Moonsong | Hilton Tempo Hotels | EMEA Launch
Commissioned by Hilton to create Moonsong — a full lifestyle F&B brand for their Tempo Hotels, built around an Australasian brunch concept spanning breakfast, all-day dining and Moonsong Grills.
The brief was clear but the challenge was real: no buffet breakfast, minimum headcount, maximum efficiency. Tempo Hotels are designed for the modern traveller, stylish, mindful, always moving — and the food needed to match that energy. A quick service à la carte breakfast with grab-and-go options, executed fast by a lean kitchen team without sacrificing quality or the guest experience.
Being a Kiwi myself and someone who lives and breathes brunch, this project was close to my heart. I know the Australian and New Zealand cafe scene intimately and loved bringing my own interpretation of that world to a concept that would work abroad, ingredients tight, wastage minimal and scratch cooking.
The menu is vibrant and full of life — vegan and vegetarian dishes leading the way, balanced with indulgent options and covering every dietary need. It moves from a morning wellness smoothie and breakfast bap, through brunch and lunch to a long dinner with a beautiful glass of Australian Sauvignon Blanc and something delicious to eat.
Moonsong Grills added another dimension and option for the hotel: Guests chose their grill, their sauce and two sides, served with a grilled flatbread and presented on an easy transportable tray with branded paper. Simple, considered and designed to make life smooth for both BOH and FOH — delicious food that a kitchen team could execute consistently and confidently, without overcomplicating the pass and using existing preparations and ingredients.
Every dish was built with operational reality in mind. Clean prep, clear SOPs, minimal wastage, menus a hotel kitchen team could own and be proud of. The five day lifestyle shoot brought the brand to life visually, with kitchen team training in the pipeline for each new site.
Delivered:
56 dishes · 5 smoothies & wellness shots · 97 sub-recipes · OS&E consultation · 5-day lifestyle shoot · grab-and-go range · kitchen team training in pipeline.
Fortune Fried Chicken | Spitalfields Market | Harneet Bawega Ltd
This one was a lot of fun. Partnering with Harneet Baweja, we built Fortune Fried Chicken from the ground up, starting with a trip to Bangkok to eat as much fried chicken as humanely possible…
We wanted the food to be uncompromising in flavour and spice. Recognisable Thai flavours that grounded the menu in this cuisine, nothing watered down, full of punch and sass. The menu was built for a QSR focused service. Thai fried chicken with golden crispy shallots and garlic, sticky rice and som tam. A Spicy Bangkok chicken burger with spicy green papaya salad in a soft potato bun, plus the OG burger, Larb salad and sides.
“Fortune Fried Chicken brings the bold, addictive flavours of Bangkok’s street food scene to the heart of Old Spitalfields Market. Inspired by Thailand’s famous fried chicken stalls, we serve up crispy, juicy chicken marinated in traditional Thai spices”.
“At the centre of it all is Executive Chef Jane Alty. Praised as “one of London’s most exciting Thai chefs, bringing street‑food authenticity to bold new heights”, Jane has been featured in Time Out’s list of London’s coolest female chefs, recognising her innovative contributions towards Southeast Asian cooking. Jane founded The Begging Bowl in Peckham, one of London’s first pioneering Thai street‑food cafés, celebrated for its authentic regional dishes”.
“With Fortune Fried Chicken, Jane brings that same energy to a fast-casual setting, without compromising on quality or character. Every dish is a reflection of her vision, from hand-pounded larb salads and sticky tamarind wings to the unforgettable OG fried chicken burger”.
“We’re here for the flavour seekers, the spice lovers, and anyone who craves proper fried chicken with a Thai twist. Street food spirit, bold flavours, and zero compromises, all made fresh to order” - Harneet Bawega
dō deli | Hilton Doubletree Hotels | Launch EMEA
Commissioned by Hilton's StiR Creative Collective — their in-house F&B development arm. To create the full menu for dō deli, a Germanic café and bakery concept for DoubleTree Hotels, rooted in sustainable craftsmanship, local purchasing and rich European bakery traditions.
Dough was the starting point for everything, hence the name. The brief was to build an all-day dining concept around scratch cooking, ingredient led, impactful flavour combinations and a modern, simple presentation, designed for efficient kitchen service.
A big part of the brief I loved was getting out and researching the right partners. The dough is crafted from Wildfarmed wheat, a regenerative alternative to industrially farmed wheat, alongside Workshop coffee and organic tea from the Brew Tea Company. Every supplier chosen to reflect the local community each hotel sits within.
