New flavours will be arriving shortly at London’s Strand Palace Hotel with the appointment of Italian chef Roberto Mercandino.
Roberto arrives from the 5-star Luxury Me Hotel By Melia & The One Group (STK) London where he was Executive Chef. He has been based in London for 16 years after training in Italy.
Mercandino will be responsible for a suite of new menus throughout the hotel – from small sharing plates in the Gin Palace to large banquets for private celebrations.
He has an enviable and varied culinary CV with stints in Thailand, Firmdale Hotels, the Soho House Company, and Morgan’s group amongst others.
Having worked in both modern British and classic Italian restaurants during his time in the capital, Roberto is relishing an opportunity to take in wider influences to truly create a fresh buzz around the hotel. “Obviously my roots are firmly based in Italian traditions; that’s where I was born and where I was trained,” explains Roberto. “But my wider Mediterranean and Asian experience brings a cornucopia of flavours, textures and aromas. We can take dishes from San Tropez or Tangiers, Barcelona or Athens, Tel Aviv or Bangkok, and fuse them together or put a new twist on classic dishes!”
“Recruiting Roberto Mercandino as our new Executive Chef gives us a great opportunity to refresh our food offerings across the Strand Palace Hotel,” comments General Manager David MacRae. “It is unusual and refreshing to meet a chef with such a wide-ranging passion for different styles of food. He has worked for big groups and stylish individual units.
“As with every aspect of our business, we have a policy of continuous improvement for our food and I’m looking forward to Roberto developing exciting and surprising food that will delight our guests.”