The Food Chain

With dining out becoming an increasingly expensive luxury, we find out how to order the perfect restaurant meal with top tips from a panel of seasoned pros.

The Irish Times food critic, Corinna Hardgrave, veteran server and podcast host Brittany Felton and chef and hospitality advisor James Knight-Pacheco join Ruth Alexander to discuss how to make the most of a well-deserved meal from your hard-earned money. They cover everything from sharing dishes, whether to trust a waiter’s recommendations and if it’s best to stick to what you know – or try something more adventurous when visiting a restaurant with friends or family.

We get the inside track from the diner’s table to the wait staff and of course the kitchen. Brittany Felton explains how her 15-year career as a server means she can quickly assess a table’s needs, even to the extent of working out what kind of meal and evening the diners would like to have.

Corinna Hardgrave shares advice from her 20-plus years as a professional restaurant critic, including how to stay in control if you experience pushy or impatient wait staff when eating out.

And chef James Knight-Pacheco shares his insight on when is the best time to order the special – and when to avoid certain dishes on a menu.

Producer: Sam Clack and Niamh McDermott
Sound engineer: Hal Haines

(Image: Waitress taking the order of a group of friends eating at a restaurant - stock photo. Credit: Getty Images)

Many of us have our own theories about sleep. Perhaps it's avoiding coffee after lunch, drinking chamomile tea before bed, or having a warm glass of milk. But what does the science actually say?

In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander explores the relationship between food and sleep, asking whether changing what we eat and drink can help us get a better night's rest.

Professor Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research at Columbia University, explains what decades of research have revealed about the links between diet and sleep quality. She discusses why poor sleep can change our food choices, how certain dietary patterns are associated with better sleep, and why scientists are increasingly interested in nutrients such as fibre and tryptophan.

Sleep physician Dr Allie Hare, President of the British Sleep Society, brings the perspective of the clinic. She explains the questions patients ask most often, from caffeine and alcohol to herbal remedies and sleep supplements, and discusses some of the biggest misconceptions people have about improving their sleep.

Together, they discuss whether there really are "sleep foods", what role meal timing might play, and how social media trends and expensive supplements can distract us from the basics.

Along the way, they answer listeners' questions and share practical, evidence-based advice on the changes you can make today to improve your chance of a good night's sleep tonight.

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Izzy Greenfield
Sound engineer: Hal Haines

(Image: A woman with brown hair, holding an orange cushion, yawns while standing next to an open fridge full of food. Credit: Getty Images)

The history of smoking foods stretches back many years, but when did what began purely for preservation become a highly sought-after flavour? In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander explores the origins of smoked foods and finds out why their flavours are so appealing to so many people around the world. She visits a smokehouse run by Michael Price in the port city of Lancaster in north-west England, where he explains the techniques used to flavour a variety of fish, as well as some of the more unusual demands he’s received from chefs. We learn about the science behind smoked flavours from Professor Heather Smyth, a flavour chemist and sensory scientist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. And food historian, Professor Ken Albala, walks us through thousands of years of history via a meal prepared using his own home smoker in Stockton, California. We also investigate the impact of EU legislation with the European Food Safety Authority, following a European ban on several smoke flavour additives, and ask what this might mean for the future of smoked foods.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producers: Sam Clack and Izzy Greenfield
Sound engineers: Jack Wilfan and Hal Haines

(Image description: racks of fish fillets inside a smoker)

Music is part of the backdrop to millions of meals every day. But what if it is doing more than simply creating atmosphere?

In this episode of The Food Chain, Rumella Dasgupta explores the growing evidence that sound can shape the way we experience food and drink. From scientists studying how the brain combines hearing and taste, to chefs designing dishes around playlists, we ask whether music has become an ingredient in its own right.

Chef Gaggan Anand explains why music sits at the centre of his restaurant in Bangkok, where sound, lighting and food are carefully choreographed into a single experience. Cognitive neuroscientist Ophelia Deroy shares research showing how music can influence our perception of sweetness, bitterness and texture, and explains why flavour is far more than what happens on the tongue.

We also hear from Ola Sars, founder of the business music platform Soundtrack, whose company helps restaurants, cafés and hotels tailor the music they play. He shares research suggesting that the right soundtrack can influence customer behaviour and even affect sales.

But not everyone is convinced. Dan Keeling, co-owner of London's Noble Rot restaurants and a former music industry executive who signed artists including Coldplay and Lily Allen, explains why he has chosen not to play music in his dining rooms at all.

From silent restaurants to carefully curated playlists, from neuroscience labs to commercial dining rooms, we explore the increasingly important role sound plays in the way we eat.

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

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)