Ugo Rinaldo

Coming Up

The kitchen ladder in Ugo Rinaldo’s career is visible in the sequence: training at EMTH beziers, then a run of apprenticeships and service posts that mark the standard path of a chef built inside the brigade. At Hôtel de la Cité (1999–2003), the work moved from apprenticeship to demi chef de partie, setting the base for what followed. The next stops—commis at AUBERGE IPARLA by Alain Ducasse (2003) and Commis de cuisine at Le Louis XV Alain Ducasse (2003)—show the discipline of repetition, station work, and the daily pressure that turns early-stage cooks into reliable hands. The progression continued through commis 1 at Restaurant 59 poincare by Alain Ducasse (2004) and Demi CDP to cdp at Hôtel Scribe Paris (2004–2005). By 2006–2010, as Sous Chef at Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme, Rinaldo had moved into a position that required more than execution: pacing service, holding standards, and keeping a brigade aligned. The next roles widened the field—Head Chef at One&Only Dubai 101 restaurant (2010–2013), then Head Chef at STAY by Yannick Alleno (2013–2014)—before Executive Chef posts at Sarment Group (2014–2015), CINKER PICTURES (2017–2018), and Executive Sous Chef at MGM MACAU (2018–2021). Today, Ugo Rinaldo is Executive Chef of The PuLi Hotel and Spa (since 2021) and chef owner of Self Owned Business (since 2024), a combination that reads as both operational command and personal authorship.

Where They Are Now

In Shanghai, the present tense sits with Rinaldo across two executive roles: Executive Chef at PHÉNIX and Executive Chef at The PuLi Hotel and Spa. The scale of the work is clear from the titles alone—one kitchen asks for consistency, the other for definition, and both depend on a chef who can hold standards across service. After years spent moving through France, Dubai, and Macau, his career now lands in a position where authority comes from accumulated repetitions rather than noise. His own words keep the register plain. On wine, he wrote, “I felt in love with @gutoggau rosé a few years ago, this family owned estate is a real gem.” The line is casual, but it points to the way he values a bottle: by attachment to a producer and to the work behind it. There is no performance in the phrasing, only direct recognition. He has also shared notes that pull the focus away from the kitchen and back to the domestic register: “How to sum up 2025 in a post, simply cannot.” and “let’s remember only the joy, forget about the tough times & celebrate my 3 girls.” The tone is spare and unpolished, which makes it useful. It shows a chef who does not separate service from the rest of life, and who measures time not only through posts held and rooms run, but through the people and small loyalties that stay outside the pass.

Signature

Le Pigeon and LA CREVETTE SAUVAGE CARABINERO are the named signatures in Rinaldo’s profile. The pair suggests a kitchen that works with clarity of naming and a preference for plates that carry their own identity without extra explanation.

In Their Words “I felt in love with @gutoggau rosé a few years ago, this family owned estate is a real gem.”

Honors

No specific award is named in Rinaldo’s biography.