Manuel Behrla was appointed Executive Chef at the Grand Hotel Mercure San Antonio last November.

Mr Behrla, a French national, has spent most of his working life in Germany, France and Switzerland, where he carried out the duties of Executive Chef at the Baren Hotel in Adelboden from 2002 up to now.

His specialities include French and Swiss cuisine (which varies according to the different areas of Switzerland, but is mostly based on French and Italian cooking). He also passed his Master examination in Sushi .

The Grand Hotel Mercure San Antonio also organised a specialised two-week training course for its chefs during November.

Bettan Wyn Mathews, who works for the Guy Savoy Group Restaurant of France, provided the training. This organisation provides training in French and international cuisine to restaurants and hotels.

Ms Mathews has been Executive Sous Chef at the Restaurant Les Bouquinistes in Paris for the last four years. She also worked as Sous Chef in another Guy Savoy Restaurant in Paris, the one star Michelin “Le Chiberta’.

Tonio Aquilina joined the Grand Hotel Mercure San Antonio this year as Food and Beverage manager after an 11-year span with the Tumas Group.

After graduating in Hotel and Catering Management at the Institute of Tourism Studies he worked and trained overseas at The Royal York in the UK and at one of the leading hotels of the world, The Bellevue Palace, Switzerland.

He then moved back to Malta were he worked as junior Food and Beverage manager at the Hyperion Hotel, later the site of the Mercure San Antonio.

Wanting to further his career, he joined the New Dolmen Hotel were he worked his way up to Food and Beverage Administration manager.

In 2002, he moved to Imgarr Hotel in Gozo were he was appointed Operations Manager. During his time in Gozo, Tonio was a committee member of the Gozo Tourism Association. Between 1998 and 2000 he was secretary of the Malta Cookery and Food Association.

In January 2006, Tonio spent three weeks in Athens, Greece, to become familiar with the Food and Beverage Department as well as its operations, at the Sofitel and Novotel hotels, which form part of the ACCOR group, the world second largest hospitality operator, with over 4000 hotels worldwide.