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Éadaoin McDonagh
Chief Operating Officer at White Rabbit Projects
I ensure everyone is working towards the same goals.
You’ve worked with so many different founders and concepts. What originally drew you into hospitality and keeps you excited today?
I’ve always been passionate about people, with a curiosity to understand what makes them tick, and how to help them succeed. Hospitality brings together an incredible mix of people, personalities and different backgrounds. It is also an understated career which can be very rewarding and entrepreneurial. The results of your vision and effort are visible from the moment you open your doors as you learn how guests feel about your menu and their experience.
It is fast-paced, spontaneous and an environment where I thrive. As restaurateurs, we are always looking for ways to improve product, service and guest experience. That constant pursuit of better is what keeps me excited every day.
You are the COO at the “hospitality incubator” White Rabbit Projects. What kind of hospitality projects do you take on and what is your role in this process – in a nutshell?
From initial meetings with founders/potential stakeholders to concept creation, pre-opening project management, operational planning, people hiring and training and marketing strategy, my role is all encompassing. I guide the teams and ensure everyone is working towards the same goals while ensuring our vision becomes a reality.
We have invested in three startups:
• Kricket – A modern Indian restaurant concept with 4 restaurants and 2 bars.
• Lina Stores – An iconic 80-year-old Italian delicatessen brand, now operating 11 restaurants, 4 bars, and 4 delicatessens.
• Arc – A wellness concept specialising in communal contrast therapy, focused on holistic health and recovery.
In addition to our startup investments, we also operate 6 hotels across the UK and Lisbon.
Feedback, good and bad, is given freely and without judgement.
White Rabbit Projects is known for its ability to guide brands from vision to global presence. What sets your approach apart from traditional investors or operators?
Traditional investment is a “cookie cutter” approach to rolling out the same restaurant with the same design and menu repeatedly. The consumer is savvy. Hospitality experiences need to be meaningful, and service needs to be at a high level, for guests to feel truly valued and become loyal.
We obsess over every detail of the guest and employee journey to ensure that it is the best that it can be. We ensure teams are happy, learning and rewarded for their efforts and believe that this will be reflected in a positive guest experience.
Restaurant design is carefully considered; inspired by the building’s architectural framework and its neighbourhood to ensure a timeless approach. We have created a culture at White Rabbit where the team speak candidly. Feedback, good and bad is given freely and without judgement. To ensure we are up there with the best, this is an absolute necessity.
How do you identify which concepts have the most potential?
Much of this relies on three factors, is there a gap for this in the market, is it scalable and are the founders/stakeholders backable.
With Lina Stores for example, it’s an 80-year-old Italian delicatessen which has a rich heritage in Soho. The family were importing beautiful produce from Italy for generations and had a very loyal following and wonderful history in the neighborhood. They were producing quality artisanal pasta daily for the delicatessen but never ventured to open a restaurant. There was a gap in the London market for fresh handmade pasta, given it was usually reserved for high-end menus.
We were aligned with the Lina Stores family on maintaining the quality of product and protecting their values. The business has flourished based on our common beliefs. Making fresh pasta is a skill and producing it to 80-year-old recipes is a privilege.
People, product and scale make a dream work.
How do you approach collaboration with other entrepreneurs, chefs, or designers when building a brand? Is there a collaboration story with someone that really stuck with you?
First and foremost, it’s establishing a set of values and guiding principles that all stakeholders can align with. These can and should change over time as learnings are made and new people join the business, however they act as a guide on how to establish a strong culture.
We have recently collaborated with chef Nuno Mendes to open Santa Joana restaurant in Lisbon. It’s housed within a stunning 17th century monastery and the food is exceptional. I thoroughly enjoy working with Nuno, an incredibly talented, humble and wonderfully warm chef. Under his leadership, every guest is treated as they are being hosted in his home. His passion, talent, warmth and professionalism are hugely inspiring. It gives me great pleasure to see brilliant yet deserving restaurateurs like Nuno succeed.
What’s been the toughest part of keeping a brand’s soul intact while scaling and
how do you personally navigate it?
Finding and motivating the right people to be part of your business will always be the greatest challenge.
If you could only be remembered for one of your projects, which one would it be, and why?
Lina Stores, as I believe we have scaled it successfully to 19 outlets while retaining our promise to the owners.
Many hospitality concepts fail in execution and remain just a dream. In your opinion, what is the key to turning a vision successfully into reality?
People, product, and scale make a dream work, and you then need to apply the systems and processes to opening restaurants to ensure you grow in the right way. The most important factor in all of this is having the right people to create exceptional guest experiences.
One day, I would love to own a pub with a small number of bedrooms.
Looking back on your personal career, which of your entrepreneurial decisions turned out to be a game-changer, even if they seemed risky at the time?
Working with hotels coming out of covid has proven a great decision for White Rabbit Projects, although I cannot take credit for the idea, I did establish the team and breathe our first projects into life. It’s been hard graft, but has enabled us to expand our support team, create more jobs, bring design and development in-house and be more agile. We now position ourselves as an able partner to support landlord and hoteliers across the world to design, develop and operate food, beverage and wellness spaces. This is very scalable and very rewarding.
Are there any emerging hospitality trends that you’re particularly excited to explore with White Rabbit Projects?
I have always loved a good pub. My grandmother had a traditional pub in Ireland and I have great memories of being there as a child in the snug with a packet of crisps and some red lemonade. One day, I would love to own a pub with a small number of
bedrooms.
You should not meddle too much with what a good pub is: a great publican who is always there, along with honest high-quality food, free flowing taps and a good wine list. I also love a great music session and could be partial to an occasional ‘lock in.’
