I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at La Mia Mamma (London, England) in May 2025
Interview
I went through three stages of interviews with both, the ops manager Federico and the Director, Peppe, and throughout the process, I received clear verbal and written assurances that an offer was forthcoming. I was explicitly told I would receive an offer “tomorrow,” and I was even invited to a meeting framed as a job offer discussion, where I was informed that I would have received another email or phone call the next day. I haven't heard back from them so I had to follow up through an email. After this, the company abruptly, out of nowhere, reversed its decision and informed me they had chosen to proceed with another candidate without any explanation.
This kind of handling is not just disappointing—it’s unprofessional. Candidates invest significant time and energy into application processes, and to be misled in this way reflects poorly on the company’s integrity and internal communication. It’s unacceptable to make concrete promises and then backtrack without a clear, accountable explanation.
This experience was discouraging and a stark red flag about how the company may operate internally. I would caution others to manage expectations when applying and hope the company takes serious steps to improve the transparency and reliability of their hiring practices.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you manage the stock take if you have a crash on the system like we are actually facing now.?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at La Mia Mamma (London, England) in Jul 2024
Interview
After an initial response from my very high level application I was invited in for an interview.
After spending a week, deep diving into their company from a technology perspective, looking into the financials, learning about the company and basically building myself up for some tough questions. I was greeted with a man who wasn't expecting me, who whatsapped the owner, who then asked what job id applied for, who then left me waiting for a while before showing up and telling me that he would have to leave the interview to his dad but would have five minutes with me.
We spoke broadly about restaurants and the industry and never really got out of 1st gear, for me I could already see where they needed to make changes from a superficial level. I was then passed over to his Dad who spoke in Italian about me on the way up the stairs (I understood it all, I speak much better Italian than I think they thought) and although the father was a lovely gentleman - it wasn't the forward thinking hospitality company I thought I was applying for.
In these high level roles you expect to be grilled about real time reporting, GP%, supply chain management, team succession planning, future ventures, current goals - unfortunately the build up to the interview and thought of the company was far greater than the reality.
After following up the interview with a courtesy email (where I was going to politely give this feedback) I was ignored.
Anyone going for a role here, if you're old school and want to take a salary while running around like a fool - you'll go far. If you're an industry professional who believes in building good operational systems and workable options, opening opportunities for a new generation of hospitality workers, this probably isnt the place for you.
I urge the La Mia Mamma group to think about their practices especially with high level roles.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was told "I have over 20 years experience in restaurants and let me tell you about chefs..."