Ovolo Hotels are hoping Andrea Gualdi will take the group’s food and drinks venues to the next level, after appointing him to the newly-created role of Group Creative Beverage Director.
As a co-founder of the Maybe Group, Andrea has made a name that justifies Ovolo’s hope, being one of the powers behind Maybe Sammy, the Sydney bar recently named ‘The Best Bar in Australasia 2021’ by ‘The World’s 50 Best Bars’, its second successive win.
Andrea said: “I’m super excited to join the Ovolo Group which has partnered with some of Australia’s most recognised talent in the Food & Beverage industry.”
“I’m looking forward to contributing to the growth of the Ovolo portfolio, as well as bringing some of my personal touches to these unique venues.”
In addition to collective success with Maybe Sammy, Andrea has picked up multiple individual awards, including ‘Top 10 International Bartender of the Year’ in 2020, and the Australian World Class winner in 2017.
Ovolo’s Director of Operations in Australia, Wayne Taranto, described Andrea as “a rockstar,” and said Ovolo were: “excited to be welcoming Andrea to our Food and Beverage leadership team to carve out the future of our bars and beverage programs alongside Ian Curley.”
Celebrity Chef Ian Curley was appointed in a creative culinary role back in September, having spent more than 25 years working in some of Melbourne’s leading restaurants. Roy Ner, of Noum fame, and Matthew Kenney (who helped popularise vegan diets in America) are also working with the Ovolo team.
These appointments come as Ovolo has expanded its Australian hotels, with the Hong Kong based hotel group adding new locations in South Yarra, Melbourne and Spring Hill, Brisbane, during 2021. Ovolo announced in October that it would be celebrating ‘The Year of the Veg’, with all its hotel restaurant menus going vegetarian.
Andrea’s move to Ovolo has added intrigue, as Maybe Sammy is consistently described as ‘a hotel bar, without the hotel’.
