About this episode
Running a restaurant is hard. Long hours, tight margins and constant stress. In this week's programme Rumella Dasgupta travels to Edinburgh, Scotland, to meet Lisa He and her mum Sophie. Lisa has just put her life and acting career on hold, to try and help her mum save the family's restaurant, the China Star. A video she made documenting her attempt has gone viral, with more than fifteen million views.
But is a viral video going to be enough to turn a failing business into a success? Lisa's got to fix the sprawling menu, digitise the paper ordering system and cut costs.
Lisa and Rumella meet restaurant turnaround expert David Hopkins from the Fifteen Group in Canada, who's on hand to give advice and to explain why restaurants are such difficult businesses to run.
Meanwhile the Mand family in Sydney Australia know only too well what Lisa and Sophie are going through. Last year, son Bhav documented his fight to save his dad's failing restaurant. So how's it doing now?
And, in such a difficult industry, when is the right time to walk away? Rumella hears from Carleigh Bond, who made the tough decision to close her vegan fast-food restaurant Forked Up in October 2025.
Producers: Lexy O'Connor and Beatrice Pickup.
Sound Engineer: Andrew Mills
Image description: Lisa He and mum Sophie in their restaurant, The China Star. Lisa is looking at mum and smiling. (Credit: BBC)
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