Head Chef, Padella

About Us

We hand-roll over 700 portions of pasta every day, serving fresh pasta dishes with traditionally made sauces using only the best seasonal British and European ingredients we can get our hands on. We cut no corners – whether it’s baking our own bread and tarts, churning our own ice cream or hand-filling our ravioli.

Head Chef

Responsible for: 

   

• To ensure the highest quality of food comes out of the kitchen of Padella.
• The day-to-day Kitchen management of Padella, a 70-cover restaurant with a sales turnover in excess of £45,000 a week.

 

Financial & Reporting

   

• Assume full responsibility for the Kitchen operations.
• Continue Padella’s status as one of London's great independent restaurants, with the highest standards of seasonality, artisan and ethically sourced produce at high street prices.
• Oversee the creation and recording of orders in line with company policy and the needs of the business and coach any new senior chefs to be able to do so.
• Ensure complete control of the food, costs of sale, GP and menu item costings through weekly stock takes and analysis.

 

Recruitment, Learning and Development

 

• Be an expert on our menu, cooking techniques, provenance, supplier information and ethos in every sense.
• Maintain & Drive the highest standards of staff product knowledge, through encouragement and detailed training plans and on-boarding.
• Recruit, schedule and create development paths for all junior Chefs – keep chefs engaged and engaging.
• Work in collaboration with GM to ensure that Kitchen & Floor performance notes and progression processes, support and ceremonies are adhered to. Create a culture of nurturing, monitoring & celebrating success.

 

Legal, Health & Safety

 

• Be trained to at least Food Safety Level 3
• Be fully conversant with health and safety, food safety and HACCP.
• Ensure the Company’s Health & Safety and HACCP policies are adhered to at all times.
• Monitor and act in line with feedback in relation to the In-House Audits.
• Ensure that all potential and real hazards are reported immediately and rectified

 

The Ideal Candidate

You Are:

 

• Experienced. You’ve worked and you thrive in a fast-paced, high-volume environment with at least 2 years’ experience in a senior management position, with a strong financial understanding of how to run a profitable business and control costs

 

• You get people. You have outstanding staff management, motivation and communication skills. You have a proven track record in developing and growing your team. You have a deep understanding of appraisals, the onboarding process and the importance of looking after staff.

 

• You remain calm in the eye of the storm. You’re resilient in the face of adverse situations, you can diffuse and solve situations promptly, taking control of the issue and supporting your team.

 

• Team Player. Sounds obvious but teamwork is truly the foundation of Padella’s culture and everything we do impacts each other. We’re looking for people who understand this and naturally use their initiative whether it’s going the extra mile for a customer, colleague or different department in need.

 

• You are passionate about food and talking about it, have a natural interest in ingredients, where they’re sourced, what’s the supplier’s ethos about their products and how you’ll translate that into a great employee and customer experience.