If you want to get Nico instantly jazzed and excited, start talking about burgers. When he originally shared his vision for this first-ever after hours event, I could see that a great part of his motivation for it was to give back to the food community and industry in Paris, but he’s also, honestly, burger-obsessed. […]
If you watch the HB Instagram stories (which, if you don’t, you should!) you’ll remember that not too long ago Nico was walking through some new added pages to the website and added cheekily, “If you are looking for the place to make reservations, that’s where I draw the line in the sand.” He was smiling […]
One of the things that crop up on menus these days are little symbols by some dishes that tell you whether a dish is vegan, or vegetarian, or gluten-free, or soy-free, etc. (or all of the above). I rather like this system and as I mentioned it to the Head Holybellys I got two characteristic […]
One of the interesting things about being an uncle is watching the personality of my sisters’ children develop. It’s fascinating. If you watch the Holybelly instagram you often learn something new about CFO (Sarah and Nico’s Louis) and as he grows, he’s learning how to express himself better. I feel the same way about HB19. It’s […]
So, I know breakfast isn’t traditionally a thing in France. Here we tend to think of meals as something leisurely, social, and often with at least a couple courses. Breakfast doesn’t really fit into that on most days, especially workdays. It’s usually coffee and/or a pastry and might be something done at work or on […]
If you’ve been following this crazy adventure of ours for a while you’ll know I love to document it, every step of the way. For me it was always more than just food and drinks, it’s a journey, building, expanding, discovering, learning, etc. and I always wanted to include you guys along this exciting ride. […]
Well hello internet! I won’t lie to you (have I ever?), I’m a little ashamed it took me this long to get back in the saddle. The last post on this blog is a couple years old, just shameful. I have been incredibly busy. While it’s a weak argument in my defense it has the […]
If you ever worked in hospitality, for any amount of time really, even one shift would be enough to have a taste of one of the longest lasting battle in any industry, the good old front of house versus back of the house. In some restaurant, you can actually feel it floating in the air, […]
Truth is, it’s always a little heartbreaking to see one of your staff go. You work alongside people, day after day for many many hours, going through the good and the less good alike so when they decide it’s time to move on you reminisce on the good times and wish them the best. That […]
I’ve made every single coffee coming out of the HB bar since day 1 (Minus a few coffees made by some of my talented friends pulling rockstar shifts : Matt Perger, Eileen PK, Jarrad Sharrock, Huw Murdock, love you guys!) but now that we have an extra 15 seats, taking the total seat count to […]
