chef rudi sodamin slice of his life - culinary - pop artist

About Chef Rudi Sodamin
Rudi's achievements build upon his long legacy of integrity, innovation, and leadership.
Chef Rudi, Culinary Pop Artist, MasterChef and Author. Sodamin’s life has been a fairytale in which hard work led to triumph over adversity. Sodamin was born into a family of 11 children in 1958. Sodamin’s father passed away when Rudi was only eight-years old, He built the foundation of his culinary career with 15-hour days working and studying in the classrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms. Throughout this formative period, Chef Rudi was exposed to new recipes, different cultures, and chefs and coworkers from a variety of backgrounds with a broad and diverse “spice rack” of experiences. Yet, everywhere he went, Sodamin found that kitchens shared a common set of principles: strict discipline coupled with camaraderie, fun, and a healthy respect for each individual’s skills and contributions. At 23-year-old, Sodamin was appointed as the Chef de Cuisine on the luxury line Vistafjord run by Norwegian American Cruise Line, he was the youngest chef in the cruise line world to have responsibility on this scale. He was dubbed a “culinary wunderkind” in the European press. By the time he was 26, Sodamin was named corporate executive chef on board the Legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)-again, the youngest chef at sea to attain such a title.
And quickly rising to Vice President of Food and Beverage and Corporate Executive Chef for Cunard. He transformed QE2’s kitchens, replacing a tired English-Continental menu with a fresh, vibrant global cuisine. Thanks to Sodamin’s innovative efforts in the 1990s, the food served by the historic Cunard Line was widely acclaimed as the best in the world. Under his stewardship, it received a number of international accolades became the first ship to be awarded 17 (out of 20) points and three toques by Gault Millau.
After Cunard, Sodamin joined Royal Caribbean Cruise Line as Senior Director of Corporate Food and Beverage Operations and Culinary Spokesperson. Sodamin oversaw and directed the galley and dining outlets of nine new build vessels in seven years, defining innovative and efficient kitchen designs built for a new era of culinary achievement at sea. Sodamin spearheaded and launched the first restaurant concepts at sea. Thereafter Holland America Line hired Sodamin as Master Chef. There, he focused not only on the evolution of the food product, but also on the professional development of all culinary staff. One of his first initiatives was to hold an Executives’ Chef Conference to lay the groundwork for new initiatives and set clear goals for culinary excellence. He followed up by developing a “Culinary Road Map”-the short and long-range strategic vision and implementation plans for culinary operations and socialized it with all levels of food and beverage production. His goal was to foster the kind of teamwork and universal pride and ownership that would transform how the culinary teams functioned.
Additionally, Sodamin spearheaded the development and launch of a residential Culinary Training Center in Manilla, the Philippines, Another of Sodamin’s significant achievements at Holland America Line is his “Pop Up” restaurant concept to re-create the legendary eatery’s award-winning dining experience on board all Holland America ships.
In 2017, with the launch of Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam on Nov. 29, 2018, Rudi opened a permanent stand-alone restaurant, Rudi’s Sel de Mer, on board Nieuw Statendam-the cruise industry’s first French-inspired, seafood brasserie specialty restaurant. “Rudi’s Sel de Mer” is now onboard three Holland America Line’s ships and continues to garner rave reviews. Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, were so impressed with Rudi’s vision, they invited Sodamin to create “Rudi’s Seagrill”, a signature seafood restaurant for its new Excel class ship Mardi Gras, Jubilee & Celebration ..His latest “The Catch by Rudi “ at Princess Cruises. Driven by his deep passion for pushing the boundaries of dining, Rudi created and launched one stand-alone restaurant concept in 2024, a love themed restaurant, “Love by Britto” the first artistically inspired dining experience celebrating Love onboard Princess Cruises .
Sodamin has been a changemaker for the cruise line industry for decades and is credited with innovations that continue to improve standards industry-wide. Through his unique positive, visionary, and energetic creativity-always taking a people-first approach-Sodamin revolutionized the culinary practices and perceptions of the most prestigious cruise line’s culinary offerings, earning numerous accolades and awards for his culinary achievements along the way.
Restless passion and professionalism are the hallmarks that define Sodamin’s life and work; he lives each day by an ambitious philosophy, “All can be done.” Food is Life ' Life is Food "