Our Story
Mery & Alfredo
Two chefs. One way of cooking.
Mery Rose Mery is the work of Sandra “Mery” Romero and Alfredo Hidalgo — two chefs whose careers developed through Michelin-starred restaurants, five-star hotels, Mediterranean kitchens and luxury hospitality before coming together around a much more personal way of cooking: privately, in the places where their guests are staying.
Today, every Mery Rose Mery experience is shaped by the same idea: two chefs, one client at a time, and food created around the people sitting at the table.
Two careers that eventually became one kitchen.
Long before Mery Rose Mery existed, both Mery and Alfredo had already spent years building their careers in professional kitchens.
Their paths were different, but complementary.
Mery's career developed between Spain, France and London, combining fine dining, hotel gastronomy, Spanish cooking and kitchen leadership. Alfredo built his experience through Mediterranean restaurants, luxury hotels, banqueting, live cooking and operational kitchen management.
Those two backgrounds now meet in every private service they cook together.
Mery
Sandra María Romero, known professionally as Mery, began her culinary career in 2005.
Her journey took her from her early training in Andalusia to France, Bilbao and later London, where she worked at Casa Brindisa before joining Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at Mandarin Oriental London as Chef de Partie.
Back in Spain, her career continued through The Ritz-Carlton Abama in Tenerife and Mandarin Oriental Barcelona, followed by leadership roles in Barcelona and eventually Marbella.
At Hotel Fuerte Marbella, she progressed from Sous Chef to Head Chef, managing large kitchen teams and several hotel outlets.
In 2021 she created Mery Rose Mery, bringing together the professional discipline of those kitchens with a much more personal idea of hospitality: cooking directly for guests in their villas and private homes.
Alfredo
Alfredo Hidalgo brings a different but equally important perspective to Mery Rose Mery.
With more than 17 years in high-end culinary operations, his background combines fine dining with the organisation, logistics and consistency required in luxury hospitality.
His early career included time at Mugaritz, followed by several years at Sheraton La Caleta in Tenerife, where he worked across Mediterranean dining, Spanish cuisine, live cooking and professional kitchen operations.
He later joined W Barcelona, working across the hotel's restaurants and large-scale banquet operations, before returning to Marbella and becoming Sous Chef at ERRE URRECHU, Hotel Meliá Don Pepe.
His experience in purchasing, suppliers, kitchen organisation, team coordination and event logistics is now an essential part of how Mery Rose Mery operates behind the scenes as well as in front of the guests.
Marbella brought the two stories together.
After years of working through different restaurants, hotels and cities, Mery and Alfredo settled together in Marbella.
What began as Mery's independent project gradually became the way they now work side by side: not as a large chef agency, but as a small, personal culinary team.
Mery brings creative direction, menu development and the relationship with each client.
Alfredo brings the precision, organisation and operational experience that allow those ideas to work naturally once they enter a villa kitchen.
In practice, however, the distinction quickly disappears.
They shop, prepare, cook, plate and run the service together.
Why we chose private cooking.
After years in professional kitchens, luxury hotels and restaurants, private dining offered something neither of them wanted to lose again:
the connection between the people cooking and the people eating.
There is no restaurant dining room separating the kitchen from the guest.
The family having breakfast after a late night.
Friends gathering around the barbecue.
Children asking what is being cooked.
A birthday dinner slowly becoming a long evening around the table.
That proximity is what has shaped Mery Rose Mery.
Not catering produced somewhere else.
Not a roster of chefs sent to different villas.
Simply Mery and Alfredo arriving at the house, cooking there and creating the experience around the people who have invited them in.
Andalusia remains at the centre.
Although their careers have taken them through very different kitchens, the food they cook today remains strongly connected to the Mediterranean and to Andalusia.
Seasonality, good olive oil, vegetables, fish, charcoal, rice, tapas and food designed to be shared appear naturally throughout their menus.
The technique comes from years in professional kitchens.
The atmosphere is deliberately much less formal.
One client at a time.
Mery Rose Mery remains intentionally small.
When you book an experience, you are not booking a chef from a roster.
You are booking Mery and Alfredo.
That means they can understand the stay as a whole — the guests, timings, dietary needs, children, celebrations and the small details that make one villa completely different from another.
For them, luxury is not about making dinner unnecessarily complicated.
It is about having the time and freedom to cook something that feels as though it belongs exactly where it is being served.
Two chefs. Your villa. Your table.
Discover the experiences Mery and Alfredo can create during your stay in Marbella and the Costa del Sol.