About

Hi, I’m Chris

I’m the customer at Table Six. Not the loudest guest, or the one looking for faults. I’m interested in the small decisions that reveal how a place works: what’s understood, what’s assumed and what the guest has to work out for themselves.

I only see the guest’s side. I don’t know what was agreed before service, what changed during a shift or why somebody made a particular call. When I suggest an explanation, it’s an inference. I’m more interested in the system behind the moment than in finding someone to blame.

Where this perspective comes from

Before turning my attention to hospitality, I built and ran an online manufacturing business that grew to more than £3m in annual revenue and employed over 30 people. Growth made us pay attention to the way small decisions travelled through the business.

An unclear instruction could lead to a workaround. The workaround might solve the immediate problem, then become the usual way of doing things. When the experience changed, it was often more useful to ask what had happened to the process than to focus on the person nearest the problem.

After selling the business, I found myself noticing similar patterns in independent hospitality. The pressures are different, and a guest’s visit depends on more than a good process. People need room to be warm, observant and resourceful. They also need a shared understanding of how the place is meant to work.

Why Still or Sparkling exists

“Still or sparkling?” is a familiar question in hospitality. The choice is clear, but the way it’s offered can still feel personal. That balance interests me well beyond the question itself.

Still is the part a business has defined: the standards, routines and responsibilities people can rely on. Sparkling is the personality and judgement that make the experience feel human. One gives people a dependable starting point. The other gives them room to respond to the guest in front of them.

I write about where those two meet. Sometimes a business has made a thoughtful decision that quietly improves the visit. Sometimes a routine has drifted, or a decision has never quite been made. Either way, a small moment can tell you a great deal about the experience the business is producing.