Fred Sirieix is general manager of Galvin at Windows in the London Hilton Park Lane and fronts the popular Channel 4 TV show First Dates as host and maître d'. An advocate for service inside and outside the industry, Fred co-hosted Michel Roux's Service on BBC2 in 2011 and established National Waiters' Day in 2012. The 45-year-old Frenchman is also heavily involved with … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Jon Wise
Jon Wise worked as a journalist and TV critic for 15 years before realising his dream of opening a restaurant. In 2010 he bought his local restaurant - The Laughing Gravy on London's Blackfriars Road - with plans to serve good quality food in a relaxed setting. Today the restaurant is a thriving business serving locals as well as those from other areas of London. Jon talks to … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Adam White
Adam White is co-founder and managing director of Village London, which includes Village East in Bermondsey, the Riding House Café, and the recently-opened Rail House Café in London. The restaurateur was born in London, but grew up in New Zealand, moving back to the city of his birth in 1994 with plans to work in industrial design. However, he caught the hospitality bug through … [Read more...]
5 minutes with… Matt Sworder
Chef and restaurateur Matt Sworder is the owner of Kent-based company The Corner House Restaurant Group. The son of restaurateur David Sworder (Morton’s Fork, The Chequers and Bayside Brasserie in Kent) Matt began a marketing career with an insurance firm before realising he missed the buzz of the restaurant kitchen. He worked for Gordon Ramsay Group, Anthony Demetre and Adam … [Read more...]
5 minutes with… Mark Sweeney
Yorkshire-born chef Mark Sweeney returned to his home-county earlier this month to launch COSMO Restaurants' new dining concept COSMO Luxe in Leeds. The chef began his career at the Bath Hotel in Devon before joining the Royal Air Force in 1991 where he was a head chef for 23 years. On leaving the RAF he joined The Glasshouse as head chef and went on to work with Red Carnation … [Read more...]
5 minutes with… Paul Bayliss MBE
Paul Bayliss MBE returned to Cheshire's Carden Park Golf, Hotel and Spa Resort in January of this year to take over from Hamish Ferguson, who had been general manager for 20 years. Bayliss was in the British Army for more than 23 years, starting in the Army School of Catering before working his way up to train others. He retired on commission in 2006, landing a job as GM of … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Andre Garrett
Andre Garrett is executive chef at Cliveden House where he runs his eponymous restaurant and oversees all food and beverage outlets at the 47-bedroom hotel. Starting out as a commis chef at Huntstrete House Hotel in 1989 Garrett went on to work with Nico Ladenis at Chez Nico in London in 1991. He remained in the capital, working with Bruno Loubet, at the Landmark Hotel and then … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Edmund Inkin
Edmund Inkin worked in banking before he joined his brother Charles in the family-run hospitality business EAT DRINK SLEEP in 2002. The business has grown from one site – the Felin Fach Griffin near Brecon in 2000 - to three in the last 17 years, with The Gurnard's Head and The Old Coastguard in Cornwall joining the fold. Inkin tells Hospitality & Catering News about … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… James Dugan
James Dugan joined the 303-bedroom Sheraton Grand London Park Lane hotel as executive chef four months ago where he oversees three food and beverage venues as well as banqueting and other food operations within the property. His career as a chef started at Chewton Glen in 1993 where he worked as a commis before leaving two years later to join Jean-Christophe Novelli at the Four … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Ben Orpwood
Ben Orpwood is executive chef at D&D London's latest Leeds restaurant Issho. After completing an apprenticeship at Queens College in Cambridge and a number of stages he joined Zuma London in 2005 as a chef de partie. He went on to launch outposts in Istanbul and Dubai for the brand before heading to Sydney where he worked in a number of kitchens for five years. He returned … [Read more...]
Five minutes with…Kate Firth
Kate Firth is general manager of Ye Olde Bell Hotel & Spa in Retford, Nottinghamshire. Kate joined the 59-bedroom hotel 35 years ago to work behind the bar for three months before starting university, but after falling in love with hospitality, changed her plans and joined the Trusthouse Forte trainee manager programme. After completing placements at Frimley Hall in … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Gerard Chouet
Gerard Chouet joined Fairmont St Andrews in Scotland as head pastry chef in May. Growing up in Burgundy, France, he developed a passion for foraging from an early age before undertaking an apprenticeship in a patisserie at 19. He continued to work in pastry, completing a Master apprenticeship in France before moving to the UK to work at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. He went on … [Read more...]
Five minutes with…Andrew Coath
Andrew Coath is managing director of Unique Hospitality Management, the home of Epic Pubs and Heroic Pubs, which comprises six pubs in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. He worked for 20 years in hotels, at properties such as The Grand Hotel in Brighton and Malmaison, before moving into pubs. He talks to Hospitality & Catering … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Ross Shonhan
Australian chef Ross Shonhan set out to change the UK's perceptions of Japanese food with the opening of ramen restaurant Bone Daddies in London's Soho in 2012. He now operates seven Japanese restaurants in London with an eighth Bone Daddies set to open at Nova Victoria this year. As his Flesh & Buns restaurant re-opens following a two-week refurbishment, he talks to … [Read more...]
Five minutes with… Harry Edmeades
Harry Edmeades trained as a chef at Westminster Kingsway College before starting a run of pop-up restaurants under the Señor Ceviche name at bars, art galleries, pubs and festivals across London. Inspired by numerous research trips to Peru, and stints working at some of the best restaurants in Lima, in Señor Ceviche he wanted to showcase the diversity and vibrancy of Peruvian … [Read more...]