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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 Art Cooking Economics Food & Wine Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • EP: 04: No One Is Coming: Sean Walchef on Why You Have to Tell Your Own Story

    EP: 04: No One Is Coming: Sean Walchef on Why You Have to Tell Your Own Story
    Jun 25 2026

    Episode summary

    Selling barbecue in California is, in Sean Walchef's words, an oxymoron. So is building a media empire on top of a struggling restaurant. He's done both. In this episode, the Cali BBQ owner and Cali BBQ Media founder takes us back to 2008 - the year he opened in the "dodgy part" of San Diego and couldn't pay his vendors, his team or himself. The lesson that saved the business? No one is coming to tell your story, so you'd better tell it yourself. Sean talks courage over polish, consistency over virality, and why the camera in your pocket is the most powerful free tool you own. Plus straight talk on AI, connected tech stacks and tipping transparency.


    About the guest

    Sean Walchef owns Cali BBQ in San Diego - three locations including a full smokehouse, a stand at Snapdragon Stadium and a Navy base food court site - and has been in the restaurant business for 18 years. Over the last nine years he's built Cali BBQ Media, a B2B storytelling company that produces 18 shows. His biggest is Restaurant Influencers, a podcast with Entrepreneur Magazine title-sponsored by Toast, and he's hosted the Digital Hospitality podcast since 2017.


    Key topics covered

    • How to start telling your story when you have zero budget and zero audience
    • Why "if you build it, they will come" is a dangerous myth for operators
    • The mindset shift that turns Yelp and Google reviews from a threat into a relationship tool
    • How to measure social media ROI without losing your nerve (hint: years, not weeks)
    • Where AI actually fits in a hospitality business - and why fear is the only real downside
    • Making tipping transparent so front and back of house both know what they earn per shift

    What we discussed

    • [1] Why your story matters whatever business you're in - the H2H (human to human) philosophy
    • [2] Sean's introduction: Cali BBQ, the stadium and Navy base sites, and Cali BBQ Media's 18 shows
    • [3] The hard early days - opening in 2008, struggling to pay vendors, team and themselves
    • [4] The courage to "look stupid and sound stupid" on camera
    • [5] The Rising Tides community and a real-life London meetup with 15 people
    • [6] The 10-episode rule - publish 10 podcasts and you're in the top 10%
    • [7] The "no one is coming" wake-up call - 13 press releases, zero coverage
    • [8] Building on the back of Web 2.0 and the iPhone, and how even Google markets on Instagram
    • [9] Don't discriminate on platform - Facebook first, then Yelp, Google, Instagram
    • [10] Instagram versus reality - why operations has to match the hype
    • [11] "Stealth mode" myth-busting for tech founders, and the value of documenting the struggle
    • [12] Hare versus tortoise - measuring ROI in years and decades, and the case for YouTube
    • [13] The free tip: the Camera app, and finding the story behind every menu item
    • [14] Why live streaming will grow as AI leaves people starved for real connection
    • [15] AI in hospitality - Toast IQ, connected tech stacks and clean data
    • [16] Stay curious, do the work, and ask for help - his grandfather's lesson
    • [17] Why hospitality people are bad at asking for help, and the power of the Toast partnership story
    • [18] Tipping transparency, tip sharing front and back of house, and a cashless world
    • [19] What Sean is most grateful for

    Key quotes

    • "No one's gonna come and start telling your story for you." - Sean Walchef
    • "You have to have the courage to look stupid and sound stupid." - Sean Walchef
    • "The return on investment is you gotta measure it in years and decades, not in days and weeks." - Sean Walchef
    • "If I'm gonna go out of business, I'm gonna go out of business swinging." - Sean Walchef

    Key takeaways

    1. Start before you're ready. The most important tool you own is the Camera app - it's free, it's in your pocket, and the only real cost is the commitment to use it every day.
    2. Consistency beats virality. Don't chase views. Post for years, and the one right person who finds you can change your business.
    3. Every menu item has a story. If you don't know what to post, explain why a dish is on the menu, why you chose the location, why you hired the person. That's the human side of business.
    4. Treat reviews like a real conversation. Respond to Yelp and Google the way you'd respond to feedback on your restaurant floor - immediately, like a human.
    5. Make tips transparent. Tip sharing across front and back of house, with everyone clear on what they earn per shift, is one of the most critical levers for retaining staff in a cashless world.
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    46 mins
  • EP: 03 - From Fintech to Pizzeria Owner - What Tom Harrison Learned Coming Back to Hospitality

