IN-ROOM DINING, VIP, & POOL SERVICE HEAD CHEF

Head Chef -- In-Room Dining, VIP & Pool Service

The Head Chef -- In-Room Dining, VIP & Pool Service provides culinary leadership and operational oversight for In-Room Dining, VIP Suites and Amenities, Pool/Cabanas, and Pre-Function Green Room Service. The position leads the culinary team in delivering consistent food quality, presentation, timing, food safety, and guest service across a 24/7 operation. This role combines refined culinary execution with disciplined operational management, ensuring food maintains its quality, temperature, texture, and presentation throughout preparation, transport, and delivery. The Head Chef is accountable for menu execution, culinary standards, labor and food-cost management, team development, equipment stewardship, and continuous improvement of the guest dining experience.

Essential Functions:

1. Responsible for redefining hospitality at Graton Resort & Casino while living, supporting, and promoting our values.
2. Perform responsibilities in accordance with all Graton Resort & Casino standards, policies, and procedures.
3. Lead culinary execution for breakfast, all-day, overnight, VIP amenity, Pool and Cabana Service menus.
4. Develop, test, cost, and implement menu items that balance guest expectations, operational execution, and food-cost objectives.
5. Establish standards specifically designed for In-Room Dining transport, including temperature, texture, presentation, packaging, and delivery integrity.
6. Oversee customized VIP dining requests, suite amenities, and dietary accommodations.
7. Maintain standardized recipes, portion controls, plating standards, ingredient cross-utilization, and menu matrices.
8. Establish and monitor food holding, transportation, and thermal-retention standards.
9. Conduct routine culinary quality audits and evaluate products against established quality specifications.
10. Ensure compliance with applicable food-safety requirements, internal standards, and EcoSure guidelines.
11. Maintain exceptional sanitation and organization across production lines, prep areas, refrigeration, storage, and service equipment.
12. Ensure proper operation and care of hot carts, thermal boxes, line equipment, and specialty plating equipment, with maintenance needs escalated promptly.
13. Manage food cost, production pars, waste, purchasing, and inventory controls in support of departmental financial goals.
14. Conduct monthly inventories and maintain effective FIFO rotation and ordering practices.
15. Use occupancy forecasts, arrival/departure patterns, and anticipated ordering volumes to develop efficient culinary staffing schedules.
16. Identify opportunities to improve productivity and reduce waste while preserving food quality and guest experience.
17. Recruit, train, schedule, coach, and develop the In-Room Dining culinary team.
18. Lead productive pre-shift meetings focused on service expectations, quality, safety, and anticipated business levels.
19. Develop culinary skills through structured training in areas such as knife skills, line execution, allergen awareness, food safety, and service pacing.
20. Provide regular performance feedback and coaching in accordance with company policy.
21. Build internal talent and succession readiness by creating meaningful development opportunities for culinary team members.

Required Qualifications:

• Ability to communicate effectively with Guests, Team Members, and Management in both written and verbal form.
• 3--5 years of progressive culinary-management experience, preferably as an Executive Chef or Executive Sous Chef, within a hotel, resort, casino, or comparable high-volume operation.
• Culinary Arts degree or equivalent professional culinary experience preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of menu development, recipe costing, production planning, food-cost management, and kitchen scheduling.
• Working knowledge of food transportation and thermal-retention systems, including hot boxes, systems, and covered transport.
• Familiarity with hospitality POS/PMS technology such as Micros, InfoGenesis, or Agilysys.
• Strong leadership and communication skills with the ability to maintain consistent standards during high-volume service periods.
• Must be 21 years of age or older.
• ServSafe Manager certification or applicable food-safety management credential required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with union management preferred.

Physical Requirements:

• Requires manual dexterity to operate job related equipment.
• Must be capable of lifting 50 pounds, push 150-250 pounds on a pushcart, in/out walk-ins of 10 degrees to 140 degrees with or without assistance.
• Requires the physical ability to stand for long periods of time, walk frequently, bend or reach a height of six feet with or without assistance.
• Must be available to work weekends and holidays.