Shaiful Kassim

Executive Chef
Hilton Al-Hamra Beach & Golf Resort

Chef Shaiful Kassim was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and his career was kindled by his fascination with his mother’s creativity in the kitchen. He graduated with a diploma in Culinary Arts at City & Guilds at Flamingo College in Malaysia before landing his very first job at the pastry department of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Young, energetic and eager to learn new things, he moved to two equally renowned 5-star hotels in the city namely; first the Regent Hotel and then the Westin Hotel. Shaiful was eager to venture abroad and joined La Mer, a French fine dining restaurant and then the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha, Qatar.

A career highlight was the privilege to work at the Connaught’s Hotel with Gordon Ramsay and at Ramsay’s restaurant at Claridge’s in London. Shaiful describes his experience of working in a Michelin star restaurant as not only challenging but as an experience of a lifetime.

Following his career in London, Shaiful relocated to the United Arab Emirates where he landed a job at the Dubai Marina Yacht Club for his first “chef de cuisine” position. Under the same management, he was transferred to take charge of the award-winning fine dining restaurant at The Address, Montgomerie Hotel & Spa. (Time-Out Magazine Dubai Highly Recommended Brunch 2009).

He then went to work at the Capital Club Dubai, an exclusive membership club at the heart of Dubai’s International Financial District. Here he worked at the fine dining restaurant, Signature, which was led by 2* Michelin star Chef, Jerry Bastian, before moving on to the double award-winning fine dining Seafood restaurant, Nautilus.

He was also part of the opening team at the 7-star Kempinski Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, led by Chef Alexander Paul. As sport is one of his passions, Shaiful was particularly fortunate to participate in the opening of the Yas Viceroy Hotel, the only hotel in the world in the middle of a Formula 1 race track.

At age 30, Shaiful moved to the Seychelles where he took up the role of Executive Chef at the 5-star Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa. Responsible for managing 54 team members across 8 food & beverage outlets, he was also part of the team that represented Hilton Labriz at Top Resa, the annual French Tourism Trade Fair in Paris, France in 2011.

Shaiful moved to South Africa at Hilton Sandton, Johannesburg as Executive Chef to experiencing South Africa’s culture and cuisine. 5* Hotel with 329 rooms, 4 F&B outlets and Banquets facilities up to 1000 delegates.

In 2014, this vibrant chef now joins Hilton Al Hamra Beach & Golf Resort as Executive Chef with 6 F&B outlets and banquet facilities up to 600 delegates.