Hilton London Metropole, the largest Hilton outside of the US, has appointed Paul Bates as its new Executive Chef. Paul will lead the change of the hotel’s Food and Beverage offering as part of its multimillion-pound refurbishment to radically transform and upgrade the guest and event experience.
Paul will oversee the food and beverage operations for the hotel’s four restaurants and bars, its in-room dining service, and banqueting across its 35 event spaces and meeting rooms. Paul will oversee his team of F&B professionals, ensuring they are delivering creative and sustainable food experiences.
Paul has a wealth of industry experience, making him the ideal individual to manage Hilton London Metropole’s outlets and extensive food and drink event offering. He has held the position of Executive Head Chef at several leading hotels over the last 20 years, including JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, Hilton London Bankside, Beaumont Hotel and Intercontinental, Park Lane. He oversaw everything related to Food and Beverage at all sites, from event operations to the running of individual outlets.
At JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, he was responsible for all food products, running the 2,500 cover event facility and multiple venues, including the 600 cover Associate Restaurant. At Hilton London Bankside, he helped launch the hotel’s successful Food and Beverage offering, with 800 covers across multiple outlets and event spaces.
Under Paul, the hotel’s four restaurants and bars will relaunch exciting new drinking and dining concepts. All sites represent the capital’s incredible food scene, from the markets of Covent Garden and Borough Market to the street food of East London. The flagship restaurant is a warm and welcoming brasserie, where ingredients matter and simplicity rules. Using only primary British ingredients, we focus on genuine seasonality with a produce first approach. The hotel will also add a new relaxed market-style dining outlet that reflects the energy and diversity of London’s bustling food scene, with guests able to eat in or take out at their convenience.
Sustainability is at the heart of Hilton London Metropole, refurbishment and Food and Beverage offering. Paul and his team work with local and ethical suppliers to create green kitchens serving locally grown produce and ‘farm to fork’, Zero Air mile menus. The hotel also works with an organisation to deliver a full circle farm experience. Hilton London Metropole’s food waste is converted into energy and fertiliser, or compost. The resulting compost or fertiliser is distributed to local farms, which then grow the hotel’s new seasons of fresh produce.
Paul Bates says, “I am so excited to be joining at this incredible time of change. Along with my talented team, we will be launching four new restaurants and bars and enhancing the food and drink offering within the conference and events service. I’m looking forward to leveraging my expertise and creating incredible culinary experiences for guests. We’re going to be approaching some of our outlets unlike any other hotel has before, all whilst representing our amazing city – London – creating dishes made with the best locally sourced British ingredients. I can’t wait for our guests to see what we’ve been cooking up!”
The renovation is due to be completed by summer 2021 and will provide visitors with a completely new and upgraded stay. No element of the hotel will be left unchanged.