Cook - The Elmore Hotel

Cook I

At The Elmore Hotel, we deliver boutique luxury with a Texas twist in Dallas' vibrant Southlake district. Featuring sophisticated accommodations, refined dining, and elegant event spaces, our hotel is designed for unparalleled comfort and hospitality. Curators at The Elmore Hotel enjoy working in an upscale, service-driven atmosphere that values excellence, innovation, and personalized guest experiences.

Cook I plays a critical role in executing a high-quality culinary experience while supporting daily kitchen leadership. This position is responsible for overseeing station organization, food preparation, and service execution across breakfast, lunch, and dinner operations. Cook works closely with the Sous Chef and culinary leadership to ensure all dishes are prepared with precision, consistency, and adherence to culinary standards.

This role serves as a working leader on the line, guiding cooks and prep staff during service while maintaining strong communication, urgency, and attention to detail. Cook ensures stations are properly set, recipes are followed accurately, and every plate leaving the kitchen reflects the quality and presentation standards expected.

Success in this role requires strong technical cooking skills, the ability to lead by example in a fast-paced kitchen environment, and a commitment to maintaining cleanliness, organization, food safety, and teamwork throughout all shifts.

Responsibilities:

• Leads assigned station during service while ensuring dishes are executed with precision, consistency, and proper presentation according to culinary standards.
• Supports the Sous Chef in daily kitchen operations including prep planning, station organization, and service coordination.
• Directs and assists line cooks and prep cooks during mise en place and service to maintain efficiency, cleanliness, and proper workflow.
• Ensures all ingredients are properly prepped, labeled, stored, and rotated according to kitchen standards and food safety requirements.
• Oversees station setup before service and ensures proper breakdown and cleaning procedures are completed after service.
• Executes menu items using proper cooking techniques including grilling, sauting, roasting, frying, steaming, baking, and broiling.
• Maintains strong knowledge of the menu including ingredients, preparation methods, allergens, and presentation standards.
• Monitors ticket flow and maintain pace during service to ensure timely execution while upholding quality standards.
• Ensures all plates leaving the kitchen meet the restaurant's presentation and quality expectations.
• Communicates clearly with chefs, cooks, and front-of-house staff to maintain smooth kitchen operations and guest satisfaction.
• Assists with training new cooks on recipes, station setup, kitchen standards, and proper cooking techniques.
• Maintains proper food temperatures, portioning, and holding procedures to ensure product quality and food safety compliance.
• Follows all sanitation, safety, and HACCP procedures including proper storage, labeling, and cross-contamination prevention.
• Maintains a clean and organized workstation throughout service and ensures all kitchen equipment and tools are properly used and maintained.
• Assists with monitoring food waste and supports efforts to maintain food cost control.
• Reports equipment issues, maintenance needs, or product shortages to culinary leadership.
• Works collaboratively with the culinary team to maintain a positive, professional, and high-performance kitchen environment.
• Demonstrates strong work ethic, reliability, and leadership while supporting the culinary team during high-volume service.
• Maintains a clean, professional appearance and arrives prepared and ready for each shift.
• Performs additional duties as assigned by the Sous Chef, Executive Chef, or culinary leadership team.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to run a Kitchen station and direct the activities of the Prep and Line Cooks
• Ability to follow recipes and calculate amounts within recipes.
• Good, safe knife and equipment skills.
• Must be able to operate standard kitchen equipment including but not limited to: Blender, Slicer, Grinder, Chopper, Mixer, Oven, Grill, Steamers, Steam Jacket Kettles, Fryer, and Tilting Skillet.
• Good reading and conversion skills.
• Ability to absorb a large amount of information in a short period of time.
• Ability to use good judgment, initiative and teamwork is necessary.
• Ability to adapt to change, new situations, changes in staffing and procedures.
• Ability to follow verbal and written instructions.
• Ability to maintain food quality no matter what the business and staffing level.
• Ability to make decisions as needed to ensure quality guest service.
• Ability to maintain regular attendance and be punctual in a complete uniform for any scheduled shift.
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with fellow employees.
• May be required to work nights, weekends, and/or overtime.

Experience:

• 3 years of previous restaurant experience. Fine Dining Kitchen or Luxury Hotel experience preferred.
• Previous experience in a lead or supervisor role preferred.

Physical Demands:

• May risk burns and cuts.
• Very frequent repetitive motions and extreme conditions (hot or cold). Needs to be tolerable to extreme temperature changes from moist steam heated environment to cold refrigerator/freezer environment.
• Ability to stand /walking for long periods of time (6 hours or greater).
• Ability to stoop, squat, and/or kneel frequently.
• Ability to push/pull, lift, and carry from 0 to greater than 50 pounds occasionally including carts, pans, and trays of food. Ability to reach, twist trunk and neck frequently.

Required Personal Protective Equipment:

• Closed toe, non-canvas and non-skid soled shoes.