BANGKOK — The ingredients of a culinary dream team are coming together in Bangkok, where the two-year-old Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit made long-time epicurean Marshall Orton its director of food and beverage.
Orton, who has worked in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years and joins a crew that already includes Michel Bourdin-trained Executive Chef Spencer Kells and up-and-coming Executive Sous Chef Jeremy Tourret.
“Marshall has the kind of culinary experience you dream of,” said William Haandrikman, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit’s General Manager. “I don’t know if you can ask for a better trio of culinary professionals than the one we’ve got here.”
The dynamic Australian’s relationship with food started at the age of 7, when he would stand on a chair next to his grandfather as he stirred the pots on the stove.
By the time he was a teenager, Orton was determined to become a chef. He took his first step by enrolling at the Caine Hotel School in his hometown of Perth. That led to an opportunity at Hilton Park Lane in London, where as a member of the banquet team he occasionally served members of England’s royal family.
Two years later, Orton moved to Hilton Vienna to sharpen his skills at the hotel’s Michelin-star restaurant, La Scala. He joined the Accor network in 1998, when he was appointed Executive Chef at the Novotel Atlantic Shanghai. That job propelled him to the Sofitel New York, and a four-year stint as its Executive Chef.
Orton comes to the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit after serving as the Executive Chef at Pullman Bangkok King Power. Prior to that posting, he was responsible for overhauling the food-and-beverage concepts at the Sofitel Brisbane.
Over the years, Orton has won cooking competitions as a member of Les Toques Blanches, a prestigious international network of professional chefs, and been named chef of the year by the Catering Institute of Australia. He has also appeared on television shows such as Good Morning America, Good Morning Australia and Iron Chef Thailand.
Opened in April 2012, the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit has made a name for itself in the luxury hotel market by marrying French sophistication with Thai hospitality and design.
Inspired by the art deco period, the 345-room, limestone-steel-and-glass structure extends 32 stories above Sukhumvit Road and is capped by L'Appart, a Parisian-styled eatery and lounge designed to look and feel like a lavish penthouse apartment.
A rice motif — in honor of the grain that has shaped Thailand's landscape and culture — runs throughout the property, site of the country's only Le SPA with L'Occitane.
