Episode
Dan O'Regan - From £80k Losses To A Burgeoning Restaurant Empire - The Secrets To Hospitality & The Shocking Night Everything Went Wrong!
- Podcast
- The Go To Food Podcast
- Published
- Apr 6, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2898
- Processing state
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- https://shows.acast.com/the-go-to-food-podcast/episodes/dan-oregan-from-80k-losses-to-a-burgeoning-restaurant-empire
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Summary
On this week’s episode of Mise En Place , we head to Bristol for one of our most chaotic (and delicious) recordings yet with Dan O’Regan, the man behind Bank and Lapin. Sat inside the container-yard madness of Wapping Wharf, what starts as a gentle chat quickly turns into a full-blown hospitality war story — complete with lager-and-Picon drinks, soufflés inspired by Le Gavroche , and a running argument about why everyone in Bristol doesn’t already have Blink. Dan’s story is what makes this episode properly compelling. He didn’t come up through kitchens — he was made redundant from coffee during Covid, opened a restaurant anyway, and promptly lost eye-watering amounts of money. He talks us through losing £80k in year one, another £40k the next, and staring down the barrel of closing Bank completely. There’s a brilliant moment where he describes deciding to “dig until there’s nothing left,” like a cartoon prospector — only for things to finally turn after landing in the Good Food Guide Top 100. It’s a proper reminder of how close success and failure sit in this industry. And then there are the service stories — the kind you genuinely couldn’t make up. A head chef leaving mid-service for hospital with sepsis, a 21-year-old holding down the kitchen alone, Dan jumping on pans while hand-washing plates for 60 covers, all while the dishwasher breaks and he’s worrying about finding another £8k he doesn’t have. Or the customer who complains about everything — lighting, music, even the pass lights — before shouting at staff and leaving a one-star review. Dan’s take? If you’re aggressive, you’re out. Hospitality goes both ways. Food-wise, it’s relentless. We get deep into Lapin’s philosophy — classic French done properly, food that “eats well,” no anxiety on the plate — while wor…