Maybe the Problem Isn’t the Industry — Maybe It’s Us.
Published 17.11.2025
We don’t talk enough about the perception of our industry. The long hours, the no breaks, the burnout. The hot kitchens, the wet and cold terraces, the dirty staff toilets, and the crap staff food. Remember when it used to be called family meal?
But we should. Because if we want creative, hardworking, smart, friendly people to want to work with us, we have to start being honest about why they don’t.
Somewhere along the line, we stopped being hospitable to each other. Which is pretty f-ing hilarious, given we’re in this industry.
I remember when family meal meant something. Everyone sat around a table. All the chefs, managers, servers, sharing a few quiet minutes together over a proper meal. No rushing. No politics. Just people. We laughed, we moaned, we picked each other up before and after the madness of service. That simple act connected us. It reminded us that we were a team, not just names on a rota.
THEN WE STARTED CUTTING.
We cut hours because things got too expensive.
We cut family meal because we had to cut hours.
We cut the staff drink because someone said it was too expensive.
We cut the staff area because we needed space for two more four-tops.
And somewhere between the cost-saving and the culture shift, we stopped celebrating birthdays, stopped saying thank you, stopped looking after each other, and allowed ourselves to CUT corners.
We forgot that hospitality isn’t just something we do. It’s something we are.
IT'S ON US TO REBUILD IT.
Not as nostalgia, but as a reminder of who we are at our best. We are generous, warm, and united in this crazy industry.
We might not get phones out of people’s hands, and that’s fine. But one small act, someone starting an actual conversation at family meal, can shift the energy of a whole team. It’s a wanting-effort that brings connection. And connection is what this industry was built on. Because if we want people to see hospitality differently, we have to show them that it still means something.
I’ve worked with thousands of people over my career, from all over the world. I’ve learned about their cultures, their families, their triumphs and hardships. Over thirty years, I’ve felt the fun and frustration, the boredom and excitement, the pain and the pleasure of this industry. And I imagine leaders before me felt the same.
But, for the first time, I can see hospitality slipping away from us. Slowly and quietly.