Palé Hall appoints Pim Wolfs and Gareth Stevenson

Owners Alan and Angela Harper, in collaboration with partner Michael Caines, have appointed Gareth Stevenson as Head Chef and Pim Wolfs as General Manager of the luxury north Wales retreat, Palé Hall which is due to open in August.

Alan and Angela Harper said: “We are over the moon about Pim and Gareth joining the Palé Hall family and thrilled to see our team grow. They both bring great depth of knowledge and experience from their respective industries and we look forward to seeing how Palé Hall develops as a result of this. We know that guests will love the highly trained personal service that Pim and his team will provide as well as the innovative and delicious dishes, using the wealth of quality produce surrounding the hotel, that Gareth, together with Michael, will create. This is an extremely exciting time for our hotel.”

Gareth Stevenson will bring a wealth of experience in both Michelin-starred and luxury hotel kitchens to Palé Hall. Gareth began his career as a chef at Northop Country House Hotel, learning the fundamentals of the trade from a classically trained chef. From there, Gareth joined the team responsible for launching restaurant Michael Caines at contemporary hotel, Abode, working his way up to the position of senior chef de partie and building an excellent relationship with the two Michelin-starred chef that will prove vital to his new role. During his time at Abode, Gareth also had a stage at two Michelin-starred Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons working alongside esteemed Head Chef, Raymond Blanc. In 2011, Gareth took up the position of demi chef de partie at Gordon Ramsay's Maze, acquiring further experience of a Michelin-starred kitchen before returning to Abode and rising to the ranks to head chef. With extensive experience of menu design, leading a team, and the demands of a fine dining restaurant, Gareth is set to contribute to, and help deliver, Michael Caines' exceptional vision for Palé Hall.

Joining from Macdonald Pittodrie House, Aberdeen, where he worked as General Manager, Pim has a wealth of experience in the luxury hospitality industry including six years at Le Manoir aux Quat ‘Saisons. Originally from the Netherlands, Pim is passionate about hotels and amongst his many achievements he is a qualified chef having trained for four years.

Speaking about his new role Pim said: "I am more than exited to be handpicked by Alan, Angela and Michael to lead the team at Pale Hall. The opportunity to make our mark on an already fantastic food offering in Wales and add to the reasons for people to choose Wales as a destination is wonderful. At Pale Hall we are in a privileged position to provide our guests with a luxury experience provided in a sustainable way combined with the vision of Alan and Angela to provide the best of our local area.”

The 18 guest bedroom hotel has recently undergone a refurbishment and is due to reopen in August.

Palé Hall is one of Wales’s most important surviving homes with a fascinating history dating back to the late 19^th century when Henry Robertson, a railway engineer, industrialist and contemporary of Brunel, bought the estate as a grand personal project at the end of his transformative career in building public works. Since construction, the manor house has played host to some of Britain’s most famous figures including Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill.