Caterer Conference confirms Gary Rhodes interview
The fourth annual Caterer Middle East Food & Business Conference will start with a live interview with chef Gary Rhodes, the magazine has confirmed.
Rhodes has been in the F&B industry for 35 years and counting, and is currently based in Dubai, UAE.
His restaurants in the UAE include Rhodes W1 and Rhodes in Residence at Grosvenor House, Dubai, and Rhodes Twenty10 at Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa.
At the conference, Rhodes will be interviewed by ITP Business Hospitality Group senior editor Devina Divecha. She said: "I am very pleased to announce Gary Rhodes will be attending Caterer Middle East's flagship conference, and I look forward to the experience of interviewing him on stage."
He trained for three years at Thanet Technical College, and took his first job as a commis chef at the Amsterdam Hilton. Rhodes went on to become the ous chef at the Reform Club, Pall Mall. From there he had the opportunity to become Brian Turner’s sous chef at the Michelin-starred Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge.
After two successful years, he moved to Whitehall in Essex as head chef, and within 12 months he took over from Chris Oakes at The Castle Hotel in Taunton. Rhodes, then 26, retained the hotel’s Michelin star.
By 1990, he joined the Greenhouse Restaurant in Mayfair as head chef, and in January 1996, won a Michelin Star — the restaurant’s first. In 1997, he opened City Rhodes, and a year later, came Rhodes in the Square. Both were awarded Michelin stars.
He also won Michelin stars for Rhodes Twenty Four and Rhodes W1 in London.
He opened his first overseas restaurant in 2004 at the five-star Calabash Hotel in Grenada. Rhodes was awarded an OBE in 2006, and in 2007, he opened his first restaurant in the UAE — Rhodes Mezzanine at the Grosvenor House, which has now been refurbished and reopened as Rhodes W1.
Confirmed sponsors for the conference include du and UKR. For sponsorship enquiries, please contact stephen.price@itp.com.
To attend, get in touch with amanda.elisha@itp.com.