This week on Empty Plates, I’m joined by Missy Flynn co-founder of Rita’s and a deeply thoughtful voice in London’s hospitality scene. We talk about Rita’s as a homage to the American dive bar a place rooted in welcome, memory, and belonging and why dining doesn’t need to look like anything other than what feels true.

We also explore identity in the food industry, the pressure to perform authenticity, and the reality of being a restaurant owner in an increasingly politicised landscape. Missy reflects on growing up in pubs, the communities built through service, and how those early experiences shaped her approach to food and culture.

In today’s episode, Anjli is joined by William Sitwell one of the UK’s most established food writers, a restaurant critic for The Telegraph, authors and broadcasters. He’s the former editor of Waitrose Food magazine, a familiar face on MasterChef, and the author of The Restaurant: A History of Dining Out — a book that traces how the simple act of eating out has evolved across centuries and continents.

This episode isn’t just about the history of restaurants; it’s also about what dining means right now. With William, we talk about that tension between nostalgia, simplicity, and skill and what it really takes to create a restaurant that leaves a mark. We also explore London’s shifting food culture, the role of memory in dining, and why restaurants like Dishoom have done such a brilliant job of capturing the soul of Bombay within the London scene.

In this episode of Empty Plates, I speak with writer, actor, and author Jassa Ahluwalia about identity, race, and food. Jassa’s Both Not Half philosophy challenges the idea that mixed-heritage identity is somehow incomplete and reminds us that being both is not division, it’s wholeness.

We talk about growing up Punjabi and English in the UK, the humour of being a “Punjabi-speaking white man,” his love of aloo paratha, and of course, the great Punjabi vs Gujarati samosa debate. Along the way, our conversation opens up deeper reflections on what it means to be the child of immigrants, to feel both local and foreign, and to question what patriotism means in Britain today.

This episode is released at a time of heightened tension in the UK, and it became a very personal conversation for me (Anjli, your humble host) as the child of a refugee father and an immigrant mother who met in Leicester. Together, we reflect on belonging, survival, and the power of telling our own stories in a country still wrestling with race and identity.