PREP COOK (HOURLY, FULL-TIME)

COOK — CULINARY TRAINING + FREE COLLEGE TUITION

Vintage ’78 Wine Bar | Overland Park, Kansas

Full-Time | $17–$25/hour | Overtime Available

Professional kitchen experience is welcome, but not required.

What if your next kitchen cared less about where you've worked—and more about how good you want to become? Vintage ’78 Wine Bar is looking for a full-time Cook who is curious, reliable, creative and hungry to learn.

Maybe you're considering culinary school and looking for your first serious kitchen.

Maybe you've always wanted to cook professionally but haven't found a restaurant willing to teach you from the ground up.

Experience can determine where you begin in our training program, but professional kitchen experience is not required.

A Kitchen That Isn't Supposed to Work Vintage ’78 operates a small, open and decidedly nontraditional kitchen.

We have no gas. No fryer. Instead, we cook with induction burners, thermal circulators, an electric oven, pasta cooker and panini press—and use those tools to produce contemporary American food grounded in classical French technique from exceptional ingredients sourced from around the world.

You'll learn temperature control, sauces, proteins, sous-vide, pasta and risotto, butchery, seasoning, texture, timing, organization, menu development, food costing and how to solve culinary problems without simply turning up a 60,000-BTU burner or dropping something into a fryer.

Learn Directly From the Owner & Executive Chef You'll train hands-on with Vintage ’78 owner and Executive Chef Michael Scherzberg, an Advanced Sommelier whose hospitality background includes experience in the kitchen at The Inn at Little Washington and management at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon .

We pull inspiration from both: precision, organization, classical technique, exceptional ingredients, hospitality and an unwillingness to let the size or limitations of a kitchen determine what it can accomplish.

Training happens every day—not just during your first week.

Exceptional experience and qualifications may warrant compensation beyond the standard Cook-level structure.

Sous Chef and Chef de Cuisine are realistic paths here. We would love to find someone passionate about food who eventually wants to help us lead the kitchen and push the limits of what Vintage ’78 can accomplish.

American Culinary Federation certifications earn additional hourly compensation—and those raises stack:

Certified Chef de Cuisine — +$2.50/hour

We also provide additional compensation for approved wine certifications.

Go to Culinary School While You Work Here After six months, eligible Vintage ’78 employees can receive tuition and book reimbursement for approved coursework at Johnson County Community College , home to a nationally recognized Culinary Arts program.

Our reimbursement is based on your final grade:

For the right employee, we may also be able to assist with tuition up front and arrange repayment through payroll while the course is underway. ServSafe Manager coursework is among the professional education we support, and we're open to considering additional certifications, classes and educational opportunities that will make you a stronger culinary professional.

Learn Wine, Too Vintage ’78 isn't a typical restaurant wine program.

Our wine program has been named Best Wine-by-the-Glass List in North America three consecutive years , has twice been named Best Wine-by-the-Glass List in the World , and was runner-up for the world title in 2026.

We've also earned four consecutive Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence recognitions and were recently named one of America's Top 10 Bars & Restaurants for Enjoying Champagne by the Bureau du Champagne USA.

Cooks age 21+ are welcome to participate in our ongoing wine education and training. Interested employees can pursue approved wine certifications with financial support and earn additional raises for certifications achieved.

Employees also have the opportunity to purchase wine at cost.

Our team occasionally participates in educational wine travel and winery visits as well. while we arrange the travel and winery visits, individual travel expenses are currently the employee's responsibility.

If you want to understand not only how to cook a dish, but why one wine works with it better than another , there are few kitchens where you'll have more opportunity to learn.

Help Us Build What's Next Our wine program has already achieved international recognition.

We're ambitious about what comes next for our food.

This isn't a kitchen where we want someone to spend years performing the same repetitive station while waiting for somebody above them to leave.

A cook who grows with us can participate in menu development, learn the financial and operational side of the restaurant, advance into leadership and have a meaningful role in determining what this kitchen becomes.

If your long-term dream is to become a Sous Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Executive Chef—or eventually own an independent restaurant of your own—we want you to learn more here than how to execute our recipes.

You'll have an opportunity to see how an independent restaurant actually operates: food and wine, purchasing, costing, inventory, menu development, hospitality, education, events and the thousands of decisions required to build a restaurant from the ground up.

What We Don't Do We're a small team working together in an open kitchen.

We don't believe screaming, hazing, machismo or toxic kitchen culture make anyone a better cook.

We want people who ask questions, help one another, clean up after themselves, take pride in their work and genuinely want to improve.

They haven't developed bad habits yet—and nobody has told them that what we accomplish in our unusual little kitchen isn't supposed to be possible.

Schedule & Benefits This is a full-time position averaging approximately 40 hours per week , Thursday through Monday.

Overtime is available for employees who want additional hours; Hands-on culinary training and continuing education

Tuition and book reimbursement after six months

Wine education and certification opportunities for employees 21+

Employee wine purchasing at cost

Potential participation in educational wine travel

Two scheduled restaurant closure weeks each year, generally the first week of January and first week of July

We do not currently offer health insurance or paid time off.

Who We're Looking For You must be at least 18 years old.

Creative

Interested in food beyond simply completing a prep list

Professional kitchen experience is welcome.

Local candidates are encouraged to apply, and we're happy to conduct an initial video interview with candidates considering a move to the Kansas City area.

To Apply Apply through Culinary Agents and tell us one thing:

We'd simply like to know where you want your culinary career to take you—and whether Vintage ’78 might be a good place to help you get there.