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Mitch Orr is one of three acclaimed chefs to recently leave hotel kitchens they were appointed to direct.
In a big year for seasoned chef departures at Sydney’s top-end hotels, James Viles, Mitch Orr and Copenhagen-based Beau Clugston have all called time on high-profile local gigs.
The Dining Room by James Viles at Park Hyatt Sydney will drop the chef’s name when Viles’ role as creative director at the restaurant expires on August 21. Viles took the reins at The Dining Room in 2022 after carving a name for himself at his innovative Southern Highlands restaurant, Biota.
Park Hyatt has a team in place at the Good Food Guide-hatted harbourside restaurant to fill any looming kitchen brain drain, with executive chef Tyson Gee and chef de cuisine Dan Parkes set to fill Viles’ kitchen clogs.
“We’ll be playing around with a few things, working out what we’ll keep,” said Gee. “[James’] and my styles are quite similar.” Sustainability and seasonality will remain cornerstones of the kitchen.
Viles, who is now travelling overseas and couldn’t be reached for comment, is expected to devote more time to his burgeoning businesses in the safari and off-grid food sectors.
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“James has made a meaningful contribution, and we appreciate the passion and creativity over the past four years,” said Park Hyatt Sydney general manager Samuel Dabinett. “As we celebrate this chapter, we are equally excited about what lies ahead.”
Meanwhile, at the new 25hours Hotel in Paddington and its Palomar restaurant, chef Mitch Orr has quietly slipped out the door.
“My one-year contract was up,” said Orr. “I felt like I’d done what I was asked to do and ticked all the boxes I wanted to tick.”
A spokeswoman for 25hours said the hotel’s ground-floor culinary program has been left in the hands of head chef Luke Davenport, who oversees The Palomar, cocktail and wine bar The Mulwray and coffee house Jacob the Angel.
“I’m open to things, I’m looking around,” said Orr. While the restaurateur-chef helped earn Good Food Guide hats for ACME in Rushcutters Bay more than 10 years ago, Orr has become something of a hotel restaurant specialist lately. “It’s a different beast to running a restaurant,” he said.
Where independent restaurateurs can choose to close on a Monday, Orr notes there are different priorities in a hotel. “You might have to do room service, you might have to do breakfast.”
There has also been a chef shuffle at the Ace hotel in Surry Hills, where Orr was part of the launch team awarded New Restaurant of the Year in the Good Food Guide 2023.
Orr’s high-profile replacement, Australian-born chef Beau Clugston, has left after just one year.
A former senior chef at Denmark’s famed Noma, Clugston was jetting between the Sydney gig and his Copenhagen restaurant Iluka, which he recently sold, though he has announced a reboot in a new location.
“Like Mitch Orr before him, Beau had a very successful tenure at Kiln and departed when his contract came to an end,” a spokesperson for the Ace said, highlighting that the restaurant retained its Good Food Guide hat during his tenure.
“Our culinary director Isobel Whelan-Little’s role will evolve to play a greater role in Kiln’s next iteration, working with the talented team to ensure Kiln remains a restaurant both attuned to and loved by the city. We’re excited by what the future holds.”
Whelan-Little spent several years cooking at London’s acclaimed BRAT restaurant, returning to Australia in 2020 to become head chef at LP’s Quality Meats in Chippendale.
