Ashley Tinoco appointed head chef at Sam’s Riverside

Ashley Tinoco has been promoted to head chef at Sam’s Riverside in London’s Hammersmith.

Born in India, Tinoco’s started his hospitality career as a trainee cook for Taj Hotels in his home state of Goa. In 2010, he joined the US-based Carnival Cruise Lines, initially working on various cruise ships before being appointed as a development chef and working at the company’s bases in both Florida and Alaska.

In 2016, he moved to London and joined the team at the Rib Room at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel in Knightsbridge. He spent two years as a chef de partie under head chef Ian Rudge, before being promoted to sous chef.

In February 2019, he moved to the newly launched Belmond Cadogan hotel in nearby Sloane Street, where he spent eight months as a sous chef at Adam Handling Chelsea.

Tinoco was appointed senior sous chef under Harvey Trollope at Sam Harrison’s restaurant Sam’s Riverside ahead of its launch in November 2019. Following Trollope’s move to France this month, Tinoco has been promoted to head chef, overseeing the 15-strong kitchen team, as well as the selection of homemade dishes sold at the recently launched Sam’s Larder, a grocer and delicatessen adjacent to the restaurant.

The site marked a high-profile return to west London for Harrison, who sold Sam's Brasserie in Chiswick and Harrison's in Balham to the Hawksmoor Group in 2015.