What It Takes to Run One of London's Most Popular Pubs
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What insights do pubs provide about the British economy?
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots podcast. I'm Joe Weisenthal.
And I'm Tracy Alloway.
Today, you're going to be treated to a special two-part episode. We are here in London, and so we wanted to learn about the business of pubs, of course. And so we're bringing you first an interview with famed publican Oisin Rogers. He is the co-founder of the pub, The Devonshire. And then in the second half, that will be an interview that was recorded live at a show that we're doing here in London with the chef at The Devonshire, Ashley Palmer-Watt.
Take a listen.
You know, we've talked about this before. Some of my favorite episodes, and I mean this completely unironically, are when we talk to people in the food service industry in some way, because I truly think that, you know, what we specialize in, which is sort of where the macro meets the micro, etc., There are so many, whether it's labor costs, food costs, consumer sentiment, consumer appetites, et cetera. There are so many things that only someone in that specific industry gets a real view on at any given moment.
No, totally. Restaurants and food service in general are great microcosms of macro trends.
And so since we're in London, you know, a lot of the same restaurants, a lot of the same things. But of course, there are a lot of pubs here and we don't have as many in the U.S. And to the extent we have them in the U.S., I think they're not the same. They're like fake, right? They're like the replicas, they're bars that have the aesthetics of a pub.
Can I say one thing? So I woke up this morning and I turned on BBC News and one of the top headlines was two pubs closing every day. And for as long as I can remember, since I came to the UK for university and then stayed for a decade, Every year there have been these reports saying that pubs are closing down and it's been going on, I guess, for 20 years now. And I'm very curious what is cited as the reason now, because you would feel like the reason pubs are closing in, say, 2002 versus why they're closing in 2026 would be different.
Yeah.
But the trend overall seems to remain the same.
It seems tough. Supposedly, Gen Z, they don't drink as much, which I think, but that can't, you know, that doesn't explain why that would have been a trend in, say, 2002, right?
Right. That's my point.
There was another headline recently. Apparently, a pint has breached the 10-pound mark in some pubs. Oh, that is a lot. Which is like a big deal. I mean, in New York, $10, we're used to that. But I guess the 10, you know, pounds are worth more. Pubs, it's sort of...
There would have been a riot at my university if anyone tried to charge 10 pounds for a pint.
So anyway, while we're here in New York.
Of course, back then we were all drinking terrible things like Bacardi breezers and things like that. But anyway, carry on.
You know, my wife, she briefly worked at a pub in Ireland and apparently they got really upset with her for the quality of her pour. They're like, oh, not drinking that.
Oh, yeah.
Anyway, I don't think that lasted very long. Anyway, we're here in London. We got to do a pub episode. Let's do it. I'm very excited to say we really do have the perfect guest. We're going to be speaking with one of the most famous, if not the most famous publican in the UK. I don't exactly know what a publican is or what defines a publican.
You're about to find out.
So I'm about to find out. We're going to be speaking with Alshin Rogers.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What insights do pubs provide about the British economy?
0:00–4:21
2
How do pubs differ from regular bars?
4:21–8:13
3
What challenges are publicans facing in the era of the £10 pint?
8:13–12:31
4
How has the indoor smoking ban impacted pub culture?
12:31–21:49
5
What factors contribute to a successful pub experience?
21:49–35:27
6
How do ingredient costs affect menu pricing in pubs?
35:27–1:09:12
Speakers
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