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 working through gougères, wild garlic soufflé, Orkney scallops, and what might be one of the best glasses of Chablis we’ve ever had on the pod. There’s also a great tangent on why restaurants shouldn’t rely on minimum spend, how no-shows quietly wreck the atmosphere, and why most people misunderstand just how thin margins really are. It’s funny, brutally honest, and packed with insight — the kind of episode that reminds you restaurants aren’t just about food, they’re about surviving the madness behind it.
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