Mariano Russo

Mariano Russo is a London-based chef whose cooking is grounded in direct, tactile ingredients and shaped by a balance of Mediterranean warmth and Asian inflection. His plates often begin with a familiar base and are lifted by acid, smoke, spice, or a sharply drawn sauce, with refinement emerging through balance rather than polish. Rustic texture remains important in the work, and ingredients keep their edges. Rabbit ragu folded through tagliatelle with girolles, octopus charred against tomato relish, purple potato cut with lime, and cauliflower set against salsa verde, tahini and turmeric all show this approach clearly.

The food is flavour-led, but it is also controlled, using contrast to sharpen rather than disguise. Russo trained at Liceo Scientifico before entering a long progression through London kitchens. His early career moved through savoury and pastry, neighbourhood dining and hotel dining, building range through repetition, service pressure, and station work. He was Sous Chef at Number Twelve Restaurant & Bar, then served as Sous Chef and Pastry Chef at Mennula Restaurant.

That combination of savoury and pastry work reflects a wider concern with depth, measure, texture, and finish, all of which continue to shape his cooking. He then worked as Sous Chef at Shoreditch House before taking a Chef De Partie position at Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, a setting associated with exacting standards and tight execution. Italian-inflected cooking remained part of his development. Russo went on to serve as Sous Chef at Il Baretto, then moved into kitchen leadership as Head Chef at Bar Trattoria Semplice.

That step from support role to Head Chef was followed by a longer period as Sous Chef at Tozi Restaurant, where consistency across repeated services would have been central. In 2016, he became Head Chef at Blakes Hotel London, bringing accumulated discipline into a distinctive hotel dining room and continuing his work there for several years. He is now Executive Chef of CACCIARI'S LIMITED and Executive Chef of Blakes.

Across these roles, Russo’s cooking has developed through kitchens rather than through a single defining break. The record shows a chef shaped by broad professional experience in London, moving across different formats while maintaining a clear culinary identity. Mediterranean cooking provides the base, with pasta, slow-cooked meat, roots, brassicas and herbs often anchoring the dishes. Asian influences adjust the seasoning logic, changing the way acidity lands, the way sauces carry heat or depth, and the way a plate is lifted.

The result is a style that values exchange between traditions rather than collision, and one that relies on control, structure, and texture. At Blakes in London, his Asian Fusion cuisine is handled as a dialogue between familiar forms and sharper accents. The menu works through cross-currents that require restraint and precision. Richness is balanced by brightness, and earthy notes are tempered by acid or herb. The through-line is balance, not allegiance to a single technique.

Recognition for Blakes on Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list in 2024 and 2025 places Russo’s work within a European casual-dining context where identity, atmosphere, and kitchen clarity are measured together.