Executive Chef

Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge
St. Helena, Napa Valley, CA

Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge is a new wine-focused hospitality project in St. Helena built around discovery, generosity, and a slightly unreasonable love of great bottles.

Created by Nick Kokonas and Chef Elliot Bell, Elsewhere brings together exceptional wine, thoughtful food, warm service, and the particular magic of Napa Valley. Elliot is a 10-year veteran of Thomas Keller's world-renowned The French Laundry, and his cooking is grounded in seasonality, local purveyors, and the bounty of the region. Nick was the founder and owner of the award-winning Alinea Group.

The wine program will be broad, ambitious, and personal, featuring everything from classic producers and rare bottles to small, idiosyncratic wines with stories worth telling.

We are not trying to be another tasting room, another restaurant, or another predictable wine bar. Elsewhere is a place for collectors, winemakers, locals, travelers, chefs, artists, and the wine-curious to gather, connect, and return often.

The food should feel generous, seasonal, and deeply compatible with the wines we serve—refined without being precious, memorable without demanding attention.

The Executive Chef will play a key leadership role in opening and operating Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge. This position will oversee all culinary operations, including menu development, kitchen leadership, food quality, purchasing, inventory, financial performance, events, and kitchen culture.

This is a hands-on leadership position. The right person will be equally comfortable cooking on the line, mentoring cooks, developing seasonal menus, sourcing exceptional ingredients, managing costs, and building the systems that allow a small, ambitious kitchen to operate with consistency and grace.

You do not need to chase accolades.

You do need to care deeply about every plate that leaves the kitchen.

• Lead the culinary program in collaboration with Chef Elliot Bell and ownership.
• Develop and execute seasonal menus that celebrate Napa Valley ingredients and complement Elsewhere's wine program.
• Oversee all daily kitchen operations, including prep, production, service, ordering, receiving, sanitation, and closing procedures.
• Recruit, train, schedule, mentor, and lead the culinary team while fostering a culture of professionalism, curiosity, accountability, and respect.
• Create and maintain recipes, prep systems, plating standards, station guides, and kitchen operating procedures.
• Source exceptional ingredients through strong relationships with local farms, ranches, fisheries, and specialty purveyors.
• Manage food costs, labor, purchasing, inventory, waste, and overall kitchen profitability.
• Collaborate closely with the General Manager and wine team to create a seamless guest experience and thoughtful food and wine pairings.
• Develop menus for private events, winemaker dinners, tastings, collector evenings, and special programming.
• Maintain the highest standards of food quality, consistency, sanitation, and safety while ensuring compliance with all applicable regulations.
• Help establish the culture, systems, and operational standards that will define Elsewhere from opening day forward.
• Act as a steward of the Elsewhere brand: serious about food, serious about hospitality, and not overly serious about itself.

• Experience as an Executive Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Sous Chef, or similar culinary leadership role.
• Fine dining, luxury hospitality, wine-focused restaurant, private club, or hotel experience strongly preferred.
• Strong technical cooking skills with a deep understanding of seasonality, sourcing, organization, and execution.
• Demonstrated experience developing seasonal menus and leading high-performing kitchen teams.
• Strong financial management skills, including food costing, purchasing, inventory control, labor management, and menu pricing.
• Experience opening restaurants or building kitchen systems is highly desirable.
• Experience with private events, tasting menus, wine dinners, or chef collaborations preferred.
• Strong leadership, communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• A team-first approach with high standards and low ego.
• California Food Handler Card required.
• Food Protection Manager Certification preferred.

You are part chef, part teacher, part operator, and part systems builder.

You understand that remarkable food is built long before service begins. It starts with exceptional ingredients, disciplined preparation, organized systems, and a team that understands both the "how" and the "why."

You appreciate wine enough to know the food should elevate it, never compete with it. You enjoy collaborating with farmers, winemakers, and your team as much as creating beautiful dishes.

You can lead with calm authority. You teach more than you criticize. You hold high standards without creating fear.

You are ambitious, but never chaotic.

This is a full-time leadership position. The Executive Chef is expected to work approximately 45–55 hours per week and must be available during core operating hours, including days, evenings, weekends, holidays, and special events.

While we strive for consistency, work hours and days off are subject to change based on the needs of the restaurant.

• Performance-based bonus potential
• Health and supplemental insurance benefits
• Retirement savings plan with employer match
• Paid time off
• Employee dining discount
• Wine education and professional development opportunities
• Relocation stipend may be available for the right candidate

Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge provides equal employment opportunity to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.