EXECUTIVE CHEF

Executive Chef - New Canaan, CT

Think Fresh! Lead with Excellence!

An industry leading hospitality food service group, Unidine is driven by its exceptional people sharing their passion, creativity and talent to craft memorable guest experiences. Unidine's commitment to scratch cooking, innovative programs, venue concepts and services continues to push boundaries and modernize dining programs for hundreds of clients around the nation. Our restaurants, bars, cafeterias and bistros offer a place for guests to enjoy something extraordinary. That is why we believe that using the freshest ingredients makes for the best dishes, staying ahead of industry trends pushes us to be innovative, and giving team members the right tools and resources helps them to perform their best. Come and join our award-winning team!

Job Summary:

An inspirational and organized leader who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves to ensure the overall success of daily kitchen operations including recruiting, training, and food preparation. The Executive Chef will showcase culinary talents through the delivery of show quality food through personal involvement in task performance while developing and empowering the onsite staff. Works to continually improve resident, employee, and client satisfaction while maximizing the financial performance in all areas of responsibility. Will deliver on company objectives by ensuring monthly budget, food and labor costs are met and, the safe handling of food by following safety & sanitation protocols.

Leading Culinary Operation:

• Lead daily culinary production in preparation and production of meals, food quality and presentation, compliance with all safety and sanitation standards and regulation, team member productivity and performance, cost controls and overall profitability.
• Determines how food should be presented and create decorative food displays.
• Provide direction on menu development based on product availability; creates distinctive specials that incorporate seasonal or special ingredients.
• Seeks out sources for fresh food; monitors all produce and meat for freshness.
• Maintain product consistency by conducting inspections of seasonings, portion, and appearance of food.
• Research customer preferences and develops a menu which incorporates local foods and flavors.
• Prepares and cooks foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions.
• Demonstrate new cooking techniques and equipment to staff.
• Supervises and coordinates activities of cooks and workers engaged in food preparation.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local and company health, safety, sanitation standards.
• Provides guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
• Communicates the importance of safety procedures, detailing procedure codes, ensuring employee understanding of safety codes, monitoring processes and procedures related to safety.
• Monitors the quality of raw and cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.
• Follows and enforces food safety and sanitation guidelines.
• Maintains purchasing, receiving and food storage standards.

Business & Financial Acumen:

• Participates in the development and implementation of business strategies for the community which are aligned with the client's overall mission, vision values and strategies.
• Manages department controllable expenses including food cost, supplies, uniforms, and equipment.
• Develops and implements guidelines and control procedures for purchasing and receiving areas.
• Analyze financial and operational information on an ongoing basis to adjust business plans, labor requirements, and operating costs.
• Develop, implement, and manage the department's budget; continually analyze, forecast, monitor, and control the labor and food costs through various methods to meet/exceed management/budget objectives.
• Identify major revenue and expense opportunities and possible problems.
• Controls food cost, labor, and other expenses; monitors actual versus budgeted expenses.
• Oversees the food inventory, purchasing, control, and disbursement of all food supplies.
• Schedules staff based upon forecasted volumes.

Ensuring Exceptional Customer Service:

• Creates 100% resident satisfaction by providing team members with the training and resources they need to maximize team member engagement and deliver best in class service.
• Professional attitude and appearance while engaging with residents and community staff.
• Improves service by communicating and assisting individuals to understand guest needs, providing guidance, feedback, and individual coaching when needed.
• Provides and supports service behaviors that are above and beyond for customer satisfaction and retention.
• Empowers employees to provide excellent customer service. Establishes guidelines so employees understand expectations and parameters. Ensures employees receive on-going training to understand guest expectations.
• Ensures that employees provide genuine hospitality and teamwork on an ongoing basis.
• Uses teamwork to support guests and employees.
• Seeks opportunities to improve the customer experience by seeking resident feedback and developing strategies to improve department.
• Reviews resident satisfaction results and other data to identify areas of improvement.
• Responds to and handles guest problems and complaints.

Team Building and Management:

• Regularly lead team member meetings
• Establishes goals including performance goals, budget goals, team goals, etc.
• Solicits employee feedback, utilizes an "open door" policy and reviews employee satisfaction results to identify and address employee problems or concerns.
• Develops and implements strategies and practices which support team member engagement.
• Ensures employees are treated fairly and equitably.
• Provides team members with the training needed to understand expectations and perform job responsibilities.
• Provides team members with the necessary tools to perform their duties and responsibilities.
• Communicates performance expectations and provides team members with on-going feedback.
• Provides team members with coaching and counseling as needed to achieve performance objectives and reach their fullest potential.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A.S. or equivalent experience
• Minimum 5 years of progressive culinary/kitchen management experience, depending upon formal degree or training.
• Extensive catering experience a plus
• High volume, complex foodservice operations experience - highly desirable
• Institutional and batch cooking experiences
• Hands-on chefs experience a must.
• Comprehensive knowledge of food and catering trends with a focus on quality, production, sanitation, food cost controls, and presentation
• Must be experienced with computers; to include Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Power Point), Outlook, E-mail and the Internet
• Must be willing to participate in client satisfaction programs/activities.
• ServSafe certified - highly desirable.

Associates at Unidine are offered many fantastic benefits including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan, flexible time off, paid parental leave, holiday time off, personal leave, associate shopping program, health and wellness programs, discount marketplace, identity theft protection, pet insurance, commuter benefits, employee assistance program, and flexible spending accounts (FSAs).

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.