Hoppers co-founder Karan Gokani: ‘You’ve got to think about the human side’

Karan Gokani didn’t intend to find his career path in hospitality. As a qualified lawyer who moved to the UK, his passion for food – and for bringing people together – eventually led him to swap the courtroom for the restaurant floor.

Speaking to The Caterer as part of the This is Hospitality campaign, the co-founder of London’s Sri Lankan restaurant group Hoppers reflects on the journey that took him from legal training to building a hospitality brand in the capital.

Now opening a new, more intimate restaurant in Shoreditch in London, Gokani describes the project as something of a full-circle moment – a chance to return to a smaller space and rethink what truly matters in hospitality. Drawing inspiration from restaurateurs such as Danny Meyer and his book Setting the Table, he explains why the industry is fundamentally about people, not just food.

Here, he shares what hospitality has taught him about human connection, the importance of strong teams and why, ultimately, guests are far more likely to remember how you made them feel than what they ate.