 2011 - a leap into restaurants. He built a fast-casual restaurant group to eight locations, sold to Ethan Stowell Restaurants in Seattle, and served as president during the pandemic years. That operator experience taught him the hidden costs of poor tip management and inspired him to solve the problem from the vendor side. His unique journey - combining deep technical chops with genuine hospitality experience - has become TipHaus’s competitive edge.Key Topics Covered• The Cultural Divide Between US and UK Tipping - Why Americans see tipping as a right, why Brits prefer service charge baked into the bill, and what each system gets right and wrong• The Chaos of Cash in a Cashless World - How restaurants used to hand out tips in envelopes, why that’s impossible now, and the absurd costs of trying to maintain it• Tip Pooling and Equity - How rule changes 15 years ago in the US allowed tip sharing between front and back of house, finally making kitchens and dining rooms feel like one team• Automation Saves Time and Money - Real numbers: from four person-days of payroll spreadsheet work per week down to three to four hours, plus eliminated thousands in annual tip miscalculations• Transparency Breeds Trust - Employee-facing dashboards showing exactly what they earned, why, and where tips came from - drops questions about tipping accuracy by 95%• Why Hospitality Is Uniquely Collaborative - How competing restaurants actually help each other, why operators share solutions, and what the tech industry can learn from that mentality• The Future of Independent Restaurants - Why consolidation might be the only path forward for small operators facing unprecedented cost pressures• Where AI Fits in Hospitality - The case for invisible tech that delivers value without scaring people who chose hospitality precisely because they wanted to avoid techWhat We Discussed• [1] Introduction - Mason welcomes Steve, fresh off a nine-hour flight from the US• [2] The Podcast’s Mission - guilt-free takeaways from hospitality professionals• [3] Steve’s Unconventional Path - from Seattle banker to restaurant group president to TipHaus Co-CEO• [4] Why He Left Tech for Restaurants - passion for fast-casual brands and treating workers better• [5] UK vs US Hospitality Culture - similarities at the core, differences in the details• [6] A Brief History of American Tipping - why tip pooling changed the game• [7] The Service Charge Debate - US controversy vs UK acceptance• [8] The Handheld Device Problem - the awkward moment of choosing what to tip• [9] Cash is Dead; Long Live Digital Payouts - the infrastructure nightmare• [10] The Story of TipHaus - founder Leif Magnuson’s original problem and COVID timing• [11] Real Impact: Before and After TipHaus - four person-days down to four hours• [12] Earned Tip Access - digital tip distribution growing faster than the core SaaS• [13] Transparency and Compliance - employee apps and a 95% drop in tip questions• [14] Why Hospitality Wins at Collaboration - word-of-mouth and critical mass• [15] Best Hospitality Memory - Steve’s transformative dinner at Osteria Francescana• [16] Worst Experience (A PSA) - the 20-minute gap between bill and payment• [17] The Future of Hospitality - concerns for independents, shift to best-of-breed tech• [18] AI in Hospitality - why the best AI...
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    48 mins
  • Episode 1 Bonus Clip

    Episode 1 Bonus Clip
    Mar 19 2026

    Some bonus clips from our first episode with Stephen Hooper Jr, co-CEO of TipHaus, where we talked about tipping and hospitality on both sides of the pond.
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    1 min
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