Human Resources

📈 Katharine Ames has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer at Indigo Road Hospitality Group, after serving as Director of Marketing since 2021. Her previous roles include Vice President of Public Relations at Phase 3 Marketing & Communications and Media Relations Specialist at Huff & Co. Ames is based in Atlanta, reporting to Steve Palmer, the founder of Indigo Road established in 2009. The company, headquartered in Charleston, S.C., boasts 35 restaurants across 14 markets and operates six hotels.

🏨 Michael Coscetta appointed President of Mews, a hospitality cloud company in New York on 23 July. He oversees marketing, commercial, and customer success teams amid the company's growth. Coscetta's background includes roles at Paxos, Compass, and Square, with achievements such as preparing for Compass's 2021 IPO and scaling revenues to $2B. Mews, after a $110m funding round in March, employs 1,100 staff across 20 countries and has acquired HS3 Hotelsoftware.

🍴 Chef-owner Ryan Blackburn will not renew Kysty's lease, with its final service on July 26. He plans to open two new ventures in Ambleside: 'The Schelly,' a casual dining restaurant with 24+6 seats, and 'Workshop at The Old Stamp House,' a private dining space seating eight. Both are set to open mid-late August and will retain the Kysty team.

📢 Lost Boys Chicken, founded in 2015, closed its standalone restaurant on York Place due to post-Covid market shifts favoring home dining, economic pressures, and other challenges. Owner Tomas Samandi announced the closure as the hardest decision of his career and has relaunched the business at The Joker, its original pop-up location. Encouraging local support, Samandi suggests customers pick up orders instead of using delivery services to better benefit local businesses.

🍴 Sam Lomas, former River Cottage 'Rising Star' and Roux Scholarship finalist, is set to open Briar restaurant in early September at Number One Bruton in Somerset, a venue previously housing Osip. Briar will offer a daily changing menu focused on hyper-local produce, seasonal ingredients, and foraged offerings, including dishes like Westcombe gougeres and Berkshire pork chop with cider sauce. Osip, founded by Merlin Labron-Johnson, plans to relocate to Hardway in a renovated 16th-century inn.

🍴 Kyle Lynch named head chef at Ormer Mayfair by Sofian, located within Flemings Mayfair, in 2021. Previously at Adare Manor’s Michelin-starred Oak Room and Michelin-starred Ichigo Ichie, he now oversees the British five- and seven-course tasting menus at the newly-starred restaurant. Ormer Mayfair by Sofian earned its first Michelin star earlier this year.

🍳 Chef Chloe Coscarelli, formerly of By Chloe, is opening a new vegan restaurant, CHLOE, in New York City at 185 Bleecker St., Greenwich Village. By Chloe began in 2014, but after a 2017 legal dispute with ESquared Hospitality and CEO James Haber, Coscarelli was forced out. By Chloe filed for bankruptcy in December 2020, was acquired and renamed Beatnic in 2021, and sold again to Inday in December 2023. CHLOE offers vegan classics and operates Tuesday-Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.

🍕 Joey Simons appointed as first CEO of Estiatorio Milos, a fine-dining Greek seafood restaurant in New York City. Previously CEO of Montclair Hospitality Group and COO at SBE in Los Angeles. Milos, established in Montréal in 1979 by Costas Spiliadis, boasts nine locations with plans for four more in Los Angeles, Singapore, Toronto, and West Palm Beach within the year. Milos also runs a wine bar, a hotel in Athens, and a yacht fleet in the Greek islands. Founder Spiliadis remains deeply involved in the business.

🍹 Lima Shoreditch, set to open in late September, will take over Quercus restaurant in a Shoreditch hotel. It follows the original Lima restaurant in Fitzrovia, launched in 2012 as Europe's first Michelin-starred Peruvian restaurant. Executive Chef Roberto Sihuay will introduce new Peruvian dishes with Japanese and Chinese influences. The venue will feature a Peru-inspired décor, private dining rooms (PDRs), and an outdoor terrace. Lima Floral in Covent Garden, after a 2021 rebrand, is now Lima Cantana.

🍴 After a seven-year partnership with Harry Handelsman, Patrick Powell is leaving The Midland Grand Dining Room and Allegra to pursue new culinary ventures. Final service at The Midland Grand Dining Room is complete, and Powell's last service at Allegra is scheduled for 14 July. Allegra was listed in the UK's Top 100 Restaurants, and The Midland Grand Dining Room was named One to Watch at the National Restaurant Awards, currently ranking at number 58 in the Top 100 list.