Confidence for new managers in cafés, restaurants and pubs
Yesterday, you were one of them. Today, the keys are yours.
For: Anyone stepping up to lead in a café, restaurant or pub: a supervisor, an assistant manager, a new general manager, a new owner or someone changing careers. Especially if you’re a few weeks in and quietly wondering whether you can do this.
The Keys Are Yours
Today the keys are yours, and the team is watching. A book for anyone stepping up to lead in a café, restaurant or pub. Not a manual: real moments from the floor. The first chapter is free.
Your first morning
Chapter 1, free
How each chapter works
Coming next
Read it free
Leave your email for Chapter 1 now and Chapter 2 when it’s ready. The full book is planned for before Christmas. Tick the box to hear when it’s out, with an early price. Nothing to pay now.
A confidence book for people stepping up to lead in UK hospitality. Each chapter is one real moment every manager meets, told from the floor rather than the office.
Not a manual. No SOPs, no KPIs, no rules on the wall. Each chapter is one moment every manager meets sooner or later: the first morning with the keys, the night service falls apart, the first time you say no to someone who used to be your equal, 1am alone after close. You get the moment, the fear, the truth from someone who has been there, and one small step for your next shift.
Anyone stepping up to lead in a café, restaurant or pub: a supervisor, an assistant manager, a new general manager, a new owner or someone changing careers. Especially if you’re a few weeks in and quietly wondering whether you can do this.
Anyone looking for templates, rotas or a training manual. This book is about the person leading, not the paperwork.
Keys in Hand, Eyes on You. Your first morning: the key in the lock, the chairs still up on the tables, and the first person through the door saying “Morning, boss.” What to watch for, what to say first, and the one small step that makes it real. With the author’s introduction and a note on what comes next.
The full book is planned for before Christmas 2026. Everyone who signs up gets Chapter 2 when it’s ready. Tick the box if you’d like one email when the book is out, with an early price. Nothing to pay now.
Ali Solak has spent more than twenty years in hospitality operations and leadership, running outlets across five countries. In that time he has watched almost a thousand people step up to lead a team.
In June 2024 he founded Epicurean Digital Consultants, a London consultancy for independent cafés, restaurants and hospitality brands. It is founder-led: you work with Ali directly, not with an account manager. He is also the author of Before You Sign the Lease.
Free first chapter
Free
The introduction, Chapter 1 and what comes next, as a 9-page PDF.
Use AI to find the money your restaurant is already losing.
Free preview · from £19.99See itBefore you sign the lease, know your real opening number.
Free sample chapter · from £29.00See itA second operator’s eye on your numbers before you sign.
£195.00See it
