SOLOTEL APPOINTS HAMISH INGHAM AS GROUP EXECUTIVE CHEF
Family-owned hospitality operator Solotel is thrilled to announce the appointment of renowned Sydney chef and restaurateur, Hamish Ingham, as its group executive chef. Ingham is tasked with driving a sharp new focus on food across Solotel’s pubs, bars, and restaurants including the likes of Barangaroo House; Kings Cross Hotel; The Clock, Surry Hills; The Abercrombie and others. His appointment further bolsters the senior food and beverage team led by Joshua Hillary, group food and beverage director, alongside Master of Wine Annette Lacey as group beverage manager; Reece Griffiths, group bars manager; Aaron Fallins, group chef; and Matthew Stewart, group guest experience manager.
Ingham brings more than 33 years of industry experience to the role, including most recently as owner and executive chef of Redbird Chinese in Redfern and Tequila Daisy in Barangaroo. One of Ingham’s first head chef roles was at Kylie Kwong’s influential Surry Hills-based restaurant, Billy Kwong. He credits it as one of the most creative environments he has worked in and where he developed a deep love of Chinese cuisine. His next move was opening modern Asian diner, Bar H in Surry Hills with his partner Rebecca Lines. It was while there that he won the Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award. The pair followed the success of Bar H with a series of new openings including The Woods Restaurant & Grain Bar at Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel in 2012; Barangaroo’s Banksii Vermouth Bar & Bistro in 2016 which later became Tequila Daisy in 2021; and Surry Hills’ Redbird Chinese in 2022.
Ingham says he’s at a point in his career where giving back to a new generation of chefs is at the forefront. “I was incredibly lucky to be mentored by legends like Kylie Kwong and Damien Pignolet early on in my career and that has instilled in me a love for mentoring chefs. Running my own restaurants took up so much of my time and so I’m really looking forward to being able to do more of that in this group executive chef role with Solotel.”
“Having a casual meal in a pub is a fundamental part of Australian culture and I’d be a fool to mess too much with the classics. That said, the little things – different ways of plating, better olive oil, really great dressings and salads – can often make a classic, incredible and that’s where I see my restaurant experience coming into play,” says Ingham.
“We are so thrilled to have someone of Hamish’s calibre overseeing the food across our venues of pubs, bars, and restaurants,” explains Joshua Hillary, Solotel’s group food and beverage director. “This is a big play for us in terms of evolving our venue offerings and completes our team of industry leading talent.”
Ingham has now commenced in his role.