Oliver Walker announced as head chef at Oddfellows On The Park

Oddfellows Hotels has announced Oliver Walker as head chef at boutique hotel, Oddfellows On The Park.

Oliver, 28, joins the team at the park side boutique hotel from Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, where he worked seasonally for 3 years. He also ran an acclaimed street food style events van called The Nomad which featured at music festivals and private events. Oliver trained under Macdonald Hotels in Glasgow, spending much of his training at Gleneagles.

Oliver joins the design-led hotel collection, which prides itself on restoring properties using the history of the building and the location’s narrative as inspiration, to head up the entire chef operation from events and occasions to taking the helm at The Galloping Major restaurant.

The Galloping Major restaurant was named after the characterful previous owner of Bruntwood Hall who was most often found on horseback when the park was run as a private stud. The Galloping Major was responsible for adding the ballroom where the hotel’s destination restaurant now sits. Events for up to 100 people are held in The Galloping Major restaurant, the hotel’s Parlor Rooms and Bar, or the sweeping terrace that runs the breadth of the hall overlooking Bruntwood Park’s manicured lawns.

Oliver said: ‘I’m delighted to be taking up a head chef role so close to my Salford roots. I grew up on local and regional Northern ingredients and I can’t wait to showcase them in the food here at Oddfellows.

‘As well as a tasting menu that will be as imaginative as it is seasonal and locally sourced, I’m looking forward to creating events and weddings menus that exceed expectations. It’s just as important to me that food for events should be as awe-inspiring to guests as any tasting menu.

‘I’ll be drawing on my Pikes experience to create a more casual menu for daytime and hotel dining – elevating the basics like burgers and grazing platters for informal dining.

‘And I’m particularly looking forward to creating an afternoon tea worthy of a setting where it would have been enjoyed in Victorian times, overlooking what was once the owner’s private 100-acre estate just outside of Manchester.’

Carlo Iulianella, general manager of Oddfellows On The Park said: ‘Oliver is an amazing chef, Manchester born and bred but with an excellent international pedigree. Whilst his food is Modern British, he has a flair for presentation, and flavours that pack a real punch, which will bring a real drama to our beautiful ballroom at Bruntwood Hall. We are delighted Oliver is joining the Oddfellows family. He is a huge asset to the team’