    EP: 03 - From Fintech to Pizzeria Owner - What Tom Harrison Learned Coming Back to Hospitality
    May 28 2026
    Tom Harrison spent nearly three years in fintech before opening Ace Pizza in Victoria Park - one of London's hottest new pizzerias - with his partner Rachel. He joins Mason to unpack what changes when you finally own the place. How he filters the avalanche of hospitality tech pitches, why his staff get 45-hour contracts as policy, and how a 72-hour fermented dough became the pillar everything else runs through.Episode summaryTom Harrison walked away from hospitality burnt out, spent nearly three years in a fintech startup, and came back on his own terms to co-found Ace Pizza in Victoria Park with his partner Rachel. In this episode, Tom tells Mason what actually changes when you own the place. How he filters the cold-email tide of hospitality tech vendors. Why his staff are on capped 45-hour contracts as policy rather than aspiration. And how a 72-hour fermented dough became the pillar everything else hangs off. A candid look at building an independent restaurant in 2026 without selling out the values that brought him back.About the guestTom Harrison is co-founder of Ace Pizza, the Victoria Park pizzeria he opened with his partner Rachel last July. His career spans pubs, bars, breweries and ops roles across UK hospitality, followed by nearly three years at a fintech startup building a customer success team before returning to hospitality on his own terms. Ace Pizza as a brand goes back around eight years, originating as the pizza offer at the Pembury Tavern in Hackney Downs before growing through pop-ups and residencies into a standalone restaurant.Key topics coveredWhat three years in tech actually taught Tom about looking after a hospitality teamWhy most hospitality SaaS pitches deserve to be ignored, and how he filters the noiseUsing technology to give staff more time with the guest, not lessFounding a restaurant with your romantic partner without blowing it upThe 72-hour fermented dough that underpins every Ace pizzaPizza and cocktails as a model, not pizza and pintsWhy 45-hour contracts are policy, not a targetLetting the team create cocktails inside clear brand guardrailsThe 20-inch pizza as theatre and shared experienceA measured two to three site growth plan for 2027 onwardsWhat we discussedTom's career arc from hospitality into fintech and back, and the burnout that triggered the moveWhat "value" actually meant for him - not pay, but how he was looked afterThree years in fintech, the comms skills he carried over, and the disappointment of no office slideWhy hospitality tech is finally catching up, and why Tom is hypercritical of the pitches in his inboxThe blue sky thinking trap when bringing startup tools into a restaurantFounding Ace together - Rachel as back of house creative force, Tom as front of houseThe Cornwall mini-sabbatical that confirmed they wanted London, and a restaurantBringing tech-world standards (contracts, capped hours, holiday) back to a hospitality teamThe honest exit interview that called out the gap between blue sky promises and realityThe dough story - biga, 72 hours of fermentation, and Ace's hybrid Neapolitan-New York styleThe Honey Pie, hot honey's slow burn from Paulie Gee's in Brooklyn to UK supermarketsPizza and cocktails as the restaurant model, and the spicy honey margarita as the signatureThe Palmtini, the Capiche, and letting the team own cocktail R&D inside clear guardrailsThe 20-inch pizza, the New York R&D trip, and why menu Tetris mattersSummer 2026 capacity, in-house marketing with Cat, and protecting the dine-in experienceWhy people want Ace Pizza specifically - brand, neutrality, attitude, local energyThe next 12 months and a measured plan for two to three sites by 2027Key quotes"We try and use technology in a way to support. I think it's really easy to get lost and say this piece of QR code, et cetera, will do everything that you want it to do. We're trying to hold on to some of the kinda more traditional ways of looking after people." - Tom Harrison"Pizza is the core for us. The dough is paramount. If we get that right, then everything kinda follows." - Tom Harrison"There's a reason more and more people are getting into pizza kitchens. It's a really good business model. And what we've chosen to do is elevate that experience and add more variety to it with the rest of the menu." - Tom Harrison"A friend of mine said it's business ownership is 80% janitor, and that really rings true some days." - Tom HarrisonKey takeawaysBe hypercritical of every hospitality tech pitch you receive - stagger implementations in, never react overnightTech should buy your team more time with the guest, not replace human interaction with a QR codeThe most transferable skill from tech to hospitality is hyper-comms - across email, copy, staff and guest relationshipsCap working hours by contract and policy, not by hope - 45-hour contracts, overtime rolled into the next week, holiday actively encouragedInnovation inside clear brand guardrails outperforms top-down menu design - ...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • EP: 02 - Service is the Plate. Hospitality is the Feeling - Paulo de Tarso on the Soul of the Industry

    EP: 02 - 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
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