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Welcome to the second episode of the SNACKS series.

SNACKS are short, bite-size episodes from the Chef JKP Podcast, built to spotlight the strongest ideas from our most impactful conversations.

In SNACKS Episode 2, Chef JKP brings together insights from Himanshu Saini and Peggy Pui Ki Li, exploring pressure, recognition, and what really changes after success arrives.

Himanshu speaks candidly about what Michelin recognition actually feels like. From the uncertainty of awards season to the pressure that follows, he reflects on how visibility reshapes a restaurant, its guests, and the expectations placed on the chef. He shares the emotional weight of recognition, the responsibility that comes with it, and why peace and patience matter more than chasing the next milestone.

Peggy brings a complementary perspective shaped by years of operating at the highest level of hospitality. She breaks down the difference between commercial and fine dining, how attention to detail defines premium experiences, and why leadership, clarity, and mental resilience are essential when operating under constant scrutiny.

Together, this SNACK episode explores what happens after recognition. The pressure it brings, the responsibility it creates, and how chefs navigate visibility, expectations, and their own wellbeing without losing focus on the craft.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE

• What Michelin recognition actually feels like in real time
• The pressure that follows awards and global attention
• How visibility changes guests, expectations, and business
• Mental health challenges after success arrives
• Managing distractions outside the kitchen
• Leadership through uncertainty and responsibility
• Commercial dining versus fine dining operations
• Attention to detail at the highest level of hospitality
• Developing talent and kitchen culture
• Staying grounded while navigating recognition

CHAPTERS

01:00 The reality of Michelin announcements
03:00 Pressure, nerves, and expectations
05:00 Visibility and changing audiences
07:00 Managing attention beyond the kitchen
09:00 Mental health and balance
11:00 Leadership under pressure
13:00 Commercial versus fine dining
15:00 Talent, culture, and long-term thinking
17:00 Final reflections on recognition

FOLLOW THE GUESTS

Himanshu Saini

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/chefhimanshusaini

Restaurant

https://www.instagram.com/tresindstudio

Peggy Pui Ki Li

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/peggy_p_li

FOLLOW CHEF JKP

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https://www.instagram.com/chefjkppodcast

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-knight-paccheco-447b1b17

TikTok

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Welcome to the first episode of the SNACKS series.

SNACKS are short, bite-size episodes from the Chef JKP Podcast, built to spotlight the strongest ideas from our most impactful conversations.

In Snack Episode 1, Chef JKP brings together insights from the legendary chef Pierre Koffmann and Reim El Houni, offering two perspectives on leadership, craft, and visibility in hospitality.

Pierre reflects on building excellence in an era before trends, PR, and performance culture. He shares what it took to shape The Waterside Inn on its rise to three Michelin stars, why a kitchen needs one clear voice, and how originality and restraint defined his approach.

Reim brings a modern lens to the conversation with a clear message. If you are not visible, you are invisible. She explains why visibility is now part of the job, how chefs and creatives can turn presence into opportunity, and why preparation, testing ideas, and owning your platform matter more than ever.

Together, this SNACK contrasts two generations of excellence. One built quietly through discipline and craft. The other shaped by communication, visibility, and evolving expectations.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE

• Building a Michelin kitchen in a very different era
• Life inside The Waterside Inn during its rise to three stars
• Leadership, authority, and why one clear voice matters
• Cooking without trends, tweezers, or theatrics
• Ingredient quality versus presentation culture
• Knowing when to back your own taste
• Why originality creates attention
• Visibility as a modern responsibility
• Turning content into real opportunity
• What longevity in gastronomy really requires

CHAPTERS

01:00 Michelin kitchens before trends and performance
03:00 Leadership at the pass and owning responsibility
05:00 Cooking with instinct, seasonality, and restraint
07:00 Opening your own restaurant and backing your taste
09:00 Originality, risk, and confidence
11:00 Visibility and modern expectations
13:00 Testing ideas before building them
15:00 Creating your own platform
17:00 Final reflections on longevity

FOLLOW THE GUESTS

Pierre Koffmann
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/pierre.koffmann/
https://www.instagram.com/thefoodheroesfamily

Reim El Houni
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/reimelhouni/
https://www.instagram.com/ti22films

FOLLOW CHEF JKP

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/chefjkppodcast

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-knight-paccheco-447b1b17

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesknightpaccheco

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Season 11 closes with a conversation that defines what true creative commitment looks like at the highest level of gastronomy.

