The Secret Service is at the Table
The Foreign Embassy transforms dining into an immersive cultural experience
Kent Matthews
The Foreign Embassy, Lori Di Francesco, Jo Forel and Dave Fretton
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In a hospitality landscape squeezed by rising costs, shifting tastes, and shrinking attention spans, The Foreign Embassy doesn’t compete with restaurants – it redefines what dining out can be. At its core is exceptional, high-end food, reimagined as part of a wider experience where storytelling and setting amplify every plate. Part supper club, part travelling theatre, part design experiment, it turns fine dining into something immersive, where spaces become worlds in themselves. From secret locations to long-table feasts, each experience is unrepeatable by design. Founded by Lori Di Francesco, Dave Fretton and Jo Forel, Entrepreneur UK speaks with Lori to find out more…
Who and what is The Foreign Embassy, and what idea is behind it?
The Foreign Embassy is a collective that tells stories through food and brings people together around a table to eat new things and meet new friends. We throw one-off feasts in historic buildings and also cater for private clients, helping to bring their events to life. I have a background as a designer and event organiser along with a serious obsession with food, but when I moved to London, I entered the restaurant business. I owned hospitality businesses, and using them as a platform, I began to blend my skills to start a successful creative food events company, organising immersive culinary experiences for big brands such as Gucci, Harvey Nichols and Peroni. My wife Jo, a writer, creative and fellow eater, has always supported and helped me on this venture. In lockdown, we took a leap and moved out of London to Kent. I stepped down from my hospitality businesses but kept the food event company with the idea of continuing it in our new home. We bought and renovated a Victorian foreign embassy where we live, with the idea of using it one day for pop-ups. And things escalated when I met my current business partner Dave, who shares our passion for food and has a background as a great chef. The rest, as they say, is history. We started organising communal creative feasts in secret locations, with guests only discovering the menu as they took their seats. We cooked in sailors churches, old fire stations, glasshouses and Charles Dickens’ holiday home. But always a single long table for people to connect around, and food themed to a specific concept, inspired by seasonal produce, culture, or the venue itself. We then broadened our offering to private and corporate events, but always trying to keep the fundamentals of our Foreign Embassy DNA in the equation. At heart, we are eaters, we are feeders, and we are feasters.
What made you want to take dining out of a fixed place and into something more fluid?
As mentioned, I spent years in the hospitality business. I’m a dynamic person and I thrive on constant change and new challenges. So, as much as I used to love the restaurant life, it can be very repetitive and, from my point of view, there are unfortunately more cons rather than pros. Events have more freedom and leave more room for creativity and experimentation, giving us the chance to explore new ideas and provide a richer, more exciting experience.
Where do you see The Foreign Embassy sitting: between hospitality, art, or something else entirely?
I believe The Foreign Embassy sits right in the middle of a circle, where food is obviously the star of the show, but can be surrounded by a series of other elements to heighten the experience. From music to theatre, art, design, nature, colour, and history, we try not to leave anything outside this circle. This keeps our options and imaginations wide open and means we can take inspiration from the things around us to create something special. We always aim to build a memorable experience, rather than just a good meal.
Do you think hospitality is shifting from service to experience and culture?
Absolutely yes. Food is not just fuel, heaven forbid! Eating is a very predominant part of our life and we should embrace it, making it feel more fun and unexpected. Life is tough right now – the world feels uncertain and the cost of living has gone through the roof. So people just don’t have the means or enthusiasm to spend the time and money they have on decent but forgettable meals out. That’s why The Foreign Embassy doesn’t just bring good food, it comes with a strong, deliberate element of surprise. There’s a theatre to it, whether guests are eating seafood straight off the rocks or pouring bisque out of teapots. Food should be fun, and we believe hospitality as a whole should be stepping up to make sure there’s nothing average about a meal out.
Why do pop-ups feel like such a natural fit for chefs right now?
Everything feels uncertain, overheads are high, and chefs running restaurants can end up in a tangle of admin and financial stress rather than focusing on the food itself. We need to be more dynamic and nimble, to create more space for creativity. The Foreign Embassy is never in a fixed location, with its table appearing in Ibiza for The Ray of Light Awards Festival 2025. Pop-ups feel like a win win in the current climate.
What does brick-and-mortar hospitality need to survive?
Honestly, that’s a tricky one to answer. When you have a restaurant, nothing can be left unsupervised. There is a constant need for an incredible amount of passion, dedication and attention to detail. Creating a strong clientele is not the most difficult part, but maintaining it is tough. There’s no room for error. I think brick-and-mortar hospitality will always exist, but as it gets increasingly challenging, restaurants need to be more flexible and inventive than ever. I guess we can say that only the strongest – and most imaginative – will survive.
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In a hospitality landscape squeezed by rising costs, shifting tastes, and shrinking attention spans, The Foreign Embassy doesn’t compete with restaurants – it redefines what dining out can be. At its core is exceptional, high-end food, reimagined as part of a wider experience where storytelling and setting amplify every plate. Part supper club, part travelling theatre, part design experiment, it turns fine dining into something immersive, where spaces become worlds in themselves. From secret locations to long-table feasts, each experience is unrepeatable by design. Founded by Lori Di Francesco, Dave Fretton and Jo Forel, Entrepreneur UK speaks with Lori to find out more…
Who and what is The Foreign Embassy, and what idea is behind it?
The Foreign Embassy is a collective that tells stories through food and brings people together around a table to eat new things and meet new friends. We throw one-off feasts in historic buildings and also cater for private clients, helping to bring their events to life. I have a background as a designer and event organiser along with a serious obsession with food, but when I moved to London, I entered the restaurant business. I owned hospitality businesses, and using them as a platform, I began to blend my skills to start a successful creative food events company, organising immersive culinary experiences for big brands such as Gucci, Harvey Nichols and Peroni. My wife Jo, a writer, creative and fellow eater, has always supported and helped me on this venture. In lockdown, we took a leap and moved out of London to Kent. I stepped down from my hospitality businesses but kept the food event company with the idea of continuing it in our new home. We bought and renovated a Victorian foreign embassy where we live, with the idea of using it one day for pop-ups. And things escalated when I met my current business partner Dave, who shares our passion for food and has a background as a great chef. The rest, as they say, is history. We started organising communal creative feasts in secret locations, with guests only discovering the menu as they took their seats. We cooked in sailors churches, old fire stations, glasshouses and Charles Dickens’ holiday home. But always a single long table for people to connect around, and food themed to a specific concept, inspired by seasonal produce, culture, or the venue itself. We then broadened our offering to private and corporate events, but always trying to keep the fundamentals of our Foreign Embassy DNA in the equation. At heart, we are eaters, we are feeders, and we are feasters.
What made you want to take dining out of a fixed place and into something more fluid?
As mentioned, I spent years in the hospitality business. I’m a dynamic person and I thrive on constant change and new challenges. So, as much as I used to love the restaurant life, it can be very repetitive and, from my point of view, there are unfortunately more cons rather than pros. Events have more freedom and leave more room for creativity and experimentation, giving us the chance to explore new ideas and provide a richer, more exciting experience.
Patricia Cullen • Features Writer
Entrepreneur Staff
