The Culinary Lab (Commissary) Head Chef is responsible for diligently and creatively running Matchaful’s kitchen and production team. You will lead the innovation and creation of our plant-based pastries, parfaits, and beverage items and coordinate with the Commissary Manager to ensure recipes are scalable and profitable. The Culinary Lab Head Chef oversees the production of all food items for Matchaful’s 7+ locations, upholding quality and safety control and ensuring the production team is efficient and every item is created with consistency and beauty. They will work closely with the Commissary Manager to manage inventory for production ingredients, labor costs, food orders from our 7+ cafes, conducting weekly and monthly inventories. The Culinary Lab Head Chef will work from Matchaful’s Culinary Lab, a gorgeous 3,000 sq ft new Commissary space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. 

Duties

• New Item Menu R&D
• Develop and oversee all new item food and beverage menu items, utilizing unique ingredients to craft vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free offerings
• Coordinate with the Commissary Manager to ensure recipes are within budget and execution abilities, maintaining a food cost at below 20%
• Work with Commissary Manager to plan the timeline for all Seasonal Menu launches, execute tastings for the team, and provide support and staff education 
• Meet and manage all menu roll out and development deadlines (approximately 1-2 new menu items per month)
• Ingredient Inventory Management
• Assisting and conducting weekly ingredient inventories in MarketMan
• Complete end of month inventory count for kitchen
• Ordering ingredients with Commissary Manager through Marketman 
• Assist Commissary Manager in receiving and tracking invoices in MarketMan
• Run production events of all items and manage inbound POs from the stores
• Manage organization and cleanliness of culinary lab  
• Production Quality Control
• Oversee production of food and beverage items and ensure all is made to quality standards
• Implement strategies on recipe improvements and quality control practices
• Oversee and respond to quality complaints.
• Devise new systems to improve production timelines and reduce labor costs for kitchen team with the Commissary Manager 
• Uphold DOH policies in the production space and ensure DOH rules are followed by all kitchen staff
• Manage and Hire Production Team
• Interview and train new hires in the culinary lab
• Estimate staff’s workload and manage production hour goals
• Communicate with staff regularly to boost morale and provide support alerting Commissary Manager and Human Resources for assistance

Skills & Requirements

• Food Handler’s Certificate
• Able to lift up to 50lbs 
• 5+ years managing a kitchen and large volume productions
• 3+ years baking delicious plant-based, vegan pastries, savory and breakfast parfaits with scalable recipes
• Managing a team, delivering performance reviews
• 3+ years in kitchen inventory and budget management
• Experience working in Restaurant 365 or MarketMan system to track inventory and orders (A Plus)
• Thoughtful leadership and on-hands coaching and training 
• Motivated to achieve goals and improve processes 
• Ability to run production schedules and hit labor targets
• Culinary Degree in plant-based or vegan cuisine 

Benefits: 

+health insurance (vision + dental)
+commuter benefits
+free daily matcha 
+2 weeks PTO 
+beautiful Commissary space with tons of natural light (on ground level)
+work/life balance