In this season finale of the Chef JKP Podcast, Chef JKP is joined by Carmen Rueda Hernandez, Executive Pastry Chef of Bricks Dessert and one of the most quietly influential pastry chefs working today.

From a small village in the mountains of Spain to the kitchens of El Bulli and The Fat Duck, Carmen’s journey is not driven by titles or shortcuts, but by curiosity, discipline, and an uncompromising respect for craft.

This conversation traces her evolution from a young cook obsessed with meat and fish to a pastry chef who found her voice through chocolate, research, and storytelling. Carmen speaks candidly about unpaid stages, 14-hour days, creative pressure at the world’s most demanding kitchens, and the mental resilience required to grow without losing yourself along the way.

She reflects on working during El Bulli’s final season, rebuilding The Fat Duck’s menu from scratch, leading experimental research kitchens, and why pastry is not about sweetness but about balance, texture, memory, and emotion.

The episode also dives deep into her work in Dubai, where she built Bricks as the Middle East’s first dessert-only fine dining restaurant. Carmen explains how storytelling shapes every menu, why education is still the biggest challenge, and how trust, repetition, and patience are essential when introducing new ideas to diners.

At its core, this is a conversation about mastery. About staying curious. About knowing when to push, when to listen, and why greatness is built slowly, choice by choice.

A fitting end to a season focused on growth in all its forms.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE

• Growing up in rural Spain and developing curiosity through observation
• Choosing culinary school over economics on instinct
• Discovering pastry through chocolate and laboratory kitchens
• The reality of unpaid stages and long working hours
• Working at El Bulli during its final season
• Discipline, structure, and calm at the world’s top kitchens
• Rebuilding creativity at The Fat Duck through research and psychology
• Leading experimental kitchens under extreme pressure
• Competing at the World Chocolate Masters
• Why dessert is about balance, not sweetness
• Building Bricks as a dessert-only fine dining concept
• Advice for young chefs on repetition, patience, and mastery

CHAPTERS

00:00 Season finale introduction
04:10 Childhood food memories and curiosity
09:30 Choosing culinary over economics
15:20 Early kitchen realities and work ethic
22:10 Discovering pastry through chocolate
30:40 Moving to France and classical training
42:00 Joining El Bulli
55:20 Lessons from the world’s top kitchen
68:10 The Fat Duck and experimental research
86:40 Competition mindset and pressure
104:30 Creating Bricks in Dubai
136:20 Final reflections and advice

PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY POTATOES USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and champions chefs, home cooks, and food lovers across the world. From nutrition to creativity, they continue to show why the potato remains one of the most versatile and essential ingredients in every kitchen.

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/potatogoodnessgcc/

Website
https://www.potatogoodnessgcc.com/

FOLLOW THE GUEST

Carmen Rueda Hernandez
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/chefcarmenrueda6

GUEST BUSINESSES

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Season 11 closes with the annual festive conversation that has become a tradition on the Chef JKP Podcast.

In this Christmas special, Chef JKP welcomes back two of MENA region's most respected food writers, Courtney Brandt and Liam Collins, for an unfiltered year-end conversation on everything that shaped hospitality, dining, and food culture in 2025.

From Michelin milestones and major restaurant openings to media responsibility, service standards, awards fatigue, and the reality behind hype, this episode captures the mood of the industry at a moment of reflection. It is personal, honest, occasionally controversial, and deeply rooted in lived experience.

Courtney shares a landmark year that included working with the world’s first three Michelin starred Indian restaurant, stepping into beverage culture, and witnessing how global recognition reshapes local pride. Liam reflects on his second year as a father, writing with more intention, and how Dubai continues to evolve from an importer of talent into an exporter of culinary identity.

Together, they unpack what truly matters right now. Community over noise. Consistency over spectacle. Thoughtful growth over rushed expansion. And why hospitality still begins and ends with people.

