Diversifying Experiences
Movie stars? Big filming sets? Great food? Read on as our Executive Chef shares about his diverse experiences throughout his time in the culinary industry.
With a Spanish-Italian background and a 33-year experience in the culinary industry, our Executive Chef at LinkedIn Asia Pacific, Chef Sady Cerna, adds a dash of uniqueness to spice up the cooking in the kitchen.
Apart from working his magic in the kitchen, Sady is also deeply involved in any behind-the-scenes operations, including food costing and menu preparation. He curates a different menu for the employees at LinkedIn on a rotational basis, such that there is something new to look forward to each time, while retaining the classics that everyone enjoys. While dishing up delicious, piping hot meals on the buffet counter every day, he also has to ensure that the quality of food served is up to standard and ideal for consumption – after all the food is what everyone is looking forward to during lunch!
Growing up with his family, Sady’s favourite dish is his Mother’s homemade meatballs, served with spaghetti and tomato sauce – also known as Albondigas in Spanish. The secret to the meatball recipe is getting nice, freshly minced meat to build the perfect meatball! Puree a blend of tomato, capsicums, onions and garlic for the sauce, while putting in the meatballs to bake. Serve this combination together and you get a simple yet heart-warming dish!
In New York, I worked for a catering company that caters food for movie sets and TV shows! It was a unique experience, working with Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and Nicolas Cage. Some major sets we catered for included Sex in The City and Sopranos. The entire experience was very enjoyable even though the hours were much longer!
Sady’s experience in catering for major sets has proved to be useful when it comes to menu preparation and routine planning at LinkedIn, where he is able to more deeply understand what goes into the consumers’ needs and wants, allowing him to cater to the crowd at LinkedIn accordingly.
Sady was also behind the Kitchen by Wolfgang at Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 3, where he opened the kitchen with the man Wolfgang himself. After the duo went to Palm Springs, California to drop by the original Kitchen by Wolfgang restaurant, they decided to focus on adapting the menu to Singaporeans’ taste, creating the menu that we have today. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Sady, working with a big, Michelin star name!
Chef Sady (centre) with award-winning Singaporean chef Bjorn Shen (4th from left) and the Sodexo Team @ LinkedIn
By exploring new opportunities, Sady contributes to the diversity of the Sodexo team at LinkedIn – promising a fresh set of ideas with international influences to keep the masses always looking forward to what is in the menu each week!
At Sodexo, we love to encourage our diverse talents to keep growing within and outside of their fields. Don’t hesitate to find out more about our exciting career opportunities here.