Executive Chef - Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute

EXECUTIVE CHEF – FULL TIME
WASHBURNE CULINARY & HOSPITALITY INSTITUTE
KENNEDY-KING COLLEGE

The Washburne Culinary and Hospitality Institute (WCHI), a leader in providing superior culinary arts training, is headquartered at the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) Kennedy-King College offers both certificate and degree programs in Culinary Arts and Baking, and Pastry Arts.  WCHI is seeking a full-time Executive Chef who oversees food and pastry production for Kennedy-King’s Sikia restaurants and catering functions.

WCHI is one of CCC’s College to Careers sites, where partnerships with culinary and hospitality industry leaders are designed to help students gain and apply the skills that are most essential to finding jobs and building successful careers at restaurants, hotels, private clubs, catering companies and other food-related businesses. WCHI provides students with the latest culinary techniques, along with valuable hands-on experience to ensure they are equipped to succeed in the culinary and hospitality industries. Students receive real world training in the working of a fully functioning restaurant serving the public, learning front-of-the- house and kitchen skills at the school’s fine dining restaurants and café sites, learn volume food preparation by working on catering events, and have the opportunity to participate in other business enterprise operations.
WCHI is where partnerships with culinary and hospitality industry leaders are designed to help students gain and apply the skills that are most essential to finding jobs and building successful careers at restaurants, hotels, private clubs, catering companies and other food-related businesses. WCHI provides students with the latest culinary techniques, along with valuable hands-on experience to ensure they are equipped to succeed in the culinary and hospitality industries. Students receive real world training in the working of a fully functioning restaurant serving the public, learning front-of-the- house and kitchen skills at the school’s fine dining restaurants and café sites, learn volume food preparation by working on catering events, and have the opportunity to participate in other business enterprise operations.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Recommends new staff for hire and trains and supervises the work of food and pastry production staff.
• Plans menus for public restaurant and catering functions considering customer base, popularity of various dishes, holidays, costs, and a wide variety of other factors.
• Schedules and coordinates the work of chefs, cooks, dishwashers, and other kitchen employees to ensure that food preparation is economical and technically correct.
• Instructs WCHI students in kitchen aspects of the restaurant business and other areas of food preparation.
• Conducts regular physical inventories of restaurant food supplies, and assesses projected needs; orders all food and supplies for catering and restaurant operations.
• Ensures that high standards of sanitation and cleanliness are maintained throughout the kitchen areas at all times and becomes certified in the NRA’s Serv Safe program.
• Establishes controls to minimize food and supply waste and theft.
• Safeguards all food preparation employees by implementing training to increase their knowledge about safety, sanitation, and accident prevention principles.
• Develops and tests recipes and techniques for food preparation and presentation which help to ensure consistent high quality and to minimize food costs, exercises portion control over all items served and assists in establishing menu selling prices.
• Prepares necessary data for the budget in area of responsibility, projects annual food and labor cost and monitors actual financial results; takes corrective action where necessary to help ensure that financial goals are met.
• Consults with catering staff about food production aspects of special events being planned.
• Cooks or directly supervises the cooking of items that require skillful preparation.
• Evaluates food products to ensure that quality standards are consistently attained.
• Performs marketing and public relations duties to promote restaurant, catering and educational missions of the school.
• Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Associates Degree in Culinary Arts with 5-10 years’ experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.
• Ability to obtain State of Illinois Food Handler's Certificate, where applicable, Certificate of Completion from an Approved Culinary Institute.
• Knowledge of planning and scheduling techniques.
• Knowledge of supplies, equipment, and/or services ordering and inventory control.
• Ability to read, understand, follow, and enforce safety procedures.
• Ability to plan a variety of menus.
• Ability to supervise and train employees, to include organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling work assignments.
• Ability to coordinate quality assurance programs in area of specialty.
• Ability to develop and test recipes and/or techniques for food preparation/presentation.
• Knowledge of ala carte and function set-up procedures.
• Skill in cooking and preparing a variety of foods.
• Ability to plan work schedules and assign duties; ability to provide or arrange for training.
• Excellent oral communication skills.

Chicago residency is required for all full-time employees within six months of hire.
We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.
Thank you for your interest in City Colleges of Chicago!