Ritz-Carlton in Saudi Arabia Hires Female Vegan Chef

Luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton recently added vegan chef Al-Maha Al-Dossary to the culinary team at its Riyadh location in Saudi Arabia. The chef was previously employed in the banking industry before joining the Ritz-Carlton team, which is actively seeking female employees under Saudi’s Vision 2030 initiative to empower women in Saudi Arabia. “I began from the commissary, which receives food, and worked up to the Italian cuisine, going through all the stages of kitchen work and taking it step by step to learn the whole process,” Al-Dossary told local media outlet Arab Times. The chef, who graduated from prestigious culinary school Le Cordon Bleu in London, is part of Ritz-Carlton’s Voyager program that prepares chefs to become managers and hopes to eventually open a chain of vegan restaurants in Saudi Arabia. Vegan Saudi Arabian Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal has similar ambitions in the region, and recently partnered with acclaimed plant-based chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia—a menu currently available at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills hotel that the prince said is “just the beginning of a larger vision.”