The former head of international food for Café Nero, Marco Zacharia, has joined glh Hotels as its new food and beverage director.
Zacharia’s new remit is to champion and evolve the hotel group’s food and beverage offering to focus on delivering consistently delicious dishes across the hotel group’s five individual brands and 17 properties.
The newly created role will see him working with the top kitchen talents in each of the hotels to develop new menus focused on locally sourced produce, developing talent and creating a number of destination restaurants across the hotel group’s varied and historic properties.
Zacharia first project has been to lead the development and relaunch of the Thistle Hotels’ food and beverage menu, launched earlier this month across eight sites, after just two months in position.
With a career spanning almost 40 years in the food and beverage and hospitality sector, including working as a chef aboard the QEII, heading up the School of Food & Hospitality at renowned Brooklands College, through to nine years at John Lewis, which saw him oversee the design and launch of the first John Lewis Brasserie, Zacharia is a strong choice for the role.
Mike Magrane, operations director of glh Hotels, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Marco into the glh Hotels family, it’s a milestone moment for the group as we continue to evolve our offering based on our guests’ feedback.
“Food and beverage is a key focus across all our properties and I can’t wait to see, and taste, what Marco has planned.”
In addition to his roles in and around international kitchens, Zacharia also recently spent time in the Middle East on catering and retail projects including launching the Fortnum and Mason brand in Dubai, before returning to the UK to take up his role at Café Nero, developing innovative food offers across the overseas markets.
Zacharia, commented: “glh Hotels is on a transformative journey across its portfolio with a greater focus on food and beverage than ever before, making this the perfect time for me to join.
“My aim is to use my experience from the last four decades to harness and nurture the incredible talent we have in the kitchens and restaurants across the 17 properties driving forward some exciting changes that will deliver delicious dishes for our guests and build a reputation for excellence and innovation in the hospitality sector.”