In this episode of A Table in the Corner, Russel sits down with Tasha Sideris, founder and chief executive of the Tashas restaurant group, to unpack two decades of building one of the most recognisable hospitality brands to emerge from South Africa. The conversation traces Tasha’s route into restaurants through family, osmosis and necessity rather than formal training, and how early years on the floor shaped a leadership style rooted in presence, pace and accountability.
Tasha speaks candidly about scaling across continents without losing quality, the constant work of sourcing ingredients market by market, and why no two Tashas restaurants are ever identical. We talk about comfort as a design principle, classics as an anchor, and the discipline required to keep food, service and atmosphere aligned at volume. She reflects on rolling up her sleeves during service, leading from inside the business, and why people - not concepts - determine whether restaurants succeed or fail.
The discussion also explores growth beyond the flagship brand, from Café Sophie and Arlecchino to mentoring younger operators, building teams across regions and investing in training as a long-term strategy. This is a clear-eyed, practical conversation about consistency, scale and care, told by an operator who understands that hospitality is sustained not by ideas alone, but by the people trusted to execute them every day.
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