The DNA is rooted in the warm, welcoming traditions of European café and bakery culture, from bustling bakery queues in London to canal-side seats in Delft and breakfast stops in Stockholm, where each country and city evokes its own flair, inspired and influenced by one another. The concept has since launched at DoubleTree Sheffield and expanded to DoubleTree by Hilton Rotterdam Centre, with further openings in the Middle East - it's brilliant to see it out there in the world.
"From a cozy corner table in the heart of Munich to the canal-side seat in Delft, our travels through the region are deliciously defined by the Northern European baking heritage. Where each country, each city evokes their own flair but in a way that's inspired and influenced by one another. Across our Germanic Heritage from the Icelanders to the Danes to the English and Swedes, the common culture that connects us all is the value of 'Nurturing Comfort.'" - Press
Delivered:
All-day dining: 102 dish builds · Children's menu: 38 dish builds · Breakfast: 13 dish builds · Bar menu: 14 dish builds · 197 preparations · kitchen equipment consultation · 4-day photo shoot · presentation to hotel operators in Amsterdam · 1 week kitchen training in Rotterdam · training in Sheffield · kitchen team training in the pipeline for new sites.
dō Comforts | DoubleTree by Hilton
Following the launch of dō deli, Hilton came back to me with a new brief — a home away from home menu for the working guests arriving at the hotels at the start of the week.
There's something really satisfying about creating food that makes people feel properly looked after when they're away from home. The brief was easily recognisable dishes and ingredients, which are nourishing and comforting dishes done well. Classic recipes, healthy options that don't feel like a compromise, and desserts worth saving room for which all fitted into the essence of what dō deli was about. The kind of menu you scan and immediately know what you're having and can come back night after night.
Delivered: 20 new dish build SOPs · 39 preparation SOPs · 1-day photo shoot · kitchen team training in pipeline.
Soneva | Guest Chef Residency 2024 & 2025
Being invited to join Soneva's prestigious guest chef programme is something I don't take lightly — and being invited back a second time was a real honour. Soneva's Stars programme celebrates a diverse array of guest experiences, from Michelin-starred chefs to sporting legends and acclaimed therapists and I was proud to be part of that lineup, twice over.
Soneva Kiri | Koh Kood, Thailand | 2024
Soneva Kiri sits on Koh Kood — Thailand's fourth largest but least populated island, just one hour by private plane southeast of Bangkok. I created a six-course menu cooked in a beautiful jungle dining space for a small group of guests over several nights. It was a delight to spend the week in the kitchen with the female head chef, Chef Fang and her team.
What made this residency so special was the produce. The chefs walk the gardens every morning to pick for their different kitchens. Different varieties of aubergine, rose apples, star fruit, green peppercorns, galangal, every type of basil you can imagine. For a Thai chef based in the UK, it was genuinely a dream. Everything was so fresh!
The whole ethos runs deeper than just great food — sustainability and giving back to the local community is at the heart of everything Soneva does. Bottling their own water on site, buying all fish locally, sponsoring conservation work. Chef Fang and her team were enormously proud of what they had built and rightly so.
Soneva Fushi | Baa Atoll, Maldives | 2025
Returning to Soneva, this time to their original resort in the Maldives, was something else entirely. Situated on an Island in the UNESCO Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve, Soneva Fushi is an ultra-luxury retreat where villas blend seamlessly into tropical jungle or perch over crystal clear waters. A very different setting to the jungles of Koh Kood, but the same unwavering commitment to sustainability, coral restoration, ghost net extraction you name it they are doing everything they can and creating extraordinary dinning experiences at the same time.
I created a Thai menu which used herbs and vegetables from the organic garden picked by myself and my assistant chefs and produced the menu in one of the most breathtaking dining environments I've ever worked in, A six course menu, cooking in front of guests at a sharing table for 10 guests over looking the sea.
"A cross-island restaurant smorgasbord includes Overseas by Mathias Dahlgren, an organic garden-set idyll So Organic, and a rotation of diverse visiting chefs — this year's includes Tom Aikens to Jane Alty, co-owner of Peckham Thai street food hero The Begging Bowl. The extensive gardens supply a quantity of fruits, vegetables and herbs to the various restaurants." - Press
Cloud Waffles | Shan Shui | Heathrow Terminal 2
Brought in by Chew On This restaurant group to develop a new waffle offering for Shan Shui at Heathrow Terminal 2.
