New chef at Hitchin Town Hall and Museum

Developing event catering at Hitchin Town Hall (HTH), along with driving sustainability initiatives at the museum café and Bancroft Kiosk, will be top of the menu for the newly appointed Catering Manager, Bela Kocsis.

Bela has a wealth of experience from a host of UK restaurants and chains, along with a stint at a five-star hotel in Budapest.

Originally from Hungary, he has since settled in Hertfordshire and is very excited about his new position. He went to chef school in Hungary and it wasn't long before he became a sous chef, the second in command of a kitchen. Working at the five-star Buddha-Bar Hotel in Budapest, serving high-end Pan-Asian cuisine, he then became Head Chef at Ramada and Leonardo hotels.

He first came to England in 2013, working at Covent Garden's Tuttons, one of the longest standing restaurants in central London.

Over the last 10 years, Bela has worked across all disciplines within catering from front of house and management to leading restaurant kitchens, both in Hungary and the UK, but he now calls Hertfordshire home.

Bela said: "I wasn't happy in Hungary, I like to travel and have friends in Hertfordshire so I thought why not.

"I have enjoyed working across the catering environment as I feel it is important to learn the front of house side of things and it helped me improve my English along the way as well.

"I saw this job on Indeed and really liked the variety of the role, being in the kitchen as well as managing and dealing with customers. I find being a chef and dealing with customers directly allows me to keep an eye on customer service and build a rapport with people.

"It was a great opportunity and this is the next milestone in my career. I'm having a great induction and training period and fantastic support from the team here, it's like nowhere I've worked before.

"I'm really excited to get stuck in, we're looking at doing more catering for big events and functions in-house, which includes weddings and upcoming Christmas parties, cooking for 100-plus people instead of using external caterers as much as we have done previously."

Cllr Keith Hoskins, Executive Member for Arts & Enterprise, said: "We're so excited to have Bela on board. He's got such a wealth of experience and this should allow us to take the events we deliver at Hitchin Town Hall to the next level – watch this space!"

Book your function or wedding with us:hitchintownhallevents.com/venue-hire