Hotel Chef of the YearHotel Chef of the Year (more than 250 coversmore than 250 covers) Sponsored by Bidfood
WINNER 2023
THE SHORTLIST Paul Bates
Hilton London Metropole
Neil Gooding
The Grand Brighton Michael Paul
Nobu Hotel London Portman Square
Robert Pearce
Down Hall Hotel, Spa & Estate
Michael Paul, Nobu Hotel London Portman Square
Michael Paul is responsible for all seven culi- nary outlets at Nobu Hotel London Portman Square, delivering a broad range of catering, from banqueting to in room dining. The executive chef maintains standards, creativity and budgets across the 400-cover ballroom, as well as the Nobu restaurant, bar and terrace, which can do 450 covers in a sin- gle service, as well as the Lounge restaurant and bar, which is busy from 7am to midnight, and a 24-hour staff restaurant. In addition Paul is part of the team that has launched the Nobu Catering offer, which provides offsite catering for events such as Wimbledon. While delivering outstanding service befit-
ting the Nobu brand across all of these outlets, Paul supports a team of 90 chefs, mentoring them to perform and advance their careers. As a Westminster College alumni and contribut- ing lecturer, he is passionate about develop- ing the next generation of chefs, both within his organisation and in the wider industry. An example of this is the success of Nobu’s kitchen apprentice programme. Paul took two aspiring chefs and mentored them through their apprenticeships. The result was both candidates graduating with the highest level of distinction and later being welcomed into the Nobu Kitchen team as full-time chefs. Meanwhile, the experience of having sec- ond-year graduates in the kitchen has also given other members of the brigade the oppor- tunity to develop, with some helping coach these young colleagues. After this success, the restaurant has since taken on two new appren- tice commis chefs. That team has also developed new products,
having launched afternoon tea in the Lounge in the past 12 months, inspired by the Japa- nese flowers at the hotel. Paul drew inspira- tion from artist Gavin Mitchell, whose works
65 “Operating in as busy a hotel as
this one is a demanding job” Chris King
can be found throughout the hotel and on the menu – blending Eastern and Western cul- tures with traditional and contemporary life. The menu features twists on the signatures found in Nobu Portman Square, including a selection of cup sushi, crispy chicken kara-age and a hojicha cheesecake. Paul has also delivered dishes for the hotel’s
new ‘Chilled Sundays’, offering a Nobu-style sharing menu paired with a vinyl selection chosen by founders Nobu Matsuhisa and Rob- ert De Niro. This focus on creative food and music positioned the hotel to be the obvious choice for the Sony Brit Awards after party. But undoubtedly Paul’s greatest achieve-
ment of the year has been the launch of Nobu Catering, which delivers to events at Japan House and Wimbledon. Such has been its suc- cess that the new venture is already exceeding budgetary expectations. For his outstanding work driving standards
at Nobu Hotel London Portman Square and the efforts he has made to develop new suc- cessful products, all while inspiring his team and delivering on budgetary expectations, Paul is a worthy Hotel Chef of the Year.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID “Operating in as busy a hotel as this one is a demanding job. Maintaining exceptional standards and innovative offerings like a Japanese-inspired afternoon tea takes a huge amount of effort. It’s great to see Michael taking this time to connect from the heart.” Chris King
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