Head Chef - New Opening

Lounge; Alton; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Join an exciting new opening within a successful restaurant group, where your passion for real cooking meets high-quality ingredients. As a key player, you'll lead a supportive team to create memorable dishes while maintaining exceptional kitchen standards. This role offers a unique opportunity to showcase your culinary skills and leadership in a dynamic environment. With a focus on fresh, customer-led cooking, you'll ensure every customer leaves happy. Enjoy a variety of perks, including generous discounts, paid breaks, and opportunities for personal development. If you're ready to make a difference in the kitchen, this is the place for you!

Benefits

Overtime pay

Staff food on every shift

50% off staff discount

Paid breaks

28 days holiday

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Company pension scheme

Long service awards

Tips shared equally

Christmas and Boxing Day off

Qualifications

• Experience as a Head Chef, Kitchen Manager, or Sous Chef is preferred.
• Strong skills in food prep, hygiene, and kitchen management are essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead a dedicated team to deliver high-quality dishes and maintain kitchen standards.
• Manage kitchen operations, ensuring food safety and cleanliness.

Skills

Chef skills

Food preparation

Cleaning

Knife skills

Good hygiene practices

Leadership

KPI management

Training and recruitment

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join our new opening and become part of one of the most successful restaurant groups in the UK.

You love real cooking. We love real cooking. Customers love real cooking. It's a no-brainer so you wonder why so many other places don't do it. We do it, and you'll be doing it with us - fresh, customer led, and with high-quality ingredients. We also love our real people who run Lounges. The person who runs these brilliant people has to be super-brilliant, and that'll be you. Your standards will be as high as ours, but exactly how you do it will be unique to you.

You'll be doing it your way. You'll be part of a dedicated, supportive team, working from our flexible all-day menu to give people food that'll make their day. It'll be your responsibility to make each dish to spec, in a clean and safe kitchen, and to follow the lead of your Head Chef to make sure all prep and par is completed for each shift. You'll be helping every customer leave happy. Which they tend to do. Thanks to your great food.

The Good Stuff

1. Overtime pay for every hour worked over contracted hours!
2. Staff food on every shift
3. 50% off staff discount to enjoy outside working hours from day one
4. Paid breaks
5. 28 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays) pro rata
6. Enhanced maternity and paternity pay after 2 years service
7. The most talked-about staff party in hospitality - Loungefest!
8. Competitions and incentives (like jetting off on an all expenses paid trip with one of our suppliers)
9. Company pension scheme
10. Long service awards
11. Power over your pay with Wagestream
12. Emotional and practical support via the Licenced Trade Charity
13. Great opportunity for personal development and career progression in a fast growing business
14. Achievable bonuses
15. Tips shared equally across the team, based on hours worked
16. Christmas and Boxing Day off!

What you'll bring

1. You are probably an existing Head Chef, Kitchen Manager or Sous Chef looking for your first step into a Head Chef role.
2. You will have experience of working with fresh ingredients and be able to demonstrate good chef/kitchen skills (food prep hot and cold, cleaning, knife skills, good hygiene practices)
3. Your work ethic is rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in and leading from the front; playing an active role in delivering excellent kitchen and food standards as part of a high performing team.
4. Familiar with managing through clear KPIs and making decisions considering labour; stock; food safety requirements plus others.
5. You will have worked in kitchen environments where you're required to report on various metrics including GPs; labour/house; food preparation.
6. You will have demonstrated successful delivery of training and recruitment for kitchen teams including Apprentices, KPs, Chