Wolseley group moves three head chefs across its sites
Frank Fletcher joins Fischer's from Quo Vadis, while two internal promotions send Jenson Santos to The Wolseley City and Jai Shaikh to Colbert.
The Wolseley Hospitality Group appoints three new head chefs across its London restaurants, promoting two kitchen leaders from within and hiring one from outside the group.
Frank Fletcher, formerly of Quo Vadis in Soho, becomes head chef at Fischer's, the group's Austrian-Viennese restaurant in Marylebone.
For where these kitchens sit in the wider city, see our list of the best restaurants in London.
Three kitchens, three chefs, one group — the Wolseley is rotating talent in-house rather than losing it to rivals.
Jenson Santos moves up from Fischer's to lead the kitchen at The Wolseley City, the group's second all-day brasserie, in the City of London. He previously worked at Wright Brothers Seafood Restaurant and German Gymnasium.
Jai Shaikh moves from The Wolseley City to head the kitchen at Colbert in Chelsea, after earlier roles within the Ivy Collection.
The moves follow a pattern common across London's bigger restaurant groups this year, where internal promotion has become a way to retain senior kitchen talent without the cost and risk of an outside search.
Internal moves, external hire
Charles Hilton, executive chef at the Wolseley Collection, calls the reshuffle “a well-deserved next step” for Santos and Shaikh, saying it gives both the chance “to bring their experience and leadership to new operations.”
The group runs nine London dining rooms: The Wolseley, The Wolseley City, Delaunay, Brasserie Zédel, Colbert, Fischer's, Bellanger, Soutine and Manzi's of Soho. Founded by Jeremy King and Chris Corbin in 2003, it has been owned by Minor International since 2022.
The reshuffle lands the same month the group confirmed a management agreement to run Dukes London, adding a hotel contract to its restaurant portfolio.
A members' club bound for New York
The group is also preparing its first international site: a Wolseley Members' Club in New York, planned for the first half of 2027. None of the three newly appointed head chefs has been linked to that opening so far.
For now, the changes keep all three kitchens within the same ownership group, a contrast with the chef departures that have unsettled rivals such as Hawksmoor elsewhere in London's restaurant scene this year, where senior kitchens have changed hands more often than usual.
