Lancashire hotel, Stanley House Hotel and Spa, has appointed Simon Tauber (pictured) as its new general manager. Tauber originally joined Stanley House in 2016 as restaurant and bar manager, later moving into an operations role. In 2018, he took on the general manager role at Hever Hotel Resort in Edenbridge, Kent, before returning to Stanley House in January 2020 in a senior operations role. His appointment signals the start of a new chapter for the venue following its acquisition by Monte Hotels, which is owned by Euro Garages brothers, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, acquired the hotel in August.
James Toth has been named as head chef of Tom Brown’s fish-focused Hackney restaurant Cornerstone. Before joining Cornerstone Toth worked at Michelin-starred The Cross Kenilworth under chef-director Adam Bennett.
Kimberley Hernandez will lead the kitchen at new Chiswick restaurant The Silver Birch when it opens next month. Hernandez was head chef at Andrew Wong’s Kym’s following a brief stint at Taiwanese restaurant Xu and has also worked in the two-starred restaurant Matsalen in Sweden.
Edward Allsopp, previously general manager at Wild by Tart in Belgravia, is joining soon-to-open Chiswick restaurant The Silver Birch as its restaurant manager. An experience manager, Allsop’s CV also includes time as general manager at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, as general manager for Villandry and general manager at Albert’s Table in Croydon.
Dario Avenca now heads up the kitchens at Joel Robuchon International’s two London restaurants. Portuguese-born Avenca has been named head chef at Le Comptoir Robuchon, on Clarges Street, and Le Deli Robuchon on Piccadilly and has worked in the industry for more than 15 years alongside chefs including Alain Ducasse and Yu Sugimoto. His most recently chef role was at London’s The Square in Mayfair.
Dan Birk has been named as executive chef at the newly-reopened City Social in London. Birk has worked with Jason Atherton’s Social Group for seven years having worked in his restaurants oversees and was also head chef at Social Eating House in Soho. Birk, alongside Atherton, has created a new contemporary British menu for City Social, which reopened earlier this month.
The Big Table, which was recently formed to acquire and operate high street casual dining brands Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas restaurant brands, has appointed Mike Tye as its non-executive chairman. Tye has led Costa Coffee, David Lloyd Leisure and Premier Travel Inn and is former CEO of Spirit Group. He is also chairman of private equity-backed Moto Hospitality and sits on the council of UK Hospitality.
Alex Jackson has started his new role as head chef of Noble Rot’s newly-launched Soho restaurant. Jackson, a protégé of chef/restaurateur Stevie Parle, was head chef at Rotorino in Daslston before opening southern European restaurant Sardine in London’s Old Street, which closed earlier this year.