Today we bring to you a special spotlight episode about Lebanon.

I was in Beirut August 4th when the worlds 3rd biggest explosion happened - it killed more than 200 people, injured over 5,000 and 300,000 were made homeless. The collective loss is estimated between $10-15 billion.

The devastation of the blast compounded with a failing government and a collapsed economy is what makes this horrible incident even more catastrophic.

One of the ways I thought I could help is to bring you the story of how one of the most loved Lebanese restaurants in London came to be. I'm talking of course about Comptoir Libanais. When I contacted Tony Kitous, the founder, he was delighted to come on and chat with us.

Kitous brought Lebanese food to the masses with Comptoir Libanais. His vision was to make Lebanese food as popular as the Italians made pizza. In this episode you’ll learn of how an 18 year old moved to London from Algeria with nothing and worked the equivalent of 10 years in 4 to save enough money to open up his own restaurant. You’ll hear about how he built his empire but also what changes he had to make to save the company when they hit trouble a few years back.

Kitous has also written and released 4 cookbooks. In fact he has so kindly offered to donate 15 signed cookbooks to help raise money for Lebanon. If you are interested in buying a signed copy please email me carol.haidar@gmail.com or DM me on instagram -@yourtablesready.

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Today, July 27th 2020, is Ugly Dumpling's 3rd birthday!

Ugly Dumpling is a super casual global fusion dumpling restaurant right in the middle of Soho.They serve really delicious twists on the typical Asian dumpling. Here you’ll find creations like the cheeseburger dumpling, fish and chips dumpling, mushroom truffle dumpling, pecan pie, cheesecake and Nutella dumplings - yes I know they sound so wrong (except for the desert ones) but trust me they are so good. And all they're all 3 for £5.

Ugly Dumpling was one of my biggest saviours during lockdown - I really loved their frozen dumplings hand delivered by Philipp Chaykin the founder himself!

Chaykin quit his job in big corporate consulting land to start a dumpling restaurant. He found street food operator - The Ugly Dumplings run by Ping Wong and asked is she would go into business with him. And that was the beginning of Ugly Dumpling. Chaykin's is an interesting story because he basically outsourced everything about this restaurant which really shows if you have the money and have done the right research you can open your own restaurant without any real experience in the industry.

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This week we're chatting with - Alex Head - founder of London's go-to catering company Social Pantry. Social pantry is considered a leader in fashioning event menus with a creative edge. Head also runs 3 restaurants in London -Soane's Kitchen in Ealing, Cranes kitchen in Peckham, and Social Pantry Cafe on Lavender Hill.

Alex regales us with tales from catering various events of product launches by Rihanna and the beauty company Nars as well as celebrity parties such as Gigi Hadid's slumber party.

Her breakthrough moment was in her early 20s she won the Brentford football club account - and she's been growing ever since.

Social pantry is not only a huge success in its own right but its social responsibility is exemplary. They insure that 10% of their staff are ex offenders. Helping those being released from prison re-acclimate to society by giving them the opportunity to work a full time job in one of her companies.

I really enjoyed chatting with Alex. She's light hearted and full of amazing stories and ideas. Her story is fascinating, her entrepreneurial streak actually started as a child when she decided to make some money by selling sandwiches to her dad's colleagues at work - as a result of being expelled from school.

So that's where we will begin.

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