PAOLO LOSTIA, HEAD CHEF – BLEU BLANC
Paolo Lostia is the Head Chef of Bleu Blanc at The St. Regis Downtown Dubai, located on Marasi Drive in the heart of Business Bay. Paolo takes on this exciting role at the peak of a 23-year-long career that has seen him work in various culinary positions around Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, USA and UAE. At Bleu Blanc he has spearheaded the all-new menu and concept direction, elevating the hotel's signature restaurant to be the destination of choice for food connoisseurs from around the city and world.
In his illustrious career, he was fortunate to secure an apprenticeship as Junior Sous Chef at the 3 Michelin-star Quique Dacosta restaurant in Alicante Spain. An instrumental member of a team of 45 chefs, he oversaw and learnt intimately the many aspects of the daily 30-cover kitchen operations, coordinating with other chefs and department heads in the absence of Executive Chefs.
It was in 2014 that he made the big move to Abu Dhabi, where he spent the next few years as the Head Chef for two noted luxury hotels in the UAE capital - the Yas Viceroy Hotel and The St. Regis Abu Dhabi, where he was voted "Young Chef of the Year" in 2015 and nominated for multiple restaurant awards.
In his most recent role as Senior Department Manager & Business Development Manager at Classic Fine Foods UAE, Paolo stepped out of the kitchen to oversee the F&B industry from a procurement perspective, developing effective sales strategies to achieve the objectives and targets for the business, and cultivating strong relations with the decision-makers of key accounts.