Sydney's top-end hotel restaurants farewell high-profile chefs
There is a significant change of the guard in Sydney's luxury hotel dining scene, with three prominent chefs departing high-profile posts within months of each other.
At Park Hyatt Sydney, The Dining Room by James Viles will drop the chef's name from its title when his role as creative director concludes on August 21. Viles took charge of the harbourside, hatted restaurant in 2022, having built his reputation at Southern Highlands venue Biota. Executive chef Tyson Gee and chef de cuisine Dan Parkes will take over the kitchen, with Gee telling SMH: "We'll be playing around with a few things, working out what we'll keep." He noted the philosophical overlap with his predecessor, adding "[James'] and my styles are quite similar," while sustainability and seasonality will remain central to the menu direction.
Viles, currently overseas and unavailable for comment, is reportedly turning his attention to ventures in the safari and off-grid dining spaces. Park Hyatt Sydney general manager Samuel Dabinett praised the chef's tenure, saying, "James has made a meaningful contribution, and we appreciate the passion and creativity over the past four years. As we celebrate this chapter, we are equally excited about what lies ahead."
Across town, Mitch Orr has exited his position at The Palomar within the newly opened 25hours Hotel Paddington after a single year in the role. Orr described the departure as a natural conclusion to a fixed engagement: "My one-year contract was up. I felt like I'd done what I was asked to do and ticked all the boxes I wanted to tick." Head chef Luke Davenport will now oversee the property's full food and beverage offering, spanning The Palomar, cocktail and wine venue The Mulwray, and coffee house Jacob the Angel.
Reflecting on the shift from independent restaurant ownership to hotel kitchens, Orr, who earned Good Food Guide hats at ACME in Rushcutters Bay over a decade ago, noted the operational differences: "It's a different beast to running a restaurant." He pointed to the added service demands hotels carry compared with standalone venues: "You might have to do room service, you might have to do breakfast." Orr says he remains open to new opportunities: "I'm open to things, I'm looking around."
A parallel departure has occurred at the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills, where Beau Clugston has left after just twelve months. Clugston, a Noma alumnus, had been splitting his time between Sydney and his now-sold Copenhagen restaurant Iluka, with a relaunch of that venture reportedly in the works elsewhere.
An Ace Hotel spokesperson confirmed the hat-retaining restaurant's tenure under Clugston concluded on schedule.
"Like Mitch Orr before him, Beau had a very successful tenure at Kiln and departed when his contract came to an end."
The spokesperson added that culinary director Isobel Whelan-Little, previously of London's BRAT and, since 2020, head chef at Chippendale's LP's Quality Meats, will take on an expanded role: "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."
Jonathan Jackson, 6th July 2026
