General Manager

General Manager / West Village

An American dining room and bar by chef Alex Stupak, opening in the West Village, combining the standards of a high-end dining room with the warmth of a beloved neighborhood restaurant. We are seeking a General Manager to lead our dining room.

The restaurant serves dinner five nights a week in a small, highly considered space. The focused nature of the restaurant gives the General Manager the chance to manage every aspect of the dining room with unusual depth: knowing the room intimately, mastering every detail of service, developing a closely connected team, and building lasting guest relationships.

This is not a role centered on administration from a distance. The General Manager is a constant presence in the room and an active participant in service, setting the tone, directing the team, recognizing returning guests, anticipating needs, and ensuring every guest feels genuinely welcomed and cared for. The experience should be polished but never stiff, personal but never intrusive, and approachable without sacrificing precision.

Leadership and Team Development

Recruit, hire, and retain employees who reflect the restaurant's standards and style of hospitality. Build a team that is professional, warm, attentive, and committed to continuous improvement. Establish onboarding and training for every position, and clearly communicate expectations for hospitality, appearance, punctuality, and conduct. Coach employees through observation and direct feedback; conduct regular performance conversations, address issues promptly, and develop clear plans for growth.

Hospitality and Guest Experience

Ensure every guest is welcomed warmly and acknowledged promptly. Recognize returning guests and personalize their experience, building long term relationships with regulars and the surrounding community, while ensuring first time and notable guests alike feel equally valued. Anticipate guest needs without making service feel intrusive; read the pace, mood, and purpose of each table and adjust accordingly. Handle complaints and difficult situations with composure and sound judgment, following up personally whenever an experience falls short. Protect the privacy and discretion of all guests.

Training and Product Knowledge

Create and continuously update front-of-house training materials, including documented steps of service. Work with the culinary team to keep menu descriptions accurate, and ensure the team understands ingredients, sourcing, allergens, and the intent behind each dish. Conduct tastings, role playing, and rehearsals, and audit knowledge through tests, quizzes, and observation. Ensure servers describe food and beverages naturally and make thoughtful, guest specific recommendations rather than reciting favorites or upselling.

Service Leadership and Presence

Lead a focused pre service meeting covering reservations, guest notes, menu and beverage updates, allergies, and priorities; assign stations and set the tone for the evening. Maintain a commanding, composed presence on the floor, directing the pacing of service in real time and communicating continuously with the host, service team, bar, and kitchen. Support the team wherever needed, from greeting and seating to clearing, resetting, and managing the door, intervening before small issues become guest facing problems. Manage the end of evening transition so late guests never feel rushed.

Dining Room Standards and Facility

Ensure the dining room is fully set, inspected, and ready before every service, with detailed opening, closing, and side work procedures, and maintain par levels and organization for all supplies. Inspect the full physical environment, from tables and lighting to restrooms, and confirm music, temperature, and atmosphere are appropriate throughout the evening. Report maintenance issues promptly and follow through until resolved.

Guest Research and CRM

Review the reservation book before every service and research guests scheduled to dine, noting returning guests, special occasions, and preferences. Enter clear, useful notes after every service, handled discreetly and in accordance with privacy requirements. Personally email guests from the previous evening to thank them for visiting, copying the Marketing Director via BCC and tailoring each note to feel personal rather than automated. Escalate guest feedback, press inquiries, and event leads to the appropriate team members.

Beverage and Cross Department Collaboration

Partner with the Bar Manager so the bar, wine program, and dining room operate as one cohesive experience, including staff education and scheduling. Work closely with the chef and kitchen leadership to coordinate menu changes, pacing, guest feedback, and service challenges, and maintain strong working knowledge of the beverage program through regular tastings.

Scheduling and Daily Operations

Create the front-of-house schedule with the Bar Manager and other leaders, balancing projected business with labor management, and manage time off requests, shift changes, and coverage. Keep documents, checklists, and reports accurate, complete nightly reporting for ownership, and monitor labor, covers, check averages, comps, and voids. Ensure compliance with health, safety, labor, and alcohol service requirements, and approach administrative work with accuracy, without letting it pull focus from the dining room when presence matters most.

The Ideal Candidate

Significant management experience in a high quality, chef driven restaurant, with a record of building strong teams. Exceptional dining room awareness and the ability to manage multiple priorities without appearing rushed, along with a natural ability to remember people and build lasting guest relationships. Great taste and a strong sense of style, with an instinctive understanding of how atmosphere, presentation, language, music, and lighting shape a restaurant's identity. Strong knowledge of food, wine, and cocktails, and the ability to uphold exacting standards without creating a stiff or fearful environment. Excellent communication and administrative skills, with confidence using reservation, POS, and guest management systems. Emotional intelligence, discretion, resilience, and sound judgment.

How Success Will Be Measured

The dining room operates with precision, warmth, and consistency, and guests feel welcomed, recognized, and eager to return. The team is knowledgeable, confident, and proud of the restaurant, and pre service preparation is complete before every service. Guest information becomes more useful over time, problems are resolved gracefully, and the restaurant builds a strong base of regulars without sacrificing its approachable spirit.

The General Manager is responsible for making the dining room feel alive, cared for, and deeply personal, knowing the room completely and making everyone in it feel that their presence matters.