Oscar Cardenas Diaz has been appointed as Cluster Executive Chef at Crowne Plaza Yas Island and Staybridge Suites Yas Island
Yas Plaza Hotels has brought in a new cluster executive chef to head up culinary operations for two of its hotels. Oscar Cardenas Diaz now spearheads the restaurants at Crowne Plaza Yas Island and Staybridge Suites Yas Island.
This means he looks after the kitchens for Stills, Barouk, Jing Asia, Views and Sundowner along with external catering operated by the hotels' kitchens. Now heading the division, he leads menu development and is tasked with positioning both hotels as dining destinations among the Yas Plaza Hotels cluster.
From South America to Southeast Asia and through to the Middle East, Diaz has been cooking Mediterranean, Japanese, Asian and Latin American cuisines for over 20 years. During that time, he has also undergone numerous classes in hygiene and kitchen status quo practice courses that include food safety, hazard analysis and on-stage and on-job cooking certificates.
In terms of hospitality, he has been in hotel kitchens for a decade, working as chef de cuisine at the Zhongmao Haiyue Hotel in China from 2012 to 2014. He then moved the Middle East, working with Anantara in Abu Dhabi as chef de cuisine for a year. He then worked across Vietnam and Indonesia as executive chef for Vinpearl and Royal Tulip respectively.
His most recent role was with Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana in Abu Dhabi.