How Victor Lugger wants to take restaurants out of the past and into the future

After booking, and workforce management, will checkout be the next hospitality revolution? Victor Lugger is one half of the duo behind Big Mamma, the unstoppable Italian restaurant group that came to London in 2019, bringing the city the outsized cocktails, irreverent design, cheeky service, and sky-high lemon meringue pies it didn’t know it needed. Since launching Big Mamma in Paris in 2013, Lugger and his co-founder Tigrane Seydoux have grown the portfolio to 26 restaurants across seven countries, including five in London and a first, La Bellezza, now open in Birmingham.

Not content with disrupting the restaurant space, Lugger and Seydoux are now intent on doing the same in the payment space with sunday, their restaurant 360 payment solution designed for the world’s best restaurants. CODE caught up with Lugger to hear why restaurateurs have a responsibility to embrace technology, why he’d rather be a restaurateur than a tech bro, and why resistance is not only futile but bad for the bottom line. 

You launched sunday in April 2021. What inspired it?

“I’m a restaurateur. I’ve been a restaurateur since I co-founded Big Mamma Group 12 years ago. During lockdown — because it was lockdown that introduced QR codes in full-service restaurants — we had the idea of leveraging QR codes to allow guests to pay. It was one of a thousand initiatives we introduced during COVID. A lot of us restaurateurs did new stuff. I was not looking for a business;  I was not launching a company; I was trying to create better hospitality for my guests at Big Mamma. So we built this for us.

I’ve never been crazy about digital menus because the tactility of a physical menu is an essential part of the experience in certain types of restaurants. However, I realised that my guests absolutely loved the digital payment aspect. The second they wanted to leave, they were free to do so. It’s an equivalent, you could say, of Uber, when we realised, hey, we don’t have to wait in the street in the rain to get a cab; we can do it from our phone. And we don’t have to call a number to make a reservation in a restaurant; we can do it in seconds on our phone. Transforming the moment of payment was exactly that.

I then realised that my staff loved it as well, because it gave them more time for hospitality and meaningful interactions with our guests and they collect way more tips on top of service charge with it. Then I also noticed the very positive impact it had on my P&L because my tables were turning faster without us hurrying the guests. That’s when we spun it off into its own company.”

How has it evolved?

“It has evolved into something way bigger than I expected. I thought we would just do a seamless, QR code, pay at table product but sunday became a 360 degree checkout platform, enabling all payment methods in the restaurant, cash management, leaving tips, managing tips, splitting tips, getting that money in your team’s bank account, ordering, pre-ordering, plus all the features that you can enable at the moment of payment, such as enrolling your guests into your loyalty programme and collecting feedback. Previously, leaving feedback on Google was something only very disappointed guests or Instagrammers would do; now we enable everyone to do it seamlessly. Restaurants collect ten to twelve times more Google Reviews from sunday than from reservation software.”

Who is sunday for?

“Sunday has also vastly evolved in terms of target. sunday started with restaurants in the Big Mamma space, think £30 to £60 average spend, full-service restaurants. Today we have more than 20 Michelin stars and 40-plus James Beard Award restaurants in the U.S and, at the other end of the spectrum, QSR where we power hybrid ordering, order and pay, loyalty, etcetera. In the higher-end segment, we have a product called Digital Bill where, instead of having a QR code on the table, you bring the bill, a QR code, at the end of the meal and offer a seamless way to pay. This will not turn your table faster; Michelin star restaurants are not going to make more money because a table turns ten minutes faster. They use sunday because they have a clientele of wealthy, international guests who value elegance and seamless technology.”

How do you think we can improve restaurant service now? Where does digitality come in?

“Let me start by saying what it can’t do. I am a restaurateur; my daily obsession is to operate and open restaurants that deliver great hospitality. You can’t systematically replace staff by technology and expect people to feel taken care of. You can’t have people on their phone their whole meal and provide a meaningful moment where your guests can enjoy food, friendship, love, companionship, and great conversation. But you can and — I will go further — you should evolve the technology that you use. At one time, the telephone was a revolution, and we started to use telephones to make bookings. Then came the internet, and of course, there was a lot of pushback in the beginning, but we started to use the internet rather than the telephone. This is just keeping up. Using a shitty printer to print a piece of paper that you have to carry to the table on a tray and then bring a credit card machine? That is ridiculous. I think it’s our responsibility to realise that it’s ridiculous.

Nobody I know ever had a nice experience paying in a restaurant. The best you can hope for is a swift, efficient payment. I have no doubt that my eight-year-old daughter will not know a world where we pay with credit cards. People have been booking online for the last 15 years. People  have been using Apple Pay for their flat white in the morning for the last 5 years. People have been taking the tube with their phones for the last 10 years. It is actually ridiculous that pretty much only in restaurants are we still having this 1990s experience.

From ordering Ubers to tapping on the Tube, UK consumers expect seamless payments. Why should restaurants be any different?

