Chef

COMPANY CULTURE – THE DON JULIO DIFFERENCE
At Don Julio Restaurant Group, we are proud of our culture rooted in family, excellence, and innovation. Our “Culture of Yes” drives every interaction—with guests and team members alike. We lead with passion, authenticity, and pride in our Mexican, Steakhouse and Peruvian heritage. Every team member is expected to go above and beyond to deliver unforgettable experiences that reflect our values of teamwork, quality, and service.

As a Chef, you play an important role in bringing our culinary standards to life through skill, consistency, attention to detail, and pride in every dish prepared.

POSITION SUMMARY
The Chef is the culinary leader responsible for the overall day-to-day operation, performance, and execution of the restaurant kitchen. This role is positioned is responsible for leading the kitchen team, maintaining culinary excellence, ensuring consistent food quality and presentation, managing kitchen operations, and upholding all food safety and sanitation standards.
The Chef must possess broad culinary knowledge and the ability to successfully execute and oversee the diverse concepts within Don Julio Restaurant Group, including Mexican, Peruvian, and steakhouse cuisine. This requires strong knowledge of meat selection, steak cuts, proper temperatures, grilling techniques, preparation methods, quality standards, and presentation.
The Chef is expected to lead by example, provide hands-on culinary direction, develop and support the kitchen team, and ensure every dish meets Don Julio Restaurant Group's standards for quality, authenticity, consistency, and presentation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Take full responsibility for the day-to-day operation and performance of the restaurant kitchen.
• Lead, supervise, train, and provide direction to the Sous Chef, Line Cooks, Prep Cooks, and other back-of-house kitchen team members.
• Ensure consistent execution of menu items across Don Julio Restaurant Group's culinary concepts, including Mexican, Peruvian, and steakhouse cuisine.
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of steakhouse operations, including meat selection, steak cuts, trimming, preparation, seasoning, grilling techniques, cooking temperatures, resting, portion control, and presentation.
• Ensure steaks and other proteins are prepared accurately to requested temperatures and established quality standards.
• Maintain consistency in food preparation, taste, portioning, temperature, presentation, and overall guest experience.
• Oversee kitchen opening, preparation, service execution, shift transitions, and closing procedures.
• Monitor food quality, ticket times, kitchen productivity, and service execution throughout each shift.
• Work closely with the Corporate Chef to implement culinary standards, menu changes, recipes, seasonal offerings, and operational improvements.
• Oversee food safety, sanitation, cleanliness, temperature controls, labeling, storage, and compliance with applicable health regulations.
• Assist with inventory control, ordering, receiving, food-cost management, waste reduction, and proper product utilization.
• Identify training needs and provide hands-on coaching and development to kitchen team members.
• Address kitchen performance issues, operational concerns, equipment problems, and service disruptions promptly and professionally.
• Maintain effective communication with restaurant management and front-of-house leadership to ensure smooth operations and guest satisfaction.

ADD TO QUALIFICATIONS & EXPECTATIONS

• Minimum of 5 years of progressive professional culinary experience in high-volume restaurant environments, including demonstrated kitchen leadership experience.
• Strong experience overseeing the day-to-day operations of a restaurant kitchen and leading back-of-house teams.
• Demonstrated culinary knowledge across multiple concepts, including Mexican, Peruvian, and steakhouse cuisine.
• Strong knowledge of meat cuts, steak preparation, grilling techniques, cooking temperatures, protein handling, portion control, and steakhouse quality standards.
• Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish is required due to the operational need to effectively lead and communicate with a predominantly Spanish-speaking kitchen team.
• Must be able to clearly communicate instructions, training, food-safety requirements, performance expectations, and operational needs in both English and Spanish.
• Strong leadership, organization, problem-solving, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to maintain composure and provide effective leadership in a fast-paced, high-volume, and high-pressure restaurant environment.

Work Schedule
This position requires flexibility to work various shifts based on operational needs, including days, evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak business periods.

Pay Starting Salary: $72,800 annually, based on experience (BOE).

Benefits:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision