Hotel Café Royal appoints new beverage director
Matteo Carretta has become London’s Hotel Café Royal director of beverage, overseeing all of the hotel’s bars.
Carretta started his career in London in 2016 with the Inception Group, working up from head bartender to bar operations manager. He then joined Claridge’s as bar operations manager/director of mixology in 2019.
Most recently, Carretta worked for consultancy firm Maximal Concepts in Hong Kong. In this role, he opened bars in Canada, the US and Hong Kong.
He joined Hotel Café Royal this year and will now be responsible for the drinks programme at the Green Bar and Cake & Bubbles. Under his leadership, both bars will launch seasonal menus in the coming weeks.
He will also be part of the relaunch of the Café Royal Grill, which will reopen later this year as part of the hotel’s 160th anniversary celebrations.
Two hero cocktails will feature on the menu, taken from the original Café Royal Cocktail Book, first published in 1937 by head bartender WJ Tarling.
Carretta has added his own spin on the recipes, with The Grill Martini made using Café Royal Gin and Bottega Cinzano. Meanwhile, The Café Royal Appetizer blends No.3 Gin, Grand Marnier, Campari and Bottega Cinzano Rosso.
Carretta said: “I’m delighted to join Hotel Café Royal at such a defining moment, as we celebrate its 160th anniversary and the revival of Café Royal Grill. It’s a privilege to contribute to a new chapter in the story of one of London’s most distinguished hotels.
“My ambition is to help reaffirm its place as a destination of choice for discerning drinkers in the capital.”
Related news
Money and safety concerns stop young people going out
