The Prep List

Open Pantry Co.
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Start your week with a sharper mindset and a better plan. Hosted by Shaun de Vries from Open Pantry Co., The Prep List is your under 10-minute Monday hit of hospitality insights, made for venue owners, operators, and team leaders who don’t have time to scroll or sit through an hour-long podcast. Each week, you’ll get: – One trend to watch – One tool to test – One real-world operator move – One smart question for your team If you run a venue, manage a crew, or just want your week to feel a little less chaotic, this is your mise en place for the mind.

  1. Episode 37 : What Your Venue Is Saying Without Saying Anything

    5 HRS AGO

    Episode 37 : What Your Venue Is Saying Without Saying Anything

    Every venue tells a story — the question is whether you're telling the one you actually meant to. This episode closes the series with story incoherence: when the brand says one thing, the chairs say another, and the bathrooms say a third. Three questions to test whether your room is telling one clear argument or several confused ones — and a twenty-minute exercise that surfaces what your guests are quietly absorbing. This episode's actions: 1. Walk your venue and take twenty unposed phone photos — door, entry, table, menu, plate, bathroom, exit — then review them as a slideshow. 2. Write down the one-line argument your venue is making, then test every touch-point against it. 3. Identify one detail the rest of the room hasn't quite earned the right to yet — and decide whether to lift the room up to it or let it go. Space is one of the eight ingredients we look at in every Pantry Review, because the room is doing more work than most operators realise — for them or against them. If you want a structured walk-through of your venue with that lens, reach out to us via the email below. Next series: Menu. See you there. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    5 min
  2. Episode 36 : What Your Guests Feel Before They Order

    5 HRS AGO

    Episode 36 : What Your Guests Feel Before They Order

    Long before a guest reads your menu, your room has already told them how to feel — through light, sound, temperature, and music. This episode is about sensory drift: the slow way these atmospheric details stop being intentional, and how to wake them back up. Walks through a four-sense audit you can run on your own venue this week, plus the one thing every operator should do at least once a quarter. This episode's actions: 1. Walk through your room at the time guests will actually be in it — and check lighting, sound, temperature, and music with fresh attention. 2. Book yourself a table in your own venue on a busy night and stay for a full meal as a guest. 3. Ask your team what guests have been complaining about that the team has stopped hearing. Atmosphere is one of those ingredients that can lift a venue from solid to memorable, or quietly hold a great venue back from ever feeling great. If you'd like a fresh set of senses on your venue, reach out to us via the email below. Final episode: the room as a story — how design and detail shape what your guests believe about you, before you've said a word. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    5 min
  3. Episode 35: The Engine Room Behind The Service

    6 HRS AGO

    Episode 35: The Engine Room Behind The Service

    Every service is a relay race between front of house and back of house — and when the relay breaks, it's rarely because someone isn't trying hard enough. It's because the space itself is making it harder. This episode walks through the three friction points that quietly cost you every shift: the pass, the path, and the recovery zone. Plus the concept of space debt — what happens when your covers grow but your back of house doesn't This episode's actions: 1. Work a full service from the back-of-house side — stand at the pass, walk the food path, observe the dish pit during peak. 2. Identify one friction point your team has been quietly carrying and map a fix for it. 3. Ask both your front-of-house and back-of-house leaders the one thing they'd change about how the two connect. The relationship between front of house and back of house is one of the most undervalued ingredients in venue health, and a place we spend real time on inside a Pantry Review. If you want a structured read, reach out to us via the email below. Next episode: the unconscious room — the sensory decisions guests make about your venue before they've even ordered. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    5 min
  4. Episode 34 : Dead Square Metres

    6 HRS AGO

    Episode 34 : Dead Square Metres

    Before your room is an experience, it's a machine — with capacity, flow, bottlenecks, and dead square metres quietly costing you money every service. This episode introduces the three- question capacity check: your seat-to-square-metre ratio, your turn rate per section, and where service consistently breaks down. Because the room you have isn't the room you & re using —and the gap between them is often where the easiest gains in your business are sitting. This episode's actions: 1. Pull a floor plan of your venue and mark your highest-revenue, lowest-revenue, and slowest-service tables across the last quarter. 2. Calculate your seat-to-square-metre ratio and compare it against your service style. 3. Watch a peak service from a fixed corner for fifteen minutes and note every bottleneck you see. Space is one of the eight ingredients we use to assess venue health. If a structured look at how hard your room is working sounds useful, reach out to us via the email below. Next episode: where space either supports or sabotages your service — the line between front of house and back of house. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    5 min
  5. Episode 33: The Second-Site Moment

