Executive Chef

Benefits:

At VIVÂMEE Hospitality we believe our teammates are the most important investment we can ever make. Benefits of this role include: career advancement opportunities, a positive/growth mindset work culture, free golf, health benefits, 401K, company purchased life-insurance, discounts on VIVÂMEE resort stays, merchandise, and meals. MOST IMPORTANTLY, we offer a community of teammates just like you. We seek to only attract: positive, driven, and caring teammates who already live by their own code of standards in alignment with our VIVÂMEE Virtues. We believe this positive culture is the greatest benefit our team can offer to new teammates. You will be welcomed here!

Summary of the Role and Responsibilities: The Executive chef is accountable for overall success of the daily kitchen operations. The ideal candidate will have a restaurant focus and oversee the catering culinary operation, A la Carte, Festival, and Beer Garden. The chef should have a passion for food and also focus on “Farm to Table” inspired foods. Candidates must have great food presentation skills as well as a focus on quality, exhibit culinary talents by personally performing tasks while leading the staff and managing all food related functions. Works to continually improve guest and team member satisfaction while maximizing the financial performance in all areas of responsibility. Supervises all kitchen areas to ensure a consistent, high quality product is produced. Responsible for guiding and developing staff including direct reports. Must ensure sanitation and food standards are achieved. Areas of responsibility comprise overseeing all food preparation areas.

As a member of Vivamee’s leadership team, the executive chef  will also be working closely with our food and beverage department to develop a pricing strategy and create menus that will help us maximize profits and market share, team member hiring, training, mentoring, and termination. In addition, and will be relied upon to model our core value of servant leadership and to teach the VIVÂMEE Virtues of Joy, Humility, and Ministry. This role will have a prominent leadership role within Renault and will have opportunities to participate in training at other VIVÂMEE properties as required.

Responsibilities:

• Promote and portray the VIVÂMEE Values.

• Know, understand, and adhere to company established policies and procedures.

• Develop in conjunction with the GM & F&B Manager a new image for all aspects of F&B departments concentrating on menus and restaurant and banqueting ambiance.

• Utilizes interpersonal and communication skills to lead, influence, and encourage others; advocates sound financial/business decision making; demonstrates honesty/integrity; leads by example.

• Manage respective restaurant chefs and to ensure food and labor costs established by the corporation are maintained.

• Menus to have a French core  - Incorporate some French dishes to the restaurant menus..

• Have an Agrarian mind set - Farm to the table cooking.

• Huge focus on home made products - e.g.’s home baked bread/baguette, homemade marinades, in-house smoking of meats, homemade desserts. 

• Demonstrate new cooking techniques and equipment to staff.

• Maintain a recipe manual with pictures, for all menus. 

• Training of back-of-the-house kitchen staff with a customer service attitude. 

• Responsible for cleanliness, sanitation, and overall safety of kitchens within the Resort. Immaculate cleanliness for all the BOH areas.

• Responsible for overall food quality and image of all Resort functions concentrating on food presentations.

• Responsible for food at Resort special events.

• Develop new products and menus in concert with respective restaurant chefs and F&B manager.

• Manage all Resort restaurants chefs.

• Ensuring all Resort restaurants chefs are meeting respective job description requirements.

• Reviewing and approving employee time cards.

• Interacts with guests to obtain feedback on product quality and service levels.

• Collaborate with Restaurant GM to set & evaluate  menu prices in accordance with corporate accounting guidelines.

• Hire, train, manage, and develop employees within responsible areas

Leadership & Mentorship:

• Provide superior leadership, team building and mentoring to the team.

• Create a productive work environment

• Facilitate a safe work environment. 

• Create, implement and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the culinary department.

• Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains supervisory and management staff in the department.

• Oversees the daily workflow of the department.

• Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations.

• Handles discipline and termination of employees and in accordance with company policy.

• Establish goals and revenue targets for the culinary team.

• Provide support, coaching and mentor the new  editions to the team .

Job Requirements and Qualifications:

• Two-year Culinary degree preferred

• Farm to food inspiration with a passion for food

• Major focus on house made dishes

• French cuisine influences in restaurant menus

• Focus on food presentation and quality

• 6+ years' experience in an executive kitchen position preferred

• Required experience in high volume hotel business.

• Must be competent in culinary creativity as demonstrated by the cooking test.

• Effectively be able to manage  food cost, labor cost,  inventories.

• Must possess the ability to handle stressful and busy property.

• Must have a good understanding of  menu costing .

• Candidate must be a leader and a mentor

• Candidate must stay current and on top of trends

About Renault: Renault Winery Resort is a National Treasure with a history and reputation that extends across America and reaches back in time to its 1864 founding. Renault is the prototype of all current and future VIVÂMEE Resorts.  Renault offers numerous ways for guests to experience connection. We have curated culinary experiences, wine tasting events, luxurious guest rooms, hands on workshops, music events, festivals, golf, and connection with nature.  Our Catering & Events are central to our entire business operation. We especially cherish the trust that brides and families invest in us to deliver on their holistic wedding experience. Weddings are the pinnacle expression of our mission and we seek to improve our design, delivery and overall experience for the bride as well as the entire wedding party.  

The culture at Renault Winery Resort is built on our shared core VIVÂMEE Virtues of: JOY, HUMILITY, & MINISTRY. JOY means that we are a true team made up of teammates who sincerely enjoy serving others and winning together. For us HUMILITY means that we recognize the infinite dignity of each other (both team members & guests) and that we seek to be helpful to everyone no matter what is asked. Additionally, we are not afraid to ask for help or admit when we make a mistake. Our version of MINISTRY means we want our hospitality to become a true gift for our guests. We have the power to transform our duties from merely a task to be completed into a means to show love for our guests. We believe this power of intentionality has the capacity to revive the souls of our guests and our team. We hire, fire, reward, and praise our team members based on these characteristics, so it is essential that candidates are inspired to grow in these VIVÂMEE virtues in order to be a part of this wonderful team.

Disclaimer

“This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts or working conditions associated with the job.  While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change (e.g. emergencies, changes in personnel, workload, rush jobs or technical developments).”

Renault Winery Resort is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  In Compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, Renault may provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals and encourage both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodation with the employer.

Please visit our careers page to see more job opportunities.