Dan O'Regan

I’m a restaurateur and writer based in Bath and Bristol. I run two restaurants and write Notes on a Napkin, a Substack exploring restaurant life through essays that blend industry insight, personal experience, and cultural commentary.

My writing focuses on the realities of hospitality, from the emotional highs and daily graft to the wider class and cultural dynamics shaping the food world. I aim to capture the humanity, humour and complexity of the industry, always from a lived, first-person perspective.

Professions

Other

Special subjects

Restaurant behind-the-scenes insight, independent restaurants, service dynamics, hospitality culture, UK restaurants.

Regular work

Notes on a Napkin, Substack
Monthly Column, Country Living Magazine
Monthly Column, Bristol Life Magazine

Advisory boards / Awards

CODE Hospitality 30 Under 30 (Ones to Watch) — Dan O’Regan (2018)
CODE Hospitality’s Happiest Places to Work 2025 — BANK & Lapin
The Good Food Guide’s Britain’s 100 Best Local Restaurants 2023 — BANK
The Good Food Guide’s 50 Best Sunday Roasts 2024 — BANK
SquareMeal UK Top 100 Restaurants 2025 — BANK
SquareMeal UK Top 100 Restaurants 2026 — Lapin
Restaurant of the Year, Bristol Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards 2024 (BANK)

Commercial interest

I own two restaurants in Bristol.