Former Mission Chinese Chef Angela Dimayuga Lands at Standard Hotels

After a contentious breakup with Mission Chinese, former executive chef and rising star Angela Dimayuga has landed a new gig as the creative director of food and culture for all Standard hotels. That includes five locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, and an upcoming London opening, where she’ll manage all hotel restaurants as well as “create programming that blends food, music, and art,” Grub Street reports.

Dimayuga says the job appealed to her more than a traditional restaurant head chef role because it allows more “exploration.” “What I’m really excited about are the special projects I’ve been doing, creating programming that includes music and art and really thinking about that,” she says.

She’ll be working with chefs at each hotel to tighten food at each restaurant and will especially make her mark with the London opening. And as existing restaurants get renovations, she’ll have the opportunity to rethink the food at each. As is Dimayuga’s modus operandi, the food at each property will differ based on the location and be “tied with culture,” she says.

She saw that opportunity with Standard at an Art Basel dinner she did for the ACLU at the Miami hotel in December. “Anytime I approach anything, I consider my own personal activism ... that was a huge draw for me,” she says. “That I was getting to participate in making a site-specific menu, playing with tropical ingredients, and knowing that I was establishing my name and my food with the ACLU. I was just excited that there was a hotel or a brand that cared about these issues and art, nightlife, and culture.”

Dimayuga left Mission Chinese in October, saying it was because owner Danny Bowien didn’t include her in the restaurant’s upcoming Bushwick location, which made it clear he wasn’t going to let her grow in the company, work on a new concept, or be a partner. During her six years there, Dimayuga landed on multiple best new chef and rising star lists, including the annual Young Guns awards at Eater. In 2016, she was nominated for the Rising Star Chef James Beard award.

• At the Standard, Angela Dimayuga Wants to Further Blur the Line Between Food, Art, and Activism [Grub Street]
• Angela Dimayuga Is Here From the Future to Save Us All [E]