Diageo Reserve appoints global gastronomer

Diageo Reserve has appointed Irish chef Mark Moriarty as its first global gastronomer to forge a “more meaningful connection” between food and the firm’s spirits portfolio.

Irish chef Mark Moriarty has joined Diageo Reserve as its first global gastronomer

The “first-of-its-kind” role has been created to reinforce Diageo’s commitment to food, and follows the company’s multi-year partnership with IMG’s Taste Festivals earlier this year.

Business owner Moriarty is known for his pop-up cookery concept, which combines fine dining with theatre. He has held the pop-ups in Singapore, Moscow, Cape Town and London. Moriarty shot to fame in 2015 after winning the San Pellegrino World Young Chef of the Year.

Cristina Diezhandino, global category director for Scotch and managing director of Reserve, said: “Last year we revealed a new global cocktailian role as our bar advocacy and drinks strategies expert, a position which has been a great success in helping us to achieve our vision of making luxury experiences available, accessible and aspirational to everyone.

“We recognise that food and drink culture is changing as more people become fascinated with flavour and how spirits can enhance the food occasion.

“Our new global gastronomer brings this movement to life and heralds the new age of the food and drink occasion, one which sees them working in unison to maximise flavour potential and create incredible taste experiences like the world has never seen before.”

Moriarty added: “I can’t wait to work alongside the Diageo Reserve community and other industry thought-leaders to bring these revolutionary brands to life through food – ultimately creating some incredible taste experiences for consumers and encouraging them to see a great cocktail as a way of maximising the culinary moment.”