One of the Island’s best-known chefs has been appointed Chef de Cuisine at the Palace Hotel & Casino. Chef Edward Pepper will oversee the kitchen of the Paragon Restaurant, as well as the hotel’s functions and events, banqueting, in-room service and bar menus. He has become a familiar face since moving here with his family from Malawi in 1987. Over the years he has worked at the Castletown Golf Links, the Chart Room in Laxey, Ramsey Golf Club and La Cucina. Chef Pepper said: ‘My aim is to build on the already high standard of cuisine across all areas of the hotel. I’ve been working towards forming a hand-picked “brigade” of new chefs, from applications we’ve received from people who are driven and committed to producing food of the highest quality. Many of them have trained at the Isle of Man College and I’m looking forward to producing delicious and visually appealing food with them. I’ll also be working towards developing exciting and extensive new menus across the hotel.’ One of Chef Pepper’s first challenges was overseeing catering for the Commonwealth Youth Games at the Palace Hotel. As well as providing breakfast for almost 200 competitors and officials who stayed at the hotel, the hotel fed over 1,500 people for dinner every evening – that’s 11,000 dinners in total! Chef Pepper said: ‘We received many compliments on the food and I am very pleased with the way the kitchen staff approached the task, which was the largest scale event the Sefton Group has attempted. I am also pleased by the attention to detail shown by everyone – they not only produced excellent food, but also worked hard on the presentation, with carvings made from butter, ice and even chocolate.’ Chef Pepper and his team are now looking forward to a very busy Christmas and New Year period, when as well as looking after hotel residents, they will cater for a range of events and functions, lunch and dinner services. He says: ‘We look forward to welcoming guests, old and new, and wish everyone the very best over the festive period.’ -ENDS-