Francesco Vacca becomes head chef at TOZI in Victoria
After nine years in the kitchen, Vacca takes over day-to-day cooking at the Victoria cicchetti restaurant alongside executive chef Maurilio Molteni.
Francesco Vacca has been named head chef at TOZI in Victoria, promoted after more than nine years at the Italian restaurant he joined as a junior cook in 2017.
The appointment keeps the kitchen's existing structure largely intact. Executive chef Maurilio Molteni, who co-founded TOZI in 2013, stays in charge of the restaurant's culinary direction and recipe development. Vacca takes over the day-to-day running of the kitchen, reporting to Molteni rather than replacing him.
The move follows a busy month for London head chef changes: Abbie Hendren took over the kitchen at Trindle Stores in Kew and Josh Hughes left Hide and Fox for Updown Farmhouse within the same fortnight.
Nine years on the pass is its own kind of qualification, promotion notice or not.
Nine years from the pass to the top
Vacca's rise followed the usual route up a busy pass: he worked through the sections at TOZI before taking on senior roles in the kitchen, according to the appointment notice. Restaurants that promote from within rather than hiring externally tend to keep a kitchen's style consistent, and TOZI's owners appear to be betting on that continuity rather than a reset.
TOZI opened in 2013 on Gillingham Street, a short walk from Victoria station, as the first venture from Molteni and his business partner Daniele Pampagnin, both formerly of Shoreditch House. The 80-cover restaurant built its name on cicchetti, the small Venetian sharing plates served with wine rather than cocktails, and its buffalo ricotta ravioli with black truffle has stayed on the menu as the dish regulars order by name.
A pre-theatre crowd and a steady format
The restaurant has leaned on its location since opening, drawing a pre-theatre crowd ahead of shows at nearby West End venues with a fixed-price menu alongside the main sharing-plates list. It was named Best International Restaurant at the British Restaurant Awards, a recognition the owners have used in marketing the venue since.
Vacca's promotion was confirmed without an accompanying menu relaunch, and TOZI's current offering stays as it was under Molteni's sole direction. Any changes, if they come, are more likely to appear gradually on the sharing-plates list than as a single relaunch moment.
For a restaurant twelve years into its life on a street with no shortage of pre-theatre competition, keeping the same executive chef in place while promoting from within is the safer of the two options available.
