Isobel Whelan-Little Announced As the Ace Hotel’s First Culinary Director

Isobel Whelan-Little’s CV impresses with time at London’s Brat, the now-closed LP’s Quality Meats, and her role as the opening exec chef for Caterpillar Club. In February, she joined the Ace Hotel team, cooking at Kiln with Noma alum Beau Clugston. And she’s moving up already: as the Ace Hotel’s new (and first ever) culinary director.

Her love of the industry is clear. After a classic hospo start washing dishes when she was 12, she got hooked. “I’ve been able to travel the world and meet wonderful people along the way,” she told Broadsheet in February. “I think cooking for people is one of the greatest joys in life.”

Her new gig has her overseeing all the hotel’s venues, kicking off with the trio on the ground floor: the lobby bar, Loam and back-laneway cafe Good Chemistry. “We’ve revamped all of Loam, and started a whole new menu,” Whelan-Little says. “The lobby bar’s had a refresh. So, all new menus [are already] happening downstairs. I work alongside Beau, he’s still flying in and flying out to do a lot of the menu stuff at Kiln.”

Brekkie at Loam delivers all the classics, but now there’s a buttermilk hotcake with a melty crown of honeycomb butter, “green eggs and ham” and a house-made rosti topped with tomato salsa and smoked salmon. Whelan-Little’s menu flows all day, but the new menus slide into dressier stuff like big, chopped salads and parmesan-crumbed schnitzels, classic hotel-dining cheeseburgers and a special:, citrusy Wagyu frites.

Importantly, the Bloody Mary-salt chippies remain, but with a few new snacks – all ace during happy hour, from 4pm till 6pm, where you’ll find $12 Martinis and Margaritas, $2 oysters and $7 Grifter pale ales too.

It was actually the team that sealed it for Whelan-Little. “Atelier, the company that owns Ace, is excellent. The ethos with food and how they want to navigate the landscape of Sydney dining is pretty cool. But their VP of food and beverage, Susan Buckley, is awesome. She’s opened restaurants like April Bloomfield’s Spotted Pig, and worked with really great people in New York. She’s the person that I report to, which is really exciting. That’s been the best part.”

Wheels are already in motion spinning for a cheffy summer series. Think Gozneys and hibachis in the back lane – captained by chefs like Luke Powell or Ellie Boudhadana – with Good Chemistry set up as a bar. And there are plans for supper clubs too, along with wine dinners.

Whelan-Little’s drawing inspiration from the vibe atmosphere at vibe-heavy London wine bar P Franco (now 107 Wine Shop). “I love that back area of the Ace, it’s so underutilised there. It’s like, what’s going on? Let’s get some people out there and have a party.

“When it pops, it pops. We did the Vivid party there and it was so good. We had a DJ out the back, Good Chem became a bar, it has its own identity, so I’m really interested in seeing where that can go.”

@isobellittle
@acehotelsydney