De Leug brings to the hotel his 27 years of culinary expertise earned in stints as Executive Chef, Operations Manager and Consultant for five-star hotels and up-scale restaurants abroad particularly in Germany, Egypt and the United States.

Prior to his recent appointment, he was the Regional Italian Chef and Restaurant Operations Manager in Hotel Concorde El Salam Cairo and Sharm el Sheikh’s L’ Italiano. Under his management, the L’ Italiano bagged both the gold and silver awards in Egypt’s national culinary competition.

He was Chef de Partie at Aubergine and Feinkost Kaefer - two of the few Michelin Star rated restaurants in Germany.

"I have gone and worked in twenty-seven countries. This is the twenty-eighth", replied Chef Niko when asked on his first thoughts upon finding out about his appointment.

"I was very much intrigued with the shining past of the hotel and so I want to become a part of its restoration," he added.

As the new Executive Chef of Manila Pavilion Hotel, he is to oversee, monitor, evaluate and direct the integration of kitchen operation. He is responsible for the planning, organizing, controlling and managing of the overall operations and resources of F&B production.