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Chef Floyd Cardoz dies from coronavirus: Rahul Bose, Sophie Choudry and other celebs mourn demise

Chef Floyd Cardoz, co-owner of Bombay Canteen and O Pedro, passes away due to Coronavirus

Chef Cardoz was the co-owner of two successful restaurants in Mumbai – The Bombay Canteen and O Pedro and had earlier this month launched a third venture, the Bombay Sweet Shop with the same team.

Chef Floyd Cardoz, the 59-year-old restaurateur based in the USA, has died. On March 18, Chef Cardoz had tested positive for COVID-19 at a New York hospital.

Hunger Inc, the company that runs the restaurants, said in a statement: “It is with deep sorrow that we inform you of the passing away of Chef Floyd Cardoz (59 years), Co-Founder, Hunger Inc. Hospitality, on March 25, 2020 in New Jersey, USA. He is survived by his mother Beryl, wife Barkha and sons Justin and Peter.

“Floyd tested positive for Covid 19, in USA, on March 18th and was being treated for the same at Mountainside Medical Centre, New Jersey, USA.”

The company had earlier confirmed that the restaurateur-chef had tested positive for the virus. “As a precautionary measure we have informed the Health Department in Mumbai about the same,” it said. “We are also reaching out personally to people who have interacted with him during his visit to India, so they can take necessary medical advice should they indicate any symptoms...”

Chef Cardoz was the co-owner of two successful restaurants in Mumbai – The Bombay Canteen and O Pedro and had earlier this month launched a third venture, the Bombay Sweet Shop with the same team.

The news of Chef Cardoz’s demise has stunned the culinary world. Food writer Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi who has known him for a decade said, “Chef Floyd elevated the way we looked at Indian food, both here and abroad. He showed us how Indian cuisine should be celebrated. He was a friend, a genius chef, and a warm, genuine, remarkable human being, with a sparkling personality. He will be so deeply missed.”

Gauri Devidayal, who owns The Table and Mei13 said, “Chef Floyd was a global icon in the food world and one of the first chefs to put Indian food on the world map with his restaurant, Tabla. He is someone that not just the Hunger Inc team, but everyone looked up to. His mark on the restaurant industry in both New York and Bombay was remarkable and it’s unimaginable to think he is no more because of this dreaded virus. I wish his personal and restaurant family all the strength in the world in this difficult time.”

The Mumbai-born Chef Cardoz with Goan origins had originally trained to be a biochemist. He shot to fame when he won the top honour of the television reality show, Top Chef Masters Season 3 with an upma dish with a twist. A product of IHM Dadar, Mumbai’s hotel management school, Chef Cardoz successfully ran New York’s acclaimed, Tabla restaurant for 12 years before it shut down in 2010.

Most recently he ran the popular Soho Indian restaurant, Bombay Bread Bar which was formerly known as Paowalla for three years. Food critics had called it a “magical love letter to Indian bread.”

Food writer, Aatish Nath said, “Chef Floyd Cardoz always had wry smile on his face and was quick with suggestions when it came to what to eat, at both O Pedro and Bombay Canteen. More recently, at Bombay Sweet Shop there was a sense of pride in what the team at Hunger Inc, in which he was a partner, had created. It was clear that Cardoz took pride, rightfully, in what he had built in the country and the city of his birth in addition to his legacy in New York City. He was seen as an ambassador for Indian food, which again brought him back to India on the most recent season of chef David Chang’s Netflix show, Ugly Delicious.