Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.

Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going with your parents as you would with your mates, on a Saturday night or for a Sunday lunch. The kind of place you can call your local.

Hugo Baird set out to change that when he opened Hotel Ponsonby in the Ponsonby Post Office building late in 2020. The man behind some of Simon’s favourite spots, Hugo opened his first cafe Crumb when he was just 24, and now runs and owns Honey Bones cafe and neighbouring Lilian osteria and wine bar in Grey Lynn with his business partners Willy Gresson and chef Otis Gardner Schapiro.

With Alice away on holiday, he joined Sophie and Simon for the first Dietary Requirements of 2021 for a chat about what makes a good pub, opening one of his own, cursed hospo spots and the chaotic year that’s been.

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