Having grown up in one of Europe’s greatest food capitals, Naples in Italy, it is no surprise that Gaia Group Director and restaurateur Pino Piano never considered a career outside of the restaurant business.
 
From his Grandmother’s kitchen where he was surrounded by recipes and sound advice, it was only a short hop via Swiss hotel management school to the deluxe hotels of London’s Knightsbridge. Moving from London to New York where he worked for seven years as a chef at the famous Rainbow Room.

Chef Paolo Monti, a native of Rome, has led Gaia’s kitchen with his modern style of Italian cooking since the restaurant opened nearly a decade ago.

Having spent several years in leading restaurants across LA, notably alongside the legendary Mauro Vincenti at the famous REX il Ristorante, Paolo’s cooking style combines authentic Italian with health-conscious Californian – creating the high quality, lighter Italian cuisine which is possibly the secret to his success as one of Hong Kong’s most popular Chef’s, and to Gaia’s status as being one of the few elite restaurants to be internationally ranked by Gambaro Rosso as the finest outside Italy.