I developed the cream fillings and garnishes, tested the product rigorously and ran a series of tastings for the operations team to refine and sign off the final range. Once the recipes were locked, I created a full set of SOPs covering ingredient preparation, batter consistency, cooking temperatures, timing, plating and equipment handling — ensuring the team could produce a consistent, high-quality product at volume without compromising on the details.
A full day of on-site training followed, working directly with the team to demonstrate techniques, build confidence and troubleshoot any operational challenges before launch. I remained on call throughout the opening weeks to provide support, and prepared the waffles for the brand photoshoot.
A tight, well-executed project — from concept and development through to a team ready to deliver.
Karri Kitchen | Daily Bake | Armagh, Ireland
Following their acquisition of the Karri Kitchen brand, Daily Bake, a producer based in Armagh, Ireland. Brought me in to provide expert insight into South East Asian cuisine and overhaul the existing recipe range.
I reviewed and tested every recipe, refining where I could and starting from scratch where I couldn't. That meant stripping out expensive pre-made ingredients, adding back the key flavour components that were missing, and streamlining processes to improve both taste and production efficiency.
Working closely with the creative team, we took the range a step further, reducing ultra-processed ingredients and replacing them with whole, natural alternatives. The result is a range of Asian-inspired ready meals that are lower in salt, high in protein and genuinely full of flavour.
The Karri Kitchen range is now produced for Tesco, Spar and farm shops across Ireland and I am currently developing new products for the Tesco Meal Deal range for the Irish market. Watch this space.
RESTAURANTS
Plaza Khao Gaeng | Speedboat Bar | Bebek Bebek | JKS Restaurants
I was recruited by JKS Restaurants to take on the role of Executive Chef for their Chaiyo restaurant group. In this position, I collaborated closely with Luke Farrell to oversee operations. A key part of my responsibilities was to steady the recently opened Plaza Khao Gaeng and open SpeedBoat Bar, which both went on to receive critical acclaim.
I made it a priority to expand the menu offerings, and improve consistency and product. Alongside this working with the CPU to reduce costs and streamline preparations. This included developing new signature dishes and adding a dessert section. We also created the Deep South Menu and Vegetarian option, these set menus were a huge hit and we then extended into smaller lunch set menus. Deliveroo was introduced. Plaza received a Bib Gourmand under my tenure.
Alongside these operational improvements, I worked hand-in-hand with the recruitment team to build out and stabilize the kitchen staff, ensuring strong teams were in place at both SpeedBoat Bar and the Plaza Khao Gaeng restaurant, working closely with the new head chefs.
In addition to my work with Chaiyo, I also managed the Indonesian Bebek Bebek brand located within the Arcade complex on Tottenham Court Road.
Overall, my time as Executive Chef allowed me to leverage my culinary expertise and operational skills to drive meaningful improvements across multiple restaurant concepts within the JKS Chaiyo portfolio.
The Begging Bowl
While travelling through Asia, Jane became infatuated with Thailand and its exciting and exquisite food. She fell so in love with the local dishes, people, culture and design, it changed her life and her career path to focus exclusively on mastering this deeply complex and demanding cuisine.
This led to her spending four years at Nahm working under the internationally-acclaimed chef David Thompson and subsequently working with him in Bangkok and testing recipes for his book Thai Street Food and spending a lot of time in traditional and ancient food markets of Bangkok. But despite her formal training, Jane attributes many of the invaluable secrets she has learned to spending time with her Thai relatives on the outskirts of Bangkok. Cooking, eating and learning new dishes over the years has provided her with constant inspiration.
Jane Alty was the co-owner and head chef of The Begging Bowl, which opened in August 2012 starting a new era of eating Thai food in London. A modern Thai restaurant centred around quality sourced ingredients, where the team went to great lengths to make everything from scratch, fresh coconut cream daily and curry pastes made weekly, using seasonal ingredients sincerely, while taking great care not to interfere with traditional techniques. Jane focused on creating dishes that were popular in Thailand but hardly seen in Thai restaurants in the UK.
Jane passed her knowledge on to the new generation of Thai chefs in London with several prodigies passing through her kitchen who then went on to open their own highly acclaimed Thai restaurants. The Begging Bowl successfully traded for 11 years under her management and ownership.
72 seat restaurant, 11 seater cocktail bar, opened a 1 year residence at The Prince, in West London.