How can we improve hospitality? Well, put it this way, by keeping up as we ought to. Then it’s every restaurateur’s responsibility to say, what am I going to do with the time I’ve just gained? Do I want to reduce my staff cost? Maybe. That’s not what I have done. That’s not what the Dishooms and JKS restaurants of this world who use sunday have done. You can write this in big and bold: it is our job to empower our staff to take care of our guests. Unless you’re taking care of your guests yourself — which I know I’m not because right now I probably have 3000 people sitting in my restaurants and I’m speaking with you — our job is to empower our staff to do it. And I’m empowering them by giving them state-of-the-art technology so they can use their time for meaningful interactions.”

What seamless payment can bring to the restaurant industry?

“It’s a game-changer. Restaurants like MJMK restaurants have seen how seamless payment transforms the experience. It eliminates the frustration of waiting for the bill, speeds up table turnover, and even increases staff tips. At the same time making the payment digital in hospitality brings the same value as online payments: five times more Google Reviews, seamless loyalty enrolment or data collection. Guests feel in control, and restaurants see better efficiency and higher revenues. You can see at busy places like Dishoom that use sunday just how quick and simple the guests find it. Dishoom has enhanced their style of hospitality by integrating tech. Ultimately, seamless payment isn’t just about speed—it’s about creating a better, more memorable dining experience while improving business operations.”

Are all these innovations made for any type of restaurant?

“Absolutely. Whether it’s a high-end dining experience like Maison François, a fast-casual spot like Rosa’s Thai, or a night hot spot like Sticks n Sushi, the core principle remains the same: guests want effortless experiences. The beauty of sunday is that it adapts to different restaurant formats—full-service restaurants, busy brasseries, and even large chains. At Mildreds, where tables turn quickly, seamless payment helps move guests along without rushing them. Meanwhile, in places like Dishoom, where the experience is very immersive, it ensures guests can settle up without breaking the moment. Any restaurant that values efficiency, guest satisfaction, and staff empowerment can benefit from these innovations.”

It’s a challenging time to be in the restaurant industry right now. What are the main challenges as you see them?

“In 2025, in the UK and across Europe, most restaurants struggle with like for like sales. Like for likes are brutal. There are not as many people and they don’t spend as much. The European economy is not a dynamic environment right now. Practically, what it means is that you had fewer clients in January than you had in January last year and probably even fewer than in January two years ago. And, at some point, there is not much we all can do, because there are fewer people spending less money. So when people come, we need to deliver better hospitality. We need to try and make the few meaningful shifts a week more profitable because there is very little you can do that’s going to make your Monday lunch busier. But how can you get the most out of your Friday night and at the same time deliver better hospitality? The most important things any restaurant can do right now is focus on staff delivering better hospitality, turning your table faster, and getting better ratings online, notably on Google, to attract people beyond your local, loyal clientele.”

What are you obsessed with?

“I’m obsessed with hospitality. I’m not obsessed with tech. Tech is incredibly boring. I’m obsessed with hospitality. I’m obsessed with giving the guests the best time of their day. That’s what I try to do every day in my restaurants and every day at sunday. I’m putting myself in the guest’s shoes and I’m thinking how can I make this whole moment as enjoyable as possible? Typically, the last ten minutes of the meal where you and I are having a conversation, I’m trying to get the waiter’s attention, I’m switching off, I’m not totally focused on you, that’s an example. Any technology, from online reservation to sunday has to be because it’s better for the guests. It’s our job at sunday to make it great for the staff and the restaurants as well but it has to start with the fact that it’s better for the guests. That’s why we built sunday—to make payments invisible and give guests full control of their experience. At places like JKS Restaurants, we’ve seen how technology can streamline service, boost staff morale, and drive more revenue. I want to create magic in hospitality, where guests leave with only great memories, not frustrations.”

What are the parallels between the way you approach Big Mamma and sunday?

“At Big Mamma, we try to take a comprehensive approach to hospitality. Of course, it starts with food but service — the fact my staff is happy and smiley and having a good time — and design and music and the way the food is presented is going to impact on your mood as a guest, right? Everything is important, it’s not just the food like the French used to think or about service like the Americans maybe used to think. We have a comprehensive approach where we believe everything is important. I think at sunday we take a very similar view which is that for technology to be meaningful it has to first benefit the guests, be elegant, and be a source of better hospitality. It has to empower the staff to do a more meaningful, exciting job, it has to make financial sense. That’s the way I like to think about business. It’s about creating an ecosystem of things that work.”

What does success look like for sunday?

“We went from zero to more than two billion transactions in little more than three years. I think it’s obvious to anyone who pauses for a second and looks at the history of progress that in ten years, no one’s going to be paying with a physical credit card in a restaurant. And sunday, today, in the US and in Europe, is the leading technology company spearheading that transformation, just like OpenTable started online reservation 20 years ago. The success of sunday is leading this transformation in a way that’s meaningful for guests, staff, and restaurants.”

A message from sunday

Sunday is the ultimate all-in-one checkout, revolutionising hospitality. From QSR to Michelin-starred dining, it’s making payments effortless for thousands of restaurants worldwide. 

As Victor immerses himself in the US, spearheading sunday and Big Mamma’s expansion, he’s gathering firsthand insights into the future of hospitality. This June, he’ll return to the UK to host an exclusive brunch event, sharing game-changing lessons from the past year and his vision for what’s next in the industry. If you’re an operator in hospitality, he’d love for you to join the brunch.

JOIN VICTOR FOR BRUNCH