Chef de Cuisine

Chef De Cuisine

The Chef de Cuisine is a culinary leader responsible for overseeing day-to-day kitchen operations and leading the culinary team at Brickmans. This position ensures consistent food quality, presentation, safety, sanitation, and operational efficiency while creating an environment of accountability, teamwork, learning, and professional growth.

The Chef de Cuisine partners closely with Food & Beverage leadership, front-of-house management, Human Resources, and other resort departments to deliver an exceptional guest experience while achieving established food cost, labor, and operational goals.

The duties of the Chef de Cuisine include, but are not limited to, the following:

Culinary & Guest Experience

• Ensure the highest standards of food quality, consistency, flavor, and presentation for every guest, every time.
• Lead the consistent execution of approved recipes, menu items, daily specials, and culinary standards.
• Participate in menu development, seasonal offerings, recipe development, and refinement of culinary concepts in partnership with Food & Beverage leadership.
• Maintain current knowledge of regional and national food and beverage trends and identify opportunities to keep menus relevant and competitive.
• Maintain a strong sense of urgency and organization during peak preparation and service periods.
• Respond promptly and professionally to food-quality or guest concerns and implement appropriate corrective action.
• Collaborate with front-of-house leadership to ensure effective communication, service execution, and a consistent guest experience.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, train, and develop culinary team members in cooking techniques, food preparation, plate presentation, portion control, sanitation, safety, and established culinary standards.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable for consistently meeting Lakehouse Resort and departmental standards.
• Foster a positive, respectful, and professional kitchen culture that encourages teamwork, creativity, education, employee engagement, and professional development.
• Conduct regular coaching and performance conversations and identify opportunities for individual and team development.
• Partner with Human Resources and Food & Beverage leadership on recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, performance management, and, when necessary, corrective action or separation decisions.
• Administer company policies, standards, and procedures consistently, promptly, and fairly.
• Lead by example through professionalism, effective communication, organization, accountability, and a hands-on approach to kitchen operations.

Financial & Operational Management

• Manage food purchasing, receiving, storage, inventory, and product utilization to support quality standards and established financial targets.
• Monitor and manage food cost, labor cost, purchasing, inventory levels, waste, and other assigned departmental financial goals.
• Develop effective schedules that support preparation, production, and service needs while adhering to established labor budgets and productivity expectations.
• Maintain appropriate staffing levels and adjust deployment based on business volume and operational needs.
• Follow established purchasing and requisition procedures and maintain appropriate vendor and product controls.
• Ensure adherence to standard recipes, portion controls, storage procedures, rotation standards, and waste-control practices.
• Participate in forecasting, budgeting, and financial planning as required and identify opportunities to improve productivity and operating performance.
• Complete inventory, ordering, schedules, reports, and other required administrative responsibilities accurately and on time.

Safety, Sanitation & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with all applicable food-safety, sanitation, health department, and workplace-safety requirements.
• Maintain established procedures for food handling, storage, labeling, rotation, temperature control, allergen awareness, and prevention of cross-contamination.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe kitchen environment and ensure culinary employees consistently follow sanitation and safety standards.
• Conduct routine inspections of kitchen areas and equipment and promptly address safety, sanitation, maintenance, or operational concerns.
• Ensure kitchen equipment is properly used, cleaned, maintained, and kept in excellent working condition through regular inspection and preventative maintenance coordination.
• Maintain required food-safety certification and ensure required certifications and training for culinary employees remain current.

• Culinary degree, formal apprenticeship, or an equivalent combination of culinary training and progressive professional experience preferred.
• Minimum of five years of progressive professional culinary experience, including demonstrated supervisory or management experience in a full-service restaurant, resort, hotel, or comparable high-volume culinary environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading hourly culinary employees and supervisory or management-level culinary team members.
• Required food-safety certification, or ability to obtain the certification required by Lakehouse Resort within the established timeframe.
• Strong knowledge of professional cooking techniques, food preparation, food handling, sanitation, plate presentation, portion control, and kitchen operations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple meal periods, varying business volumes, and a range of cuisine styles.
• Knowledge of current regional and national culinary and food-and-beverage trends.
• Strong understanding of food cost, labor management, purchasing, inventory control, forecasting, budgeting, and waste reduction.
• Strong leadership, coaching, communication, organizational, time-management, and creative problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritize effectively, make sound decisions in a fast-paced environment, and maintain composure and professionalism during periods of high business volume.
• Ability to work collaboratively across culinary, restaurant, Food & Beverage, Human Resources, and other resort departments.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule based on business needs, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays.
• Ability to work for extended periods in a professional kitchen environment that may include heat, cold, noise, wet surfaces, and continuous activity.
• Ability to stand and walk for extended periods and perform the physical functions necessary to oversee and participate in kitchen operations.
• Ability to safely lift, carry, push, and pull items consistent with the physical requirements established for the position.