Andrew Turner leaves Wiltons for the Café Royal
Andrew Turner has announced that he is to join the Café Royal as executive head chef.
Turner, who resigned from celebrated restaurant Wiltons in St James earlier this week, joins the Regent Street property a month prior to its official opening in June, following a three-year refurbishment.
Turner, who worked as executive head chef at Wiltons for two-and-a-half years, said that he was delighted to be joining general manager Louis Sailer and the landmark London property.
"I have never been so excited about a new venture in my entire career," Turner told Caterer and Hotelkeeper. "To have the opportunity to launch one of the most iconic hotels in London is not a challenge but a pleasure."
Turner and Sailer previously worked together for Raffles hotels, which owned Brown's hotel in London. While Sailer did not work at Brown's, their paths crossed during the four years that Turner worked there, prior to the hotel's acquisition by Rocco Forte Hotels.
"I wish the owners and all the staff at Wiltons all the very best for the future. Some of the team have been there 35 years and they made it the easiest transition into any job I've had."
Owned by the Set, Alfred and Georgi Akirov's new contemporary hotel collection, the Café Royal has been undergoing its third architectural reincarnation for the past three years. During this period, David Chipperfield Architects has been restoring the listed interiors which date back to the 1860s and the 1930s.
Turner will be responsible for a diverse range of restaurants, cafés and bars, including the Grill Room and the Domino Room and will head a brigade of 50-60 chefs.
The Set comprises the Café Royal Hotel London, the Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam and Hotel Lutetia Paris, which is scheduled to reopen in a few years after a comprehensive refurbishment.
Austrian-born Sailer, who moved from the role of general manager at London's Millennium Mayfair hotel, arrived in the UK in 2010 from Singapore, where he was general manager of the Fullerton hotel. Earlier in his career he worked for Raffles International in Singapore, St Vincent and the Grenadines and China; for Hilton International in Singapore and Japan; and Ritz-Carlton in the USA.
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By Amanda Afiya
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