Lead Cook

Lead Cook — Daytime Café Kitchen

necessary & sufficient coffee® | Printers Row, Chicago
Full-time | $22–$24/hour
Typical schedule: Friday-Tuesday | NO LATE NIGHTS

Ready for your first real kitchen leadership role?

necessary & sufficient coffee® is an independently owned, woman-owned Chicago café built around seasonal food, sustainability and craft.

We’re hiring a hands-on Lead Cook for our small breakfast-and-lunch kitchen in Printers Row. This is a terrific next step for a strong professional cook who is ready for more responsibility, creative input and leadership experience.

You’ll cook every day, help guide prep and service, support a small kitchen team and gradually build the operational skills required to run a successful kitchen. You do not need to arrive as a finished chef-manager. You do need strong cooking fundamentals, dependable follow-through and a genuine desire to learn.

What You’ll Own from Day One

• Cook and help lead daily prep, production and service
• Organize prep lists, recipes and stations
• Maintain consistent food quality, timing and presentation
• Follow and reinforce food-safety and cleanliness standards
• Train and support kitchen teammates
• Help execute catering and grab-and-go production

What You’ll Learn and Grow Into

Working with ownership and operations leadership, you’ll deepen your skills in:

• Inventory, ordering, pars and waste
• Recipe writing and food costing
• Seasonal menu development
• Kitchen documentation and systems
• Catering planning and execution
• Leading a small kitchen operation

What You Bring

• Professional kitchen experience and strong prep, knife and cooking skills
• Dependable attendance and punctuality
• A calm, organized approach during busy service
• Clear, respectful communication
• An interest in food costing, ordering and kitchen leadership
• Availability for the posted schedule
• Illinois food-safety manager certification, or willingness to obtain it within [30/60] days

Pay and Benefits

$22–$24/hour, based on experience, plus catering tips and delivery pay.

Benefits include:

• PTO: 1 hour earned for every 26 hours worked
• 401(k) with employer match: 4% match eligibility in 6 months
• Mileage reimbursement
• Performance-based bonus
• Disability and life insurance
• Shift meal and drink
• Retail discount

Transportation requirement: 3x weekly food delivery between locations, delivery of catering orders - several per month, (you receive the delivery fees and tips associated with food catering)

Our Hiring Process

Apply with your résumé or work history and your schedule availability. Qualified candidates will have a brief phone conversation, one in-person interview and, for finalists, a paid working interview. We communicate clearly and move promptly.

Bring your cooking skills, curiosity and appetite for doing things well. We’ll bring the coffee.