Melina Davies: An Unlikely Ingredient To Success | The Kids Table Podcast Ep. 31
This week at The Kids Table, Gunnar, Jen, and the crew sit down with restaurateur and Olive & Thyme founder Melina Davies for a conversation that goes way deeper than food. What starts with stories about childhood Weight Watchers meetings, crash diets, and fitness culture quickly turns into a bigger discussion about discipline, identity, pressure, perfectionism, and the systems we build to survive.
Melina opens up about growing up in an immigrant family, feeling like an outsider in her own home, and how cooking became her way of trying to bring people together. She shares the unlikely path from the film industry to opening Olive & Thyme, the terrifying reality of risking everything to start a restaurant with zero formal experience, and the philosophy that turned it into one of LA’s most beloved spots. Along the way, the group dives into hospitality, leadership, burnout, standards, service, and why the best businesses are built around making people feel seen.
The episode also delivers classic Kids Table energy with old fitness modeling stories, chaotic gym banter, restaurant horror stories, and some brutally honest conversations about motivation, mental health, and learning how to stop chasing perfection. Equal parts hilarious, thoughtful, and unexpectedly emotional, this one is really about what happens when people decide to build something with intention and refuse to cut corners.
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the show!
TRAINHEROIC: Trusted by top coaches since 2012. Plans start at just $10/month– And you get your first 14 days free. Head to trainheroic.com/thekidstable to start your free trial now.
Melina Davies:
Insta - (https://www.instagram.com/melinadavies11/)
Website - (https://oliveandthyme.com/pages/melina-davies?srsltid=AfmBOopmQGmbHH8n3OoGlu6HM_ZlBYIBmjPtuEKcn5GZgxOiot0ppHo9)
About Melina:
Olive & Thyme started in 2011 as a small restaurant born out of Melina Davies love for food and togetherness. It was a small open kitchen in Toluca Lake and a giant leap of faith for Melina. You could say the odds were against her: Melina, a movie producer, had no experience in the restaurant world—and this was LA, the land of thousands of eateries, wine bars and bistros. But what Melina had was a cadence in the kitchen. After a fourteen-hour day on set, she’d relish getting home to cook a meal for her family and friends. After a little soul searching and huge encouragement from her husband, Christian, Melina opened her first restaurant.
In those early days, you would often see Melina in the kitchen at the expo line, while her newborn daughter sat sleeping through lunch at the high-top counter. The restaurant was warm, vibrant, and always busy. Melina and her team whipped up dishes that were local, seasonal, and delicious. They spent time with each customer, introducing them to some of the most amazing cheese, charcuterie & wine from France, the delectable treats from local vendors and would guide them through a new culinary experience. People came—over and over again, and would tell their friends, and the buzz continued to grow.
Olive & Thyme grew to be a destination. Today, Olive & Thyme has two locations and are currently building their third. It’s where families gather over Melina’s coveted Fattoush salad, co-workers grab Spicy Chicken sandwiches or Lemon Bars to go, and friends can meet for glasses of sparkling rosé. It’s where the curious go to seek Melina’s latest finds, from global tableware to cookbooks to curated spices, all artfully stocked and for sale throughout the space.
Ultimately, it’s a destination for being in good company.
Produced and Edited by: The Cast Collective (Nashville, TN)
YouTube – (@TheCastCollective)
Instagram – (https://www.instagram.com/TheCastCollective)
TikTok – (https://www.tiktok.com/@castcollective)
