Senior Sous Chef

Senior Sous Chef

Location: Evanston, Illinois / Alleyway Grill
Employment Type: Full-Time, Salaried / Exempt
Pay Range: $75,000–$85,000 / year

Starting compensation will be determined based on experience, skills, leadership ability, and other job-related factors.

Reports To: Chef de Cuisine

About Alleyway Grill

Alleyway Grill is a new chef-driven restaurant opening in downtown Evanston, Illinois, from James Beard Award-winning chefs Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark. Located in the historic Varsity Theater building, Alleyway Grill is a contemporary Midwestern restaurant centered around live-fire cooking, seasonal ingredients, and the warmth and generosity of neighborhood dining.

Open for brunch and dinner seven days a week, the restaurant will bring together thoughtful, ingredient-driven food with a lively, approachable style of hospitality. The menu will draw inspiration from the Midwest while reflecting Beverly and Johnny’s backgrounds, travels, and years of cooking in some of Chicago’s most celebrated kitchens.

Alleyway Grill is being built as a restaurant for the long term—a place where cooks, chefs, servers, bartenders, and managers can grow, take ownership of their work, and help shape the culture of a new restaurant from the beginning.

Position Summary

The Head Sous Chef is the senior kitchen leader directly supporting the Chef de Cuisine and plays a central role in the day-to-day operation of Alleyway Grill.

This is a highly hands-on leadership position for a chef who can lead service, manage people, maintain systems, and understand the financial responsibilities of running a professional kitchen. The Head Sous Chef helps translate the culinary vision into consistent daily execution across brunch and dinner and serves as chef-in-charge when the Chef de Cuisine is not present.

The right candidate is equally comfortable cooking and expediting a busy service, coaching a cook, reviewing prep and ordering, managing labor, and identifying operational problems before they affect the guest experience.

What You'll Do

• Lead kitchen operations and serve as chef-in-charge when the Chef de Cuisine is not present.
• Run and expedite busy brunch and dinner services, maintaining standards for food quality, timing, organization, and presentation.
• Lead, coach, and develop Sous Chefs, Junior Sous Chefs, line cooks, prep cooks, and other culinary team members.
• Build and maintain prep systems, station pars, production lists, opening and closing procedures, cleaning schedules, and kitchen checklists.
• Ensure every station is properly staffed, prepped, organized, and ready for service.
• Work with the Chef de Cuisine on scheduling and deployment of culinary labor across a seven-day operation.
• Help manage labor and COGS goals and take corrective action when results are outside established targets.
• Oversee ordering, receiving, inventory, storage, product rotation, and purchasing controls.
• Monitor waste, yields, portioning, and production to protect food quality while controlling costs.
• Execute dishes consistently to established recipes and specifications and help maintain recipe documentation and costing.
• Participate in menu development, tastings, specials, and seasonal menu changes with the Chef de Cuisine and ownership.
• Help train the culinary team on live-fire cooking, equipment, techniques, recipes, and standards.
• Maintain strong food-safety, sanitation, allergen, and health-department standards throughout the kitchen.
• Partner closely with FOH management to create smooth communication between the kitchen and dining room.
• Help build a kitchen culture based on accountability, professionalism, respect, learning, and pride in the work.

What We're Looking For Required

• 5+ years of professional kitchen experience, including at least 2 years in a Sous Chef, Senior Sous Chef, or comparable kitchen leadership position.
• Experience in a chef-driven, high-volume, or quality-focused restaurant environment.
• Proven ability to lead and expedite a busy service while maintaining composure, organization, and standards.
• Strong command of cooking techniques, ingredients, kitchen equipment, and production systems.
• Strong organizational skills around prep, pars, ordering, inventory, scheduling, and daily kitchen systems.
• Working knowledge of food cost, COGS, labor management, purchasing, yields, and waste control.
• Ability to train, coach, and hold team members accountable while maintaining a respectful working environment.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• ServSafe Manager certification, or ability to obtain certification within the required period after hire.
• Availability to work evenings, weekends, brunch services, and holidays as required by the business.

Preferred

• Experience with live-fire cooking, grilling, wood or charcoal cooking, and high-volume à la carte service.
• Experience working across both daytime and dinner services.
• Experience opening a new restaurant or implementing kitchen systems and SOPs.
• Menu-development and recipe-costing experience.
• Familiarity with restaurant scheduling, inventory, purchasing, and kitchen technology platforms.
• Culinary degree or equivalent combination of professional experience and training.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• Ability to stand and walk for extended periods throughout a full shift.
• Ability to lift, carry, push, or pull up to 50 lbs.
• Frequent bending, reaching, lifting, and repetitive hand and wrist movement.
• Regular exposure to heat, steam, cold, noise, open flame, and commercial kitchen equipment.
• Ability to work extended shifts when required, including nights, weekends, and holidays.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary of $75,000–$85,000 per year , based on experience.
• Opportunity to join the opening leadership team and help build the systems and culture of a new restaurant from the ground up.
• Meaningful culinary and operational responsibility within a chef-driven restaurant.
• Opportunity to work directly with James Beard Award-winning chefs Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark.
• Professional development and opportunities for advancement within the restaurant and future projects.
• Additional benefits and paid time off as applicable.

How to Apply

Apply through Culinary Agents with your resume and relevant culinary leadership experience.

Alleyway Grill is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members. We comply with all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws.