Our Team
Our Founders
Tamer Erian
Tamer has been in the hospitality business for over 15 years, starting as a trainee on Nile Exploration cruise to being assistant to the CEO. Tamer sets the stage for his team to create innovative quality dining experiences. His constant quest for knowledge of all the innerworkings of the industry allows him to lead a diverse team spanning several areas of specializations. He has overseen the design, fit out and launch of several of Cairo’s top dining stops including, Gigi Burger Bar, Mezcal, Izakaya and Binge Gastropub in Cairo.
Under his leadership, Sanctum Hospitality’s projects and foothold in the industry has grown exponentially in the last 5 years to be one of Egypt’s leading hospitality companies.
Taymour Erian
Taymour has learned the hospitality and service industry in some of the world’s most distinguished hotels. He has served royalty as assistant manager of the restaurant Center Cut in the Ritz-Carlton Dubai. He then went on to lead a team of expert serviceman as the Deputy Food & Beverage Manager of the hotel.
He is a leader by example, participating in every aspect of the restaurants from service to kitchen to stewarding. Taymour always strives to bring new dynamic dishes and experiences to his guests. His charming nature and affable personality foster loyalty among his guests and his team. He has made a name for himself in the Hospitality industry in Egypt in a few short years putting Sanctum Hospitality’s restaurants Cairo’s top dining spots today.
Culinary Team
Martin Rodriguez
Executive Chef
For over 13 years, Martin has been a noteworthy leader in the diverse culinary universe. You may know him as the Chef de Cuisine at Izakaya, but Martin can also be credited with contributions to Hanzo, one of the best Japanese Peruvian Nikkei restaurants in Lima & Santiago de Chile as well as Temple, one of the renowned restaurants serving contemporary Japanese cuisine in the Intercontinental Hotel in Santiago.
Stemming from a rich culinary background stimulated by his family and a bachelor’s degree in the Peruvian Institute of Chefs in Lima, Martin aspires to accentuate the flavors of his home country, Peru, as well as explore and discover new ingredients from Egypt so he can create harmonious dishes of new flavors and textures resulting in a new refined fine dining cuisine experience.
Management Team
Pino Azer
Hospitality Manager
Pino is our Hospitality Manager – he oversees and ensures our guests receive the best service possible, which can stretch over the spectrum of organizing a decadent event for our guests to making sure the smallest of our cutlery is spotless.
His attention to detail and calm and collected demeanor allow him to tackle any issues of service and operations in an efficient manner.
Starting as an Event Organizer, Pino decided to take his passion one step further by entering the hospitality industry handling all internal and external operations, by ensuring all guests are receiving great and unique services, orchestrating the front of house’s operation to meet stellar expectations, ensure the kitchen’s operation does the same, as he juggles the former with the company’s constant new-and-improved directions.
Farida Zaki
Communications & Business Development Manager
Ensuring public relations and marketing plans encourage brand loyalty and revenue, Farida covers a wide array of programs ensuring the new concepts developed with our founders are curated to the guests’ tastes. Farida’s journey has begun as holding the position of Public Relations at Nola’s Cupcakes to reaching Marketing Manager at Fairmont Nile City where she discovered her passion for Food & Beverage.
She believes marketing with a cause is an important aspect in the hospitality industry which is why causes raising awareness on issues such as Breast Cancer are projects that hold a lot of importance to her. Farida hopes to develop the Marketing department in Sanctum Hospitality to become a full-fledged and independent sector of the company fulfilling its vision and goals.
Mohamed Said
Mezcal Restaurant Manager
Coming from a family invested in the Tourism industry, Mohamed has walked the same path as his familial background by receiving his diploma from one of Egypt’s Hospitality Management schools. He has invested multiple years in working for some of the most upscale hotel chains such as Marriott and Le Méridien. He has begun his journey back in 2007 as a waiter at Cairo Marriott Hotel until working his way up as a Supervisor at Le Méridien Cairo Airport in 2015.
Shortly afterwards, Mohamed has joined the Sanctum Hospitality team back in 2016 with the opening of Mezcal, for which he has become Manager in 2019.
Our Executive Manager has since poured his experience into some of our other establishments such as Binge Gastropub, and Chiringuito By Sanctum as Executive Manager. Mohamed is currently looking forward to the opening of the new Mezcal in 2022.
Mohamed Saad
People & Culture Manager
Our People & Culture Manager, Mohamed Saad, began his journey in 2013 with a background in the training of students paired with an already existing passion for having a positive influence on individuals as well as humanitarian causes.
Mohamed has channeled his passion into joining a number of NGOs such as Alwan focused on the development of arts & culture in Egypt. He has helped build it up from a start-up to a fully functioning organization by installing a developed system for the management of human resources as well as an intensive program for the training of youth.
He has also joined Educate Me, considered nowadays the number one NGO for the development of education for underprivileged children in underprivileged areas. Our P&C manager has since joined our team aiming to maintain a positive work environment as well as building up the company through the development of the team’s mindset, structure, and drive.