Zachary Engel

The Path

Business training at Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business, gave Engel a framework that later met the pace of restaurant work. His early kitchen exposure came as a part-time employee at Domenica in New Orleans, Central Business District, where the demands of service and the rhythm of the dining room became part of the job from the start. Shaya in New Orleans became the place where that early experience consolidated into a career line. Engel moved into the restaurant, then advanced from Head Chef to Executive Chef at Shaya Restaurant, a progression that points to technical responsibility, consistency, and the trust built over time inside a single operation. Pomegranate Hospitality widened that scope without changing the underlying discipline. As Culinary Director, Engel carries experience accumulated across years of kitchen and hospitality work into a role defined by oversight and continuity.

The Work Today

At the New Orleans restaurant, Engel holds the Executive Chef title. It marks the present form of a longer relationship with the same team and kitchen, following earlier senior posts there and reflecting the depth of his daily presence in the operation. The work is rooted in repetition and coordination: menu execution, staff guidance, and the management of kitchen rhythm. In that frame, the title functions less as an endpoint than as the current expression of a sustained practice.

In Their Words “I can attribute a great deal to my receiving of that award as talent, luck and hard work. All those ingredients focus primarily on me. However, I was simply an effective leader of a talented and driven team.”

Acclaim

James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Food and Drink sit on Engel’s record as external recognition of work already visible in the kitchen. The honors frame a career built through continuity, responsibility, and a steadily expanding reach within New Orleans hospitality.