This festive special moves effortlessly between industry insight and personal storytelling, touching on Michelin, 50 Best, Tatler, food halls, service culture, PR ethics, neighbourhood dining, underrepresented cuisines, and what 2026 might bring.

A conversation that feels like being invited back to the table with family.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE

• The biggest hospitality moments of 2025
• Michelin stars, losses, and what they still mean today
• Media responsibility and the misuse of “Michelin” language
• Why community-led dining is winning over hype
• The rise of neighbourhood restaurants and food hubs
• Service culture and what truly defines great hospitality
• Underrepresented cuisines and where the real innovation lies
• PR, influencers, and credibility in modern food media
• Festive food memories, traditions, and industry realities
• Predictions and hopes for hospitality in 2026

CHAPTERS

00:00 Festive welcome and setting the tone
02:10 A year in review for Courtney and Liam
05:30 Family, food memories, and life beyond work
12:40 Michelin moments and historic milestones
21:30 Awards, recognition, and industry maturity
32:20 Openings, closures, and where the market is shifting
45:10 PR, media ethics, and inflated expectations
58:30 Service culture and what guests truly remember
72:40 Community dining, food halls, and neighbourhood growth
88:00 Underrepresented cuisines and future opportunities
102:10 Predictions for 2026
114:30 Festive reflections and gratitude for hospitality teams
120:00 Closing thoughts and Christmas wishes

PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY POTATOES USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and champions chefs, home cooks, and food lovers across the world. From nutrition to creativity, they continue to show why the potato remains one of the most versatile and essential ingredients in every kitchen.

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/potatogoodnessgcc/

Website
https://www.potatogoodnessgcc.com/

FOLLOW THE GUESTS

Courtney Brandt
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/_courtneybrandt_/

Liam Collins
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/itsliamcollens/

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Season 11 continues with conversations that explore the forces shaping hospitality beyond the kitchen.

In this episode, Chef JKP sits down with Georgie Woollam Edwards, Founder of Katch International, a London and Dubai based PR and experiential agency that has helped shape some of the region’s most influential restaurant and hotel launches.

Georgie’s journey moves from early years in theatre and media to studying culture, storytelling, and communication, before building a career across events, PR, and brand strategy. In 2010, she founded Katch in memory of her late sister, grounding the agency in values of honesty, craft, and emotional connection.

Today, Katch operates across the UK, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, working behind the scenes on hospitality brands, global restaurant groups, and landmark openings including Atlantis The Royal.

This conversation explores what PR really means in modern hospitality. From storytelling and brand positioning to influencer culture, restaurant launches, reintroductions, and why food, consistency, and people matter more than hype.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

• Childhood memories and early creative influences
• Theatre, media, and learning to work behind the scenes
• Studying culture, storytelling, and communication
• Founding Katch in memory of her sister
• Lessons from events and wedding planning
• What PR actually means in hospitality today
• Influencers, critics, and brand credibility
• Launching and reintroducing restaurants in the Middle East
• Building loyal teams and strong company culture
• Advice for hospitality brands and creatives

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and welcome
05:20 Childhood and creative foundations
12:40 Theatre, media, and storytelling
21:10 Founding Katch and personal purpose
32:00 Events, weddings, and hospitality lessons
45:30 What PR really means today
58:40 Influencers, critics, and credibility
72:20 Reintroducing restaurants to the market
88:10 Team culture and leadership
102:30 Closing reflections and advice

Proudly Brought to You by Potatoes USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and inspires chefs, home cooks, and food lovers everywhere. From nutrition to creativity, they show why the humble potato remains one of the most powerful ingredients in every kitchen.

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/potatogoodnessgcc/

Website
https://www.potatogoodnessgcc.com

Follow Georgie Woollam Edwards

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/georgiewoollams/

Follow Katch International

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/katch_int/

Website
https://katchinternational.com/

Follow Chef JKP

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https://www.instagram.com/chefjkppodcast

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-knight-paccheco-447b1b17

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesknightpaccheco

Support the show

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Season 11 continues with a story built on discipline, precision and a chef who believes great food comes from craft, culture and the people you grow with.

