Culinary Operations Chef

Job Title: Culinary Operations Chef

Company: CASCADA F+B

Location: Portland, OR (Located in CASCADA)

Employment Type: Full-time Hourly

Reports to: Executive Chef

About Us:

CASCADA F+B is growing our team specifically in our Forbidden Fruit Café, Alberta Street Coffee shop and our ever expanding Events.

Job Summary:

The Culinary Operations Chef is responsible for overseeing and coordinating culinary operations across our café, coffee shop, and events/banquet program. This position serves as the connection between each outlet, ensuring teams are prepared, food is executed consistently, event commitments are met, and operations run smoothly and on time.

This is a hands-on leadership position. The Culinary Operations Chef will work alongside the team when needed, including executing events and banquets, while also managing the bigger operational picture. They will oversee sous chefs and kitchen leads, maintain accountability across departments, and work closely with the Executive Chef on menu development, systems, and overall culinary standards.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, comfortable managing multiple moving pieces, and able to move between daily café operations, production, events, and leadership responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities:

Multi-Outlet Culinary Operations:

· Oversee culinary operations across the café, coffee shop, and events/banquet program.

· Coordinate production, prep, staffing needs, and communication between all three outlets.

· Ensure every outlet is properly stocked, organized, and prepared for service.

· Establish and maintain pars, prep lists, production schedules, and ordering systems.

· Identify operational needs before they become service issues.

· Ensure food quality, presentation, portioning, and execution remain consistent across all outlets.

· Maintain clear communication between culinary leadership, FOH leadership, events, and other departments.

Events & Banquets:

· Work events and banquet services as required.

· Review event contracts, BEOs, menus, guest counts, dietary restrictions, and service expectations prior to each event.

· Ensure the culinary team understands and executes everything that has been committed to the client.

· Coordinate event prep, production timelines, staffing, equipment, and product needs.

· Ensure events are fully prepared and executed accurately and on time.

· Communicate changes or potential issues to the appropriate teams before service.

· Assist with event menu development, tastings, and special requests.

Leadership & Team Management:

· Directly oversee sous chefs, kitchen leads, and other assigned culinary team members.

· Set clear expectations and hold culinary leaders accountable for their areas of responsibility.

· Follow up on assigned projects, prep, ordering, cleanliness, organization, and service readiness.

· Help develop sous chefs and leads into stronger, more independent leaders.

· Delegate effectively while maintaining oversight of final execution.

· Assist with scheduling and deployment of culinary staff based on outlet and event needs.

· Support training, coaching, performance management, and implementation of kitchen standards.

· Create a culture of accountability, urgency, organization, professionalism, and teamwork.

Inventory, Ordering & Organization:

· Ensure all outlets maintain appropriate inventory and pars.

· Oversee ordering and receiving practices within assigned operations.

· Ensure products needed for upcoming events and services are ordered with adequate lead time.

· Monitor shortages, substitutions, waste, over-ordering, and unnecessary spending.

· Maintain organization of walk-ins, freezers, dry storage, event storage, and production areas.

· Work with culinary leadership to improve purchasing, food cost, and inventory systems.

Menu & Food Development:

· Collaborate with the Executive Chef on new dishes, menus, specials, and concepts.

· Participate in recipe testing, tastings, and menu development.

· Help translate new menu items into systems that can be executed consistently by the team.

· Develop and maintain recipes, specifications, plating standards, and production procedures.

· Identify opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, profitability, and guest experience.

Standards & Execution:

· Ensure all culinary operations meet company standards for food quality, cleanliness, sanitation, organization, and professionalism.

· Maintain proper food safety and sanitation practices.

· Ensure recipes, portions, presentation standards, and procedures are being followed.

· Maintain strong communication regarding upcoming events, large orders, menu changes, staffing challenges, and operational needs.

· Step into production or service wherever needed to support successful execution.

Schedule & Availability:

This position requires a flexible schedule based on the needs of the business.

The Culinary Operations Chef must be available to work a combination of mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, events, and banquet services as required. The schedule may change based on event volume and the operational needs of the café, coffee shop, and other culinary outlets.

This is not a position dedicated to one individual outlet. The Culinary Operations Chef is expected to move between operations based on where leadership and support are most needed.