Victoria Beckham’s 50th at Maltese-owned Aki: How Sliema Chef Chris Hammett Put Malta on London’s A-List Plate

Beckhams Choose Aki: How a Sliema Chef’s London Outpost Stole Victoria’s Birthday Spotlight

Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday was never going to be low-key, but few on the Rock expected the candles to be lit on a plate in Mayfair prepared by a Maltese chef. On Saturday night David Beckham booked the entire first floor of Aki, the Japanese-Peruvian restaurant founded by Sliema-born Chris Hammett, and flew in 50 friends and family to toast his wife. By Sunday morning, Maltese WhatsApp groups were buzzing with blurry paparazzi shots of tuna tataki arranged like the Maltese cross and David hugging the chef in a corner that still sports a discreet Maltese limestone wall feature.

For a country that measures its cultural victories in football friendlies and Eurovision points, the Beckham endorsement is a rare moment when the island’s soft power punches above its 316-square-kilometre weight. Hammett, 39, left Malta in 2008 with a suitcase of family spice blends and an internship at Nobu. Fifteen years later his flagship on Berkeley Street has a Michelin Plate and a waiting list that stretches into July. “We never chased celebrity,” he told Times of Malta by phone after service, “but when David’s team called last month, I thought of my nanna in Gżira who still sends me kunserva jars. This one’s for her.”

Inside the private dining room, the menu was quietly Maltese. Hammett slipped rabbit rillettes into the gyoza, swapped daikon for pickled ġbejniet, and finished the miso black cod with a drizzle of Gozitan honey. Guests drank a magnum of 1996 Dom Pérignon paired with Cisk-sponsored lager flown in for the occasion. “The Brits thought the lager was ironic craft beer until David told them it’s what we drink at festa,” laughs sous-chef Maria Pace, also from Żabbar.

Malta’s restaurant scene has grown exponentially—Valletta alone added eight Michelin-recommended venues since 2021—but the diaspora effect is harder to quantify. Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo was quick to capitalise, posting a congratulatory reel on Instagram that tagged #VisitMalta and racked up 200,000 views in 24 hours. “Every plate served in London is an advert for our islands,” Bartolo told Hot Malta. The Malta Tourism Authority is now exploring a tie-up with Aki for a pop-up during London Restaurant Festival, offering return flights to anyone who books the chef’s table.

For the local culinary community, the Beckham spotlight feels like vindication. “We’ve always known our chefs can compete,” says Adrian Buttigieg, who runs non-profit Malta Culinary Collective. “But when an A-list client chooses Chris over every Nobu and Zuma in town, it rewrites the narrative.” Applications for Hammett’s annual summer internship—two weeks shadowing the Aki team—tripled overnight.

Back in Sliema, Hammett’s parents hung bunting outside the family bakery. “We sold out of ftira by 10 a.m.,” his mother Josephine said, still giddy. “People wanted the same bread their son uses for his London sandwiches.” A neighbouring souvenir shop has already printed T-shirts: “My Malta’s on Beckham’s Plate”.

The ripple effect may reach far beyond tourism. UK supermarket chain Waitrose is in talks to stock Hammett’s Gozitan-honey glaze, while Deliveroo riders in Malta report a surge in sushi orders from diners inspired to “eat like Posh”. Even the National Statistics Office noticed: Monday’s economic bulletin cited “rising service exports linked to gastronomic reputation”.

As the last guests left Aki at 2 a.m., the kitchen brigade—six of them Maltese—posed for a photo under a neon sign that reads “Kif Int?” in stylised kanji. David Beckham posted the picture to his 87 million followers with the caption: “Thank you, Malta, for making Victoria’s night perfect.” For a small island that has long measured success in sun and sea, the message was clear: Malta’s next big export might just be flavour.