Ikoyi Co-Founder, Jeremy Chan: What It Takes to Build a Global Top 50 Restaurant

Today on the podcast we welcome Jeremy Chan. Jeremy is a British-Canadian chef who grew up between London and Hong Kong, and is the Co-founder of Ikoyi restaurant. In 2017, Chan joined forces with Iré Hassan-Odukale – a friend who had just left a career in insurance - and together they decided to build Ikoyi.

Ikoyi is now a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in London, and it has recently been voted one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. 

But Chan has not always been a chef. In fact he studied Philosophy with Cameron at Princeton, and worked briefly in finance. After leaving, he wrote to lots of restaurants asking them to take him on for some experience. He ended up working at restaurants like the two-starred Hibiscus, Dinner by Heston, and in one of the best restaurants in the world: Noma. He’s known for his creativity, innovation, and originality.

In this episode we talk about:

- The need for obsession and relentless drive when creating something new

- The importance of staying true to your creative vision and maintaining integrity in the face of external pressures

- The restaurant’s focus on creating meaningful, lasting experiences for guests and fostering a strong, values-driven team culture

- The challenges, discipline, and daily routines required to operate at the highest level

- The personal sacrifices required for success, and the reality of building a new business - from empty restaurants to finding new dishes

Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.

Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.

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