Chad Cliffe and Yolanda Santiago have been named campus executive chefs for NC State Dining.
Cliffe and Santiago will work together to provide culinary leadership to the program, directing daily operations of food production, including menu planning, resource allocation, purchasing, ordering, inventory, food preparation, post-meal analysis and record keeping. They will also establish and oversee operating standards, implement and maintain concept standards and create quality improvements.
Both chefs are NC State Dining veterans with complementary skills and experience. Together, they make a dynamic and exciting team to bring new innovations to the dining program.
Cliffe is a 25-year veteran in the food and dining industry and has served as NC State’s executive chef on Centennial Campus for the last four years. In his time at NC State, Cliffe has established himself as a creative and innovative chef by designing new menus and concepts for meals. These new menus have been met with positive responses from customers ranging from students to the chancellor and have helped to increase sales significantly.
Santiago is a 13-year veteran in the food and dining industry as a pastry chef and has spent the last decade working at NC State. Santiago has established herself as a major resource, mentor and innovator for the dining program as well as a simply phenomenal pastry chef.
“I am confident that their unique experiences in the dining industry will complement each other beautifully,” said Shawn Hoch, senior director for hospitality services. “It’s a large role for anyone to fill, and having two talented and dedicated chefs will allow us to do so much more. I’m incredibly confident that together they will be the perfect fit as campus executive chefs based on their cumulative experience in dining, both at NC State and beyond.”
Of the new role and partnership, Santiago shared “I’m excited to work closely with Chef Cliffe and to have such influence over NC State’s dining experience. I’m thrilled to be able to bring new and delicious options to our campus, as well as improve the menus that we already have to fill and delight everyone who enters one of our dining halls.”
Cliffe shared a similar sentiment, emphasizing, “I have great admiration for Chef Yoli and am delighted to be able to work closely with her. This new role is exciting for me, not just because of this wonderful team we have built, but also because of the opportunity to develop more meals friendly to those with dietary restrictions and to establish menus that everyone can enjoy.”