Incentive & Motivation

Andre Rhone, commis chef at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington has been named ‘Young Apprentice Chef of the Year’ in the Academy of Food and Wine’s annual awards.

Andre, from Northolt, Middlesex fought off tough competition from hundreds of other apprentices participating in the professional body’s awards. The contest saw him take part in a special ‘boot camp’ in Birmingham, which tested his culinary skills to the very limit. Andre was also named runner up in the overall category of Hospitality Apprentice Chef of the Year.

His success in the awards follows the recent achievements of two other young chefs from the London hotel, recognised for their efforts in the catering industry through the Craft Guild of Chefs.

Chris Munroe, the hotel’s chef de partie was welcomed onto the Guild’s Graduate Roll of Honour in October, whilst Emily Webb, demi chef de partie pastry, was chosen to compete in The Craft Guild of Chefs’ Young Chef of the Year finals at the Restaurant Show, Earls Court, Londonon 11^th October.

Commenting on the chefs’ successes, Steve Munkley, executive chef, at the Royal Garden Hotel and vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs said; “I am extremely proud of all of the team. It is not only great for the Royal Garden to have such talented professionals in our restaurants, but with such promising young individuals continuing to come into the industry, it gives it a really great outlook for the future.”

The independent five red star Royal Garden Hotel, London, has completed the final stage of its £45 million pound refurbishment. Complementing its refreshed public areas, conference and meeting facilities, Min Jiang and Park Terrace restaurants, the hotel has unveiled a further 154 newly renovated bedrooms and suites situated on the first to fourth floors.

Decorated in neutral calming shades and set off by rich fabrics, new in-room features included as standard are comfortable well-sprung beds, iPod docking stations, flat screen TV and media hub. Modern and contemporary throughout, the refurbishment covers all 394 bedrooms, 10 state of the art meeting and event spaces and the hotel’s two restaurants and three bars.

Throughout 2010 the Royal Garden Hotel unveiled several completed areas of the hotel’s conference and event facilities. The most dramatic transformation, the Palace Suite included a considerable upgrade to its AV facilities. Enjoying a pillar less layout makes the hotel the ideal venue for hosting anything from large-scale conferences, to a reception or dinner dance for up to 550 guests.

Enabling event organisers to deliver truly bespoke, engaging and memorable events, the Royal Garden Hotel provides a superior conference and banqueting product with access to a dedicated events team of experienced experts, including award-winning executive chef Steve Munkley and in-house AV specialists PSAV.

Commenting on the refurbishment general manager Graham Bamford says: ”We are delighted to complete the final phase by unveiling our new bedrooms. Our continued investment in and development of the hotel and its facilities has been a top priority and we are now better placed than ever before to offer our business and leisure guests a top quality and excellent value product. We’ve worked closely with our clients to ensure that the refurbishments addressed their needs and have succeeded in creating the optimum environment for holding successful business and private events.”