Executive Chef

About the Position

The Colonial Williamsburg Company is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Chef d' Cuisine to join our team. As a key member of our culinary team, you will be responsible for the successful achievement of operational and quality goals for the King's Arms Tavern.

Key Responsibilities

• Train, supervise, counsel, and motivate the kitchen teams while controlling production, quality, and food costs.
• Responsible for the consistent preparation of innovative and creative cuisine of the highest quality, presentation, and flavors for the dining room, resulting in outstanding guest satisfaction, improved market share, increased covers, and revenues.
• Work in conjunction with the Restaurant Manager to ensure adherence to the policies, procedures, and standards of conduct established by the company.
• Interact on a daily basis with colleagues in Chef positions across the company.

Essential FunctionsProduction

• Ensure that the culinary and utility staffs are performing to the established standards.

Food Preparation

• Prepare food correctly for service according to the standards of the specific dish, and the various meal periods.
• Accurately develop the proper quantities of product through use of station checklists and forecasting.

Food Service

• Prepare all food according to the POS system print out, while producing and executing the special request items to meet guest expectations.
• Maintain the established pace of service to sustain a steady flow of service.
• Creation and costing of breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus in accordance with the branding of the specific food outlets' policies and procedures.
• Set the example, create, and ensure kitchen standards are followed in a positive and professional manner.
• Ensure that the culinary staff are following through with the noted daily tasks by following checklists and your demonstrations of proper technique and guidance.
• Effectively oversee the expediting of breakfast, lunch, or dinner shifts to standard.
• Demonstrate a proactive approach to managing large parties in the Dining room, in cooperation with the Restaurant and Guest Service Managers.
• Oversee the production of all prep items, ensuring recipe adherence, ticket times, and food production meet or exceed standard as established by yourself and the Restaurant Manager.
• Ensure adherence to the recipe cards and plate presentation.
• Work in corporation with the purchasing agent to ensure the freshest and cost-effective ingredients are present in the taverns.
• Pull change log Monday through Saturday and update all production sheets with the updated information.
• Supervise utility and receiving staff for cleanliness of storage and kitchen areas.
• Assist in making sure staff is scheduled appropriately.
• Ensure that food is properly ordered for the area of operations you are managing.

Inventory Control

• Thoroughly understand and adhere to the Food Order Guides system of ordering food in the kitchen.
• Order according to established pars and forecasting.
• Properly rotate all food in storage utilizing the F.I.F.O. system.
• Accurately conduct monthly inventory.
• Accurately place orders with the use of the ordering checklists.
• Communicate product levels to the storeroom keeper when subpar.
• Complete weekly spot inventories on high-dollar items and communicate those findings to the storeroom keeper to reconcile with perpetual inventories.

Sanitation

• Follow food safety and sanitation guidelines and ensure that staff understands and practices the same, including but not limited to:
• Maintain a working knowledge of the Temperature Danger Zone (41°-135°F).
• Thoroughly sanitize station, equipment, and hands after handling potentially hazardous foods.
• Prevent potential cross-contamination through hand washing and awareness of surroundings.
• Read and follow the standards of the Appearance Policy provided by CW.
• Clean as you go, maintain a clean and orderly work station at all times.
• Keep jackets, pants, aprons, shoes, and hats as clean as possible.
• Wear protective gloves when handling ready-to-eat foods.
• Obtain and maintain a valid ServSafe certification and manage to the standards of the ServSafe criteria.
• Ensure all employees obtain and maintain food handler's certification from the Health Department.
• Create and nourish a positive working relationship with the local Health Department.
• Work through any Health Department issues, correcting immediately when possible, and do not allow any repeats on critical violations.
• Supervise daily detailed cleaning of the kitchens.
• Ensure sanitation throughout property, including kitchen, dining rooms, and outdoor public areas such as Fire Pit dining area, gardens, walkways, back dock, and dumpster area, etc.

