Frankie Van Loo is the new head chef at pizza restaurant Hai Cenato, while Marcus Rohlen has replaced him as head chef at Social Wine & Tapas.
The pair are both are long-time employees of Atherton’s 17-strong Social Company restaurant group.
Yorkshire-born Van Loo began working as chef de partie at Pollen Street Social in 2011, and was part of the team when it won a Michelin star.
He began heading up the kitchen at Social Wine & Tapas in 2015 and has now taken over at pizza restaurant Hai Cenato.
“Frankie is the perfect person to run Hai Cenato – his food is light and vibrant and I’m excited to see the menu develop even further…he has really matured in to a brilliant cook,” says Atherton.
Swedish-born Rohlen moved to London in 2007 to work at Richard Corrigan’s Michelin-starred Lindsay House in Soho. He joined Atherton’s Pollen Street Social in 2012 and worked his way up to senior sous chef, before taking over from Van Loo at Social Wine & Tapas.
“Marcus has been my senior sous at Pollen street Social for the past five years, and now he’s running his own kitchen,” says Atherton. “It’s an amazing step forward for him, and already his menu changes have been fantastic. I am very proud.”
Earlier this year Atherton told Restaurant magazine’s Restaurant Congress that he tried to support staff and keep the ethos of a ‘family business’ as his restaurant empire continues to grow worldwide.
The chef is planning to open his Japanese concept Sosharu in Shanghai next year and move the London site from Clerkenwell to a more central location.