Angel Zapata Martin has replaced Nieves Barragan Mohacho as executive head chef at Spanish restaurant group Barrafina. Martin, who has cooked at three-Michelin-starred Can Fabes in Barcelona and Ossiano in Dubai, will oversee all three of the group’s London restaurants, working closely with the chefs at each site.
Country house hotel Ellenborough Park has piqued speculation it is aiming for a Michelin star after appointing Matt Weedon as executive chef. Weedon won his first star at Glenapp Castle in Scotland and oversaw the kitchen at Lords of the Manor when it won a second star in 2008.
MasterChef: The Professionals winner Anton Piotrowski has left his role as head chef at Brown & Bean in Plymouth after two months. The chef, who won the BBC show in 2012, ended his seven-year tenure at the Michelin-starred Treby Arms in Sparkwell to open the new venture. He is now planning to launch his own solo restaurant.
Former Launceston Place head chef Tristan Welch is returning to the UK to open a new Cambridge restaurant. Welch is overseeing the launch of Parker’s Tavern, a modern British venture opening at the redeveloped University Arms hotel later this year. He previously worked as head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus and re-launched Launceston Place, before leaving the UK in 2012 to spend more time with his family in Sweden.
Corrigan’s Mayfair has announced a shake-up of staff as the restaurant approaches its tenth year in business. Ross Bryans, former head chef at the Michelin-starred Pollen Street Social, has joined as chef patron, while owner Richard Corrigan’s son Richie Corrigan has been appointed general manager. The changes come ahead of plans to renovate the restaurant and launch a new menu.
Tom Griffiths has cut ties with upcoming Brighton Lanes restaurant Pascere ahead of its opening in June. The chef – previously of Brighton pop-up Flank - was originally announced as head chef and owner of the upcoming venture but has parted ways with the team after deciding the partnership wasn’t ‘the right fit’. Johnny Stanford, former senior sous chef at The Pass at South Lodge Hotel, has taken over as head chef.
Dirk Gieselmann has been appointed executive chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire. The German-born chef worked as chef de cuisine at the three-Michelin-starred Auberge de L’Ill in France for seven years until 2014, when he joined the Four Seasons in Johannesburg. He will oversee the launch of a new restaurant and bar project at the Hampshire hotel, set to open in September.
Chef Steven Bennett has left the two-AA-rosette Comfy Duck restaurant at the Oaklands Hall Hotel to pursue his catering business, The Lincolnshire Chef. He has stepped down from his role as director, shareholder and chef at the Laceby hotel after five years at the property. Bennett said he wanted his company to help ‘put Lincolnshire produce on the foodie map'.