    26 APR

    Episode 33: The Second-Site Moment

    Location isn't a day-one problem you solve and forget, it's a slow-moving leadership horizon, and the operators who treat it that way end up with more options, more leverage, and more resilience. This episode closes the series with three location-level questions every venue leader should be able to answer: what this location has actually taught you, what your relationship is with the neighbourhood, and what you'd need to know before ever opening another one. This week's actions: 1. Sit down for thirty minutes with a blank page and write down everything this location has taught you — what it rewards, what it punishes, what's changed. 2. Name one concrete way you could be more embedded in your neighbourhood in the next ninety days. 3. Identify the one thing about your current location you know you should improve but haven't — and honestly ask why. Location touches almost every other ingredient in the business — brand, money, menu, team, systems. If a structured read on what your location is really doing for your business sounds useful, reach out to us via the email below. Next series: Space — how the room itself shapes the operation. See you there. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    5 min
  6. Episode 32: Making the Most of Where You Are

    26 APR

    Episode 32: Making the Most of Where You Are

    Most venues are getting less out of their location than they could, not because of where it is, but because of how they're using it. This episode is about the three access points of a modern location: how guests find you, how they arrive, and how they experience the space once inside. Because your location isn't just physical anymore. It's digital, spatial, and every layer is something you can either design or ignore. This week's actions: 1. Walk into your own venue as a first-time guest — park where they'd park, approach how they'd approach, and notice what greets you. 2. Sit in three different seats across the room and pay attention to what's loud, awkward, generous, or tight. 3. Identify one underused part of your space and one change that would turn it from leftover into a feature. Location and space sit close together in a Pantry Review because the line between them is thinner than most operators realise. If you'd like help seeing what the room is quietly asking for, reach out to us via the email below. Next episode: Location as a long-term decision — the second-site moment, and why location is a leadership horizon, not a one-off call. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    4 min
  7. Episode 31: The Rent Review Nobody Modelled

    26 APR

    Episode 31: The Rent Review Nobody Modelled

    Once the lease is signed, most of your location decisions are already made, and rent catching up to revenue is the tightest margin squeeze showing up on P&Ls right now. This episode walks through a four-question pre-lease checklist: realistic rent-to-revenue ratio, review terms, fit-out reality, and exit conditions. Because the most expensive decisions in hospitality are the ones you make without knowing what they actually cost. This week's actions: 1. Pull out your current lease and read it properly — know your next review date, your make-good, and your assignment clauses. 2. Calculate your current rent-to-revenue ratio and map where it lands across the next two review cycles. 3. Identify one clause you'd negotiate differently if you were signing today. The lease decision is one of the places we spend the most time in a Pantry Review. If you want another set of eyes on the economics before your next review, reach out to us via the email below. Next episode: Making the most of where you already are — because most venues are leaving revenue on the table in the space they've already got. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    5 min
  8. Episode 30: The Address Didn't Change. Everything Around It Did.

    26 APR

    Episode 30: The Address Didn't Change. Everything Around It Did.

    Location isn't a fixed asset; it's a promise you make to a specific kind of guest, and suburbs change faster than most venues notice. This episode introduces the three-layer location read: your catchment, your real competition set, and the promise your venue can credibly make. Because the address on your lease hasn't changed, but the context around it almost certainly has. This week's actions: 1. Stand outside your venue at three different times of day and watch for fifteen minutes — note who's walking past and where they're going. 2. Pull basic demographic data for a fifteen-minute radius and compare it to who you think your regulars are. 3. Identify one way your suburb has changed in the last two years that your operation hasn't caught up to. Location is one of the eight ingredients we use to assess venue health. If a structured look at your location fit sounds useful, reach out to us via the email below. Next episode: The lease. What to actually assess before you sign, and the questions most operators wish they'd asked. How to connect with Open Pantry Co. Reach out to us here: connect@openpantryco.com Subscribe to the 🥪Sandwich Press Newsletter: Link Open Pantry Co. Website: Link Open Pantry Co. Instagram: Link Open Pantry Co. YouTube: Link Open Pantry Co. LinkedIn: Link Open Pantry Co. Linktree: Link

    4 min
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About

Start your week with a sharper mindset and a better plan. Hosted by Shaun de Vries from Open Pantry Co., The Prep List is your under 10-minute Monday hit of hospitality insights, made for venue owners, operators, and team leaders who don’t have time to scroll or sit through an hour-long podcast. Each week, you’ll get: – One trend to watch – One tool to test – One real-world operator move – One smart question for your team If you run a venue, manage a crew, or just want your week to feel a little less chaotic, this is your mise en place for the mind.

Information

  • Creator
    Open Pantry Co.
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    37
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Open Pantry Co.
  • Show Website
    The Prep List