Marius Ackermann - Executive Chef

Marius Ackermann is in charge of all kitchen operations for Hotel Astoria including Astoria Restaurant, Rotonda Lounge, Lichfield Bar and Borsalino restaurant in the adjoining Angleterre Hotel, as well as banqueting and catering. Marius was born in Germany, and started his culinary journey at WIHOGA Dortmund, a private hospitality school. His 20 years of fine dining experience includes working for some of the best restaurants in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and UK, and his international experience includes working in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Kenya. Marius has been trained in classic French fine dining tradition with a modern touch, avoiding non-natural additives like food colors, flavour enhancers or non-natural flavours. Marius says, “For me, less ingredients and spices sometimes mean more in a dish, emphasizing natural flavours and taste of the products, when the ingredients are not overpowering each other. And of course ingredients must be of excellent quality and preferably from local region”. Marius says that his cooking style is based on Western / Northern European cuisine, influenced by experience in Asia and Arab countries. “At the start of my career, European Asian fusion was very popular, followed by molecular cooking techniques like sous vide and espumas (which I still like to use today). My cooking style is formed by formal training followed by 20 years of traveling and exploring different trends. For me, the customer is the king, who should always leave the restaurant satisfied and positively surprised.”

Yulia Ivanova - Pastry Chef

Yulia Ivanova is the Astoria Chocolatier ambassador in St. Petersburg. Her passion for chocolate has led Yulia to travel around the world, from Moscow to Australia. In Sydney she graduated at the leading culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. In the pastry & chocolate art Yulia attracts accuracy, she likes that there is a system, all by weight and all has a proportion. According to Yulia: "Pastry - it's magic. Mix different ingredients, dry and liquid and get the magic."