Arenas has spent much of her career in the Middle East, cooking for major upscale hotel brands including Park Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental and Sheraton Hotels & Resorts.
She has been working at Decimo – which, as its name suggests, is located on the 10th floor of the high profile King’s Cross hotel – for the past six months during which time she has ‘gradually helped shape the direction of the kitchen’.
Decimo was launched by Sanchez-Iglesias – best known at the time for his Michelin-starred Casamia and Paco Tapas restaurants in Bristol – in 2019, shortly after The Standard, London opened.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Sanchez-Iglesias is set to relaunch Gareth Ward’s Machynlleth restaurant, Gwen.
According to The Standard, London, Arenas’ appointment will place Mexican cooking at the heart of the restaurant ‘bringing a more personal, expressive and assured voice to the menu’.
Under Sanchez-Iglesias - whose father Paco is originally from Seville - Decimo’s menu drew on influences from Spain as well as Mexico.
The new menu is described as ‘rooted in nostalgia and tradition’. Signature dishes will include halibut with corn husk and pumpkin seed; and wild bream with pistachio mole.
Some of Sanchez-Iglesias’ dishes will remain, including marinated red peppers with bread, and tuna tostada.
“We are building a restaurant shaped by many influences: the cuisine of Mexico, in particular Milpa Alta, a rural community outside Mexico City where I come from; the labour of many generations of women passed down to me by my mother and grandmother; the experiences I’ve gained and the people I’ve met in kitchens all over the world; and this wonderful place, which has a history of its own, built in no small part by chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, who has been a generous mentor to me,” says Arenas.