Restaurant Chef

The university seeks an individual with a strong interest in working at a mission driven, faith-based institution. In line with our mission, the Division of Student Affairs is committed to grounding our policies, programs, and procedures in antiracist practice. With this commitment, we recognize the importance of educating ourselves and holding one another accountable to ensure our work is approached through an equity, inclusion, and social justice lens. We recognize our need for ongoing development in this area and continue to strive to improve. We expect all members of the Division of Student Affairs are willing to engage in this work alongside us to uphold our Catholic mission in creating a welcoming environment where the dignity of all students, staff, administrators, and faculty at USD is embraced

The Restaurant Chef is responsible for overseeing the organization, coordination and preparation of hot/cold food production, adherence to quality and/or portion control, and adherence to sanitation and safety standards. The Restaurant Chef exercises supervision over culinary personnel; coordinating, training and evaluating the work of all cooks and staff working for La Gran Terraza. The Chef performs the more difficult production duties and develops complex seasonal menus, recipes, and products. The Restaurant Chef works with management by developing departmental goals and in the development and execution of specialized menus for ad hoc executive level and monthly events in the restaurant.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Production:

• Supervises, directs, and participates in the quality and quantity preparation of all meals and specialty items as well as customer special requests.
• Acts as working manager for food production.
• Responsible for the development of the menu for La Gran Terraza and O’Tooles.
• Reviews daily menu and assigns, directs and coordinates daily tasks of all back of house staff for La Gran Terraza.
• Checks production sheet against inventory to assure necessary items are on hand; plans for backup items as needed.
• Uses correct methods of preparation and instructs staff in correct methods.
• Ensures products made to specification and reviews recipes for variances in finished product, including yield, appearance, taste, and texture. Takes corrective action as needed.
• Ensures labeling requirements are met and ensures compliance with allergen containment procedures.
• Coordinates and instructs staff in appropriate sequential production periods for maximum quality control.
• Ensures proper product portioning.
• Responsible for the timely delivery, setup and dispensing of all menu items as specified.
• Responsible for the proper storage and utilization of leftovers.
• Ensures proper rotation and storage of all products.
• Responsible for conducting monthly inventory.
• Forecasts and orders food and supplies as needed for the restaurant keeping cost of goods sold as low as possible.
• Forecasts proper quantity preparation for each item served.
• Responsible for completion of daily production sheets and responsible for creating and managing production/event records.
• Collaborates with management on new ideas and trends throughout the restaurant industry to meet the needs of our dining customers.
• Researches, develops and tests new recipes and menus.
• Attends weekly production meetings.
• Coordinates production and delegates to culinary staff daily.
• Has primary responsibility for the cleanliness of the kitchen.
• Ability to prepare a variety of cuisine, using skill and creativity to develop new, unusual seasonal market driven menus.
• Responsible for creating wine and beer paring menus.
• Contributes to the success of the department by performing other duties as needed in support of the departments and university’s mission.

Customer Satisfaction:

• Maintains good customer relations through attitude, appearance and attention to detail in daily work.
• Maintains consistent high-quality standards; quality-tests every finished product for taste, texture, appearance and temperature.
• Assures that all foods are attractively garnished and appropriately displayed on a daily basis.
• Ensures that products are not held longer than establishing holding times.
• Services customer/guest needs with the appropriate sense of business urgency to provide quality service.
• Reports feedback from customer to the Manager of La Gran Terraza.
• Responsible for providing allergen information on all menus and at all special events.

Personnel:

• Knows and follows all University and Auxiliary Services policies and procedures.
• Instructs staff regarding department policies and procedures.
• Ensures that employees understand and adhere to all department policies and procedures.
• Responsible for direction, supervision, training and evaluation of cooks and part-time staff.
• Sets leadership example by willingness to work all job tasks.
• Provides regular feedback to employees regarding performance.
• Delegates assignments as appropriate and follows up to ensure work is accurate and complete.
• Operates all kitchen equipment and trains others on proper use.
• Responsible for smooth workflow, communication, and ideas through a congenial, caring, and supportive attitude.
• Reports any problems (disciplinary or otherwise) to supervisor. When appropriate takes immediate corrective action.

Safety and Sanitation:

• Implements and maintains proper safety and sanitation standards in the workplace.
• Reports all equipment maintenance problems to supervisor.
• Supervises employees in proper food handling methods and techniques.
• Coordinates all scheduled cleanup operations.
• Responsible for the security of the kitchen and kitchen areas.
• Ensures excellent personal hygiene, including care of uniforms, shoes and head covering for all staff.
• Supervises kitchen cleanliness/sanitation during operation.
• Reports all accidents and/or injuries to supervisor or to Public Safety in the absence of a supervisor, immediately.
• Reports all equipment maintenance problems to Chef de Cuisine.
• Ensures that all staff knows the location of fire extinguishers and Ansul System pull stations and how to use them.

Finance:

• Responsible for managing COG (cost of goods) to ensure budget cost expectations are not exceeded.
• Responsible for attending and reporting out LGT financials at the weekly financial WOR review.
• Responsible for not exceeding labor financial targets.
• Responsible for meeting revenue financial targets
• Responsible for operating within budget guidelines and expectations.

Special Conditions of Employment:

• Must be able to work a varied hourly work schedule including evenings, early mornings, weekends and holidays.
• Must have excellent personal hygiene because of contact with food and food products.

Effective June 1, 2023, based on CDC guidance, the University strongly encourages all campus members to stay up to date with Influenza and COVID-19 vaccination recommendations.  For more regarding information USD's COVID-19 protocols, please visit sandiego.edu/onward.

Background check:  Successful completion of a pre-employment background check.

Degree Verification Requirement: Persons offered employment in this position will be required to provide official education transcripts for degree verification purposes.