Local and international flavour to new chefs at Park Inn Hotel in Telford

TWO chefs who between them have cooked for royalty and world leaders are preparing to serve up something special for diners in Telford after taking charge of the kitchen at one of the town’s leading hotels.

The Park Inn hotel has appointed a new head chef, Marcus Swain, with the aim of making the dining room a destination restaurant, which will attract people from around the county, as well as hotel guests from further afield.

The 35-year-old, who lives in Lower Gornal in Dudley, has spent years honing his skills at hotels around the region, including the Mount Hotel in Wolverhampton, and Westmead Hotel in Longbridge, and wants to use his experience to help put the Park Inn on the culinary map.

The restaurant, RGB, which reflects the colourful red, green and blue of the hotel’s logo, was renamed in October, and introduced a new menu featuring a range of healthy and hearty dishes, from gourmet burgers to select cuts and local specialities.

Though offered all day, the menu also includes daily specials, designed and perfected by the team of chefs.

Marcus, who has cooked for Princess Diana, as well as a number of celebrities, says he wants to use the many positives Shropshire has to offer to make his menus a success.

“It is no secret to anyone living here that Shropshire has a great wealth of fantastic restaurants, though it may be to the rest of the country, and I want to help create a buzz about our dining room,” he said.

“Part of the success lies in the wonderful ingredients we have growing and grazing on our doorstep, all of which I want to make full use of,” he added.

With new sous chef, 42-year-old Marco Sack, from Berlin, the hotel is hoping to combine Marcus’s local knowledge with experience gained working in kitchens all over the world.

Marco has transferred from the Park Inn in Klosterneuburg in Austria, having worked in many different countries, including Japan, Germany, Egypt and the Czech Republic.

He has cooked for French president, Francois Mitterrand and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the Soviet Union, and is looking forward to the challenge of an English audience.

“Although I have travelled extensively, cooking in the UK is a new experience for me, and I am really excited about what we can achieve at the hotel,” he said.

Adrian Pickard, general manager of the Park Inn Telford, who himself only joined the team in May, said he is looking forward to making the restaurant a real talking point for foodies.

“Marcus and Marco bring lots of fresh ideas and enthusiasm with them, and I am really looking forward to seeing what they can do for the restaurant,” he said.

“We have a great location, not far from the M54 and major links, and I want to make RGB the kind of restaurant people are quite happy to travel to.”