Marc Hardiman appointed executive chef of the Kaleidoscope Collection

Marc Hardiman has been appointed executive chef of Ian and Christa Taylor's Kaleidoscope Collection ahead of the acquisition of a third property due to be announced shortly.

The group currently comprises No.15 Great Pulteney and the County hotel in Bath.

Hardiman joined the Bath-based hotel group last month from his most recent role as executive chef at the four-red-AA-star, 43-bedroom Great Fosters hotel in Egham, Surrey. His first head chef role was at the Greenway hotel in Cheltenham, a position he also held at Fishmore Hall in Ludlow and the Feathers in Woodstock.

Hardiman then joined Bovey Castle in Devon, where he was promoted to executive chef after three months. Following a sabbatical in Australia working at the Royal Mail and Hare & Grace in Melbourne and a stint in Asia, he joined Great Fosters, where he achieved three AA rosettes and a Michelin star for the property's Tudor Room restaurant.

He said: "I'm now working across multiple sites, allowing me to grow as a person and a professional. My idea is to create one team of chefs that will work across the different properties and give them a chance to learn different skills.

"The ideas of the Kaleidoscope Collection and individual hotels really appealed to me, which makes it exciting to work on different concepts across the group. It's certainly going to keep me busy for years to come."

He has already tweaked the menus at No.15 Great Pulteney, introducing a sharing plate concept at Café 15 and Bar 15, and introduced a more accessible all-day menu at the County Hotel Bath.

The new menu at No.15 Great Pulteney includes dishes such as lamb baked beans with merguez sausage and wild garlic; Fowey mussels with beer, pickled onions and Hovis; and bruschetta with Isle of Wight tomatoes and basil. Vegetarian and vegan dishes will be featuring more prominently across the new menus, with an afternoon tea menu planned for No. 15 Great Pulteney.

Oliver Clarke joins No 15 Great Pulteney in Bath as head chef >>

Ian and Christa Taylor’s Kaleidoscope Collection buys County Hotel Bath >>

Chef Revelations â€" Marc Hardiman >>

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