Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen bolsters leadership team with two key hires

The Cumberland Hotel in London’s Marble Arch has appointed Santino Cicciari as general manager and Kyle Lewis as head chef of Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen ahead of the restaurant’s April opening.

Cicciari joins the Clermont Hotel Group London restaurant from the Ivy, where has acted as a general manager since 2024, and has previously held roles at hospitality firms across the UK, Europe and the Middle East including stints at San Carlo Group and the Connaught.

Lewis was mostly recently head chef at the Savoy and has previously worked across Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, New York’s three Michelin-starred Per Se and Michelin-starred and multi-aa-rosette hotels across the UK and Europe.

The duo of senior appointments comes ahead of the Hell’s Kitchen brand launching in the UK for the first time following successful outposts in the US and Ibiza.

The Cumberland Hotel’s general manager Pedro Da Silva said:  "Santino and Kyle bring exceptional calibre, deep industry expertise and a shared commitment to delivering world class hospitality.

“Their leadership will play a pivotal role in shaping Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen at The Cumberland Hotel, and we’re delighted to be welcoming them to the team.”

It comes after Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Global and the Clermont Hotel Group entered a strategic partnership last year to create immersive dining experiences within London hotels.

The upcoming launch of the hit television series-inspired restaurant at the 900-bedroom hotel is said to “mark the beginning of a multi-site partnership”.

Ramsay only hosted one series of the original UK Hell’s Kitchen in 2004, which was based around him teaching ten celebrities how to cook in a London restaurant.

A US version launched in 2005 which has run for 24 seasons and spawned a chain of seven restaurants across different states. Several locations offer an Idiot Sandwich, based on the meme made famous by Ramsay insulting a contestant during an episode.

The flagship Hell’s Kitchen opened in Las Vegas in 2018 and the restaurant brand made its European debut this June at the Unexpected Ibiza hotel in Spain.

The restaurants are known for bringing the drama and intensity of the show directly to diners.