Floyd Cardoz was a renowned New-York based chef of Indian descent. On 25 March 2020, he died in a New Jersey hospital; as he was infected with Coronavirus disease.
Wiki/Biography
Floyd was born on Sunday, 2 October 1960 (age 59 years at the time of death), in Mumbai. His zodiac sign is Libra. He did his schooling from St. Andrews High School, Mumbai and St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. He then attended Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai. He went on to complete a course from Les Roches Bluche, Switzerland.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Family, Caste & Wife
His mother’s name is Beryl Cardoz. He was married to Barkha Cardos, who was his business partner too. The couple has two sons, Peter Cardoz and Justin Cardoz.
Floyd Cardoz With His Father and Wife
Floyd Cardoz With His Mother
Floyd Cardoz’s Wedding Picture
An Old Picture of Floyd Cardoz With His Family
Floyd Cardoz With His Family
Career
He had started his career as chef de partie (station chef) at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in Mumbai.
An Old Picture of Floyd Cardoz
He then worked as sous-chef at Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai. Later, he moved to New York and started working as chef de partie at Beech & Bamboo in New York. In 1997, he collaborated with the restaurateur, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and opened a restaurant, ‘Tabla’ in New York. In 2010, the restaurant was closed; as it failed to attract more customers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWQst0lg5Ng
In 2011, he participated as a contestant in ‘Top Chef Masters’ Season 3 and stood out as the winner of the show. In 2012, he partnered with Mayer and started a restaurant ‘North End Grill’ in New York. It was one of the most popular eating points in Manhattan, New York, and after almost six years the restaurant was shut down. He co-founded the hospitality company, ‘Hunger Inc.’ along with Sameer Seth and Thomas Zacharias. In 2016, he started the famous restaurant ‘Paowalla’ which was later renamed as ‘Bombay Bread Bar.’ He had started his own restaurants in Mumbai named ‘The Bombay Canteen,’ ‘Bombay Sweet Shop,’ and ‘O Pedro.’
Floyd Cardoz’s Restaurant Paowalla
Death
On 8 March 2020, he travelled to New York from Mumbai via Frankfurt airport. After landing in New York, he started feeling feverish, later, he was diagnosed with COVID-19. He was hospitalised at Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, New Jersey. After suffering from COVID-19 for more than 15 days, he passed away on 25 March 2020.
Floyd Cardoz’s Last Instagram Post
Facts/Trivia
- He was the author of the books, “Once Spice, Two Spice” and “Flavorwalla.”
- He was nominated four times for the James Beard Foundation Award.
- After winning ‘Top Chef Masters’ Season 3 in 2011, he used his winning amount of $110,000 to support the Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
- In an interview in 2017, he shared why he opted for the chef as a profession, he said,
I wanted to be a biochemist. Then I read ‘Hotel’ by Arthur Hailey. This is so much fun, because I loved food growing up. Then I started cooking and realized I was really good at it.”