Safety

• Ensure that direct reports have successfully completed all required Safety Training, including but not limited to:
• Safety orientation.
• Fire Extinguisher Training.
• Lifting, etc.
• Asbestos Awareness.
• Preventing Slips, Trips, Falls.
• Fill out an incident report for all accidents that happen on your shift.
• Complete the incident follow-up form for each accident.
• Wear slip-resistant shoes to prevent slips, trips, and falls.
• Practice safety in the workplace at all times, including but not limited to:
• Understand and identify hazards in the workplace so proper actions may take place in order to reduce injury.
• Maintain a sharp knife while safely handling as to not obtain injury.
• Has a working knowledge of safely prepping, using, and cleaning of all equipment in the kitchen.
• Lifts with legs and always ask for assistance when necessary.
• Utilizes a pushcart whenever transporting products over a distance.
• Takes action to secure a hazard through the supervisor by reporting issues immediately.
• Ensures that others are practicing safety procedures at all times.
• Troubleshoots and locates potential problems with the Kitchen facilities and equipment (i.e., maintaining machinery, cleaning equipment regularly, spotting safety hazards, etc.). Ensures repair and maintenance of kitchen equipment by partnering with our maintenance department.
• Stays informed and current on all areas of Risk Management.

Financial Responsibility

• Ensure that the culinary staff under your direction are clocking in and out accurately and according to the CW attendance policy.
• Be financially aware of the cost of food and cost of labor and effectively contribute to the control of both.
• Be aware and understand overtime and maintain practices to avoid accruing any pertaining to yourself and other staff members.
• Ensure employee standards are consistent through documented, timely performance evaluations, training checklists, and daily reviews, and discharges when necessary.
• Attends daily front-of-the-house line-ups to highlight specials and up-selling techniques associated with those specials.
• Make sure quality and timeliness of food product maintained to that particular area's standards.

Communication

• Effectively communicates with co-workers and managers to maintain an efficient work space.
• Holds daily line-ups to inform the crew of the daily duties and tasks at hand.
• Effectively communicates to Cooks, Stewards, and other employees.
• Attends all meetings that have to do with the Food and Beverage business needs for the Historic Area.
• Effectively communicates menu changes, special events, or any other changes that pertain to specified units.

Teamwork

• Demonstrates teamwork within your direct work group as well as surrounding departments.
• Identifies and acts when assistance is needed under any circumstance.
• Assists in strategies to develop efficiencies with the work group to streamline production and labor.
• Takes the initiative to step in and direct others to assist others in a collaborative effort.
• Works on all staffing plans for kitchen staff.

Qualifications

Culinary Degree and 5 years' experience accompanying professional managerial experience with the hotel and restaurant industries.

Thorough knowledge of all aspects of Kitchen operations, including but not limited to:

• Thorough understanding of profit and loss management, marketing, and management of Kitchen.
• Knowledge of American regional cuisine, and menu development.
• Experienced in the development and administration of operating and capital budgets, manpower planning, purchasing, and control of operating equipment and sensitivity to design and refurbishing of restaurant and kitchen facilities.

Progressive track record with deluxe hotel, resort, and restaurant organizations. Proven record of culinary accomplishments. Functional experience in guest service, dining room, catering, and back-of-the-house management.

Excellent leadership, communication, and presentation skills.

Gracious and approachable manner in dealing with guests and employees.

Strong partnering and networking skills.

Ability to develop and work as part of a team, and develop partnerships both within your unit and outside.

Demonstrate a calm demeanor and positive attitude.

Ability to read and analyze financial (profit and loss) statements.

Develop annual operating budgets.

Forecast business levels.

Analyze food cost via monitoring of recipes, production, spoilage, waste, breakage, etc...

Understand and implement internal controls relative to food storage and production.

Conduct menu engineering analysis.

Forecast labor needs and adjust staffing as business levels change.

Preferred qualifications include previous experience in presenting training and development programs as well as administration of a union contract.

Must be willing to make a long-term commitment to the Resort, the management, and the culinary and Food and Beverage teams to establish and maintain a reputation for excellence in cuisines locally, regionally, and nationally.

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