Nomad London names Josh Harnden and Carlo Scotto to its kitchens
A former Eleven Madison Park culinary director takes the global role, while a chef trained under Gordon Ramsay and Angela Hartnett runs the Covent Garden pass.
Nomad London has appointed Josh Harnden as the hotel group's global culinary director and Carlo Scotto as executive chef of its Covent Garden property.
Harnden previously served as creative culinary director at the three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York, where he began his career at the original Nomad New York. Scotto trained under Gordon Ramsay, Angela Hartnett and the Galvin brothers, and most recently led the kitchen at Amethyst in Mayfair.
Together, the pair will oversee menu direction and food operations across Nomad London's venues, including Twenty8 Nomad, Side Hustle and the Library, and are launching an autumn menu built around seasonal British produce.
The new menu will lean on British seasonal produce once autumn supplies are in, under Nomad London's rebuilt kitchen leadership.
Filling a food and beverage gap
The appointments follow the departure of Mark Lee, Nomad London's former head of food and beverage, who left to join Pan Pacific London. Splitting his role between a global culinary director and a hotel-level executive chef suggests Nomad wants a tighter link between its London kitchen and the wider group's standards.
Nomad London opened in 2021 inside the Grade II-listed former Bow Street Magistrates' Court, marking the hospitality brand's first hotel outside the United States. The building's past as a courthouse, famous for processing the Pankhursts and Oscar Wilde, has shaped much of its marketing since.
A season built on British produce
Harnden's background at Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant that shifted entirely to plant-based tasting menus, points to a chef comfortable rebuilding a menu from first principles rather than tweaking an existing one. Scotto's grounding in classical French and Italian kitchens gives the Covent Garden pass a different, more technique-led starting point.
Neither chef has detailed specific dishes yet, beyond confirming the new menu will lean on British seasonal produce once autumn supplies are in. Other London hotel kitchens have made similar hires this year, including Ranjitkumar Sukumaran's appointment at Hyde & Seek, as groups compete harder for chefs who can hold a hotel restaurant to a standalone-restaurant standard.
