Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2023
• First Four Seasons Assignment: Current

Employment History

• Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui; Grand Hyatt Macau; Grant Hyatt Incheon, Korea; Hyatt Regency Delhi; Grand Hyatt Muscat, Oman; Hyatt Regency Rahat Palace Hotel Almaty, Kazakhstan; Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, Dubai, UAE

Education

• GIBZ Gewerblich-Industrielles Bildungszentrum Zug

Birthplace

• Zug, Switzerland

Languages Spoken

• German, English

“It’s important to bring my experience and flare to everything we do, but also my leadership, because with an operation like this, it all comes down to delegation and teamwork,” says Marin Leuthard, relating his recipe for success as Executive Chef at Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Down to earth, hardworking, and passionate about developing the skills of others even as he continues to progress on his own, Leuthard oversees one of the largest food and beverage operations in Four Seasons global portfolio, with 12 restaurant and bar experiences set along the Red Sea and banqueting for nearly 5,000 sq. m. of event space on his plate. “I have led several multi-venue operations throughout my career, but nothing to this degree. We are taking on the challenges together with the goal that our guests feel the love that we have for what we create.”

There are more than 110 chefs on the Resort culinary team, excluding front-of-the-house members that make the food and beverage operation click. Leuthard consults on menu development and ingredients with the Chef de Cuisine of each restaurant to ensure that the menus feature authentic staples while keeping up with culinary trends. “My role is to lend support and make sure that my team has everything they need to develop their own recipes.” He is also keen to heighten culinary skills, as the resort’s international selection of dining experiences – from Mediterranean seafood at Bullona, and upscale street food Asian at Yatai, to traditional Lebanese at Zitouni – demands a lot of technique.

Whatever the venue, the guest experience is always Leuthard’s priority. He “loves” interacting with a full dining room or directly with VIP guests who occupy the Resort’s signature suites to learn their expectations and whet their appetites for private experiences that showcase the rich culinary heritage of the region such as the traditional Bedouin Breakfast on the beachfront. He has gotten a lot of ideas from conversations with guests over the years, he says, adding that diners are often a great source for inspiration, “then again, their interest inspires us to curate unique experiences and keep things novel. So, everybody wins.”

Raised in a farmhouse in the lakeside town Zug in central Switzerland, both Leuthard’s grandfather and father raised livestock for dairy, but he was more taken with his grandmother’s talent in the kitchen. “I was lucky to have a great chef in the family. She was very traditional – we always had certain meals during the day, like afternoon tea with Swiss bread and cold sausage at 4pm. That ignited my passion and instinct to cook.”

The instinct was strong enough for him to leave school at 15 for work at a popular local dining spot. Leuthard got his start cleaning the refrigerators. “That’s the way you learned in those days,” he remembers of the pre-social media era. “You worked hard before contemplating menus.” After three years as an apprentice, Leuthard studied culinary at trade school and then started as a chef de partie at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Switzerland. He recalls this as his “attention to detail” phase, when he realized that moving into management meant joining a brand. With an itch to travel, he took a role at a hotel in Dubai, but not before meeting his wife in Bali. “I took that as a sign that there was life outside of Switzerland,” he remembers with a laugh.

Finally, after soaking up the scene in the Middle East for a few years, Leuthard took his talents to a major international hotel group. His first appointment was as executive chef in Muscat, Oman. It was the start of 19 years with the company, which eventually took him from Kazakhstan to India, Korea, Macau, and Hong Kong. Among his most successful innovations was introducing Swiss Stammtisch – “grandmother cuisine” – to guests in Delhi, with Swiss dishes served in an atmosphere of a family gathering.