Alex Dilling grew up between London and California, splitting his childhood between home-cooked food, travel, music and skateboarding. Cooking was not the plan until it became the only thing that made sense.

From culinary school in London to the demanding Michelin kitchens of New York, Alex built his career inside some of the most intense brigades in the world. He trained under Alain Ducasse teams, worked alongside Helene Darroze, developed his own creative identity at Caviar Russe, and later took the helm at The Greenhouse in London before opening his namesake restaurant at Hotel Cafe Royal.

Today, Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal holds two Michelin stars awarded just six months after opening and has become one of London’s most precise, technique-driven and emotionally honest dining rooms.

This conversation opens up the world behind fine dining, leadership, creativity, the realities of pressure, and the craft behind dishes that take years to understand and seconds to enjoy.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

• Growing up between the UK and California
• Early food memories with his mother and grandfather
• Punk bands, skateboarding and choosing cooking late
• Culinary school, externships and finding French classics
• Moving to New York with no job and entering Michelin culture
• Training under Ducasse and running sections at 21
• Creative freedom and earning a Michelin star at Caviar Russe
• Becoming head chef for Helene Darroze at The Connaught at 28
• Leadership, pressure and the realities of managing big teams
• Rebuilding The Greenhouse and shaping his identity
• Opening Alex Dilling at Cafe Royal
• Achieving two Michelin stars in six months
• Menu development, technique and perfectionism
• Why collaboration fuels growth
• His Bangkok project and global work
• Advice for young chefs entering fine dining

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and welcome to the episode
04:00 Childhood across London and California
08:00 Music, skateboarding and teenage years
12:00 Family cooks and early food memories
18:00 Culinary school and discovering French technique
23:00 Moving to New York with no job lined up
26:00 Entering Ducasse kitchens and learning intensity
33:00 Creative freedom and a Michelin star at Caviar Russe
40:00 Becoming head chef for Helene Darroze
48:00 Leadership, pressure and managing a brigade
55:00 The Greenhouse and redefining French cuisine
67:00 Opening Alex Dilling at Cafe Royal
78:00 Earning two Michelin stars in six months
87:00 Collaborating with Albert Adria
102:00 Bangkok project and a new chapter
112:00 Advice for young chefs and closing reflections

Proudly Brought to You by Potatoes USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and inspires chefs, home cooks and food lovers everywhere. From nutrition to creativity, they show why the humble potato remains one of the most powerful ingredients in every kitchen.

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/potatogoodnessgcc/

Website
https://www.potatogoodnessgcc.com

Follow Alex Dilling

Instagram (Personal)
https://www.instagram.com/adills1/

Restaurant
https://www.instagram.com/alexdillingcaferoyal/

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-dilling-b658b295/

Follow Chef JKP

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https://www.instagra

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Season 11 continues with a story shaped by culture, trade, and a woman who believes food can create understanding in ways politics never can.

Victoria Hassani grew up inside her family’s restaurant on the Jersey shore. Breakfast crowds, seafood dinners, a deli, an ice cream shop and a childhood built around menus, ingredients, cost control and hospitality. Her earliest memories were not hobbies or weekend activities. They were food memories.

She later studied music, moved to France, learned language and culture, and discovered how food reflects a place long before she learned it professionally. What she did not expect was that this curiosity would eventually lead her across borders, governments and global industries.

Victoria built her career in international trade and marketing, working between the US and Canada before moving to Dubai in 2007. What started as a temporary opportunity became the foundation of a company that now supports agriculture boards, global brands and regional retailers across the Middle East.

Today she runs GMA Marketing Management between New Jersey and Dubai. Her work connects farmers to markets, governments to businesses, chefs to ingredients and consumers to better understanding what they are buying. She has helped shape how products like US potatoes are positioned in the region, why education matters and how food can be used as a bridge between cultures.

Her story is honest, ambitious and full of the lessons that come from building something from scratch in a region that changes every year.

This conversation opens up the world behind trade, marketing, agriculture and the people who make global food systems function.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

• Growing up in a family restaurant across breakfast, lunch and dinner
• How Russian heritage and French influence shaped her palate
• Moving to France at 18 and discovering food through culture
• Entering trade, marketing and cross-border business development
• How Canada and the US built strong food trade relationships
• Why she moved to Dubai and started her own company
• How GMA helps global brands enter the GCC market
• The education gap around potatoes and why it matters
• Understanding fresh, frozen and dehydrated potatoes
• How US agriculture boards work behind the scenes
• Why food and trade are powerful tools for peace
• How she works with governments, retailers and chefs
• Her mission to connect cultures through food
• Advice for young marketers and women entering the industry

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and welcome to the episode
04:00 Childhood inside a family restaurant
08:00 Lessons from chaos, hospitality and family business
12:00 Russian heritage and early food memories
18:00 Studying in France and discovering culture
23:00 Returning to the US and shifting into international relations
26:00 Entering global trade and marketing
33:00 Moving to Dubai and starting a new professional chapter
40:00 How the Potatoes USA partnership began
48:00 Educating chefs and the region about potatoes
55:00 Fresh, frozen and dehydrated potato insights
67:00 Trade shows, government meetings and culinary training
78:00 Why food diplomacy matters
87:00 Trade, peace and building cultural understanding
102:00 The future of GMA and Victoria’s advice to young talent
Proudly Brought to You by Potatoes USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and inspires chefs, home cooks and food lovers everywhere. From nutrition to creativity, t

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Season 11 continues with a story shaped by culture, curiosity, and a woman who sees food as memory, craft, and connection.

Leen Al Zaben grew up between Jordanian Bedouin hospitality and the fresh, seasonal cooking of her grandmother’s kitchen. Big salads, olive oil, Friday breakfasts, and long family tables. Those early moments became the foundation of her palate and the way she understands flavor.

Her path was never straight. She studied business, tried multiple careers, moved cities, felt lost, and often doubted herself. But writing, photography, and a quiet pull toward food kept finding their way back to her. From Amman to Montreal to Paris to San Francisco, each chapter pushed her closer to the work she was meant to do.

A blog she started one summer opened doors. Teaching herself photography opened more. A chance introduction in San Francisco led her into a food tech startup where she built content, tested recipes, and literally taught an oven how to cook.

Then came Japan. Quiet streets during COVID. Markets, donabe cooking, miso, rice, tea houses. A new universe of discipline and craft.

Today Leen is the Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and MENA’s 50 Best. She champions homegrown talent, documents culture, and brings a thoughtful, grounded voice to the region’s culinary story.

This episode is honest, generous, reflective, and full of the moments that shape a career.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

• Growing up between Bedouin hospitality, family cooking, and early food memories
• The salads, textures, and seasons that shaped her palate
• Feeling lost in her early twenties and the long search for direction
• Why writing and creative expression changed everything
• The blog that quietly kickstarted her food career
• How photography and content work became her entry point into the industry
• Moving to San Francisco and working at a food tech startup
• Discovering Japan, cooking traditions, and learning through stillness
• How she became Academy Chair for 50 Best and what the role really involves
• The future of Middle Eastern cuisine and her message to young chefs and writers

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
04:00 Bedouin hospitality, grandma’s salads, and childhood food stories
12:00 How seasons shaped her palate and love for fresh ingredients
18:00 Career confusion, studying business, and feeling completely lost
26:00 The mentor who changed everything and the move toward writing
30:00 Oxford, the blog, and teaching herself photography
38:00 San Francisco and joining a food tech startup
55:00 Life in Japan during COVID and learning Japanese cooking
67:00 Becoming Academy Chair and the truth about how voting works
87:00 The rise of homegrown restaurants across the region
104:00 The future of Middle Eastern cuisine and advice for young talent

Proudly Brought to You by Potatoes USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and inspires chefs, home cooks, and food lovers everywhere.
From nutrition to creativity, they show why the humble potato remains one of the most powerful ingredients in every kitchen.

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/potatogoodnessgcc/

Website
https://www.potatogoodnessgcc.com

Follow Leen Al Zaben

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/leenalzaben/

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenalzaben

Website
https://www.leenalzaben.com/

Follow Chef JKP

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https://www.instagram.com/chefjkp

Support the show

Follow The Chef JKP Podcast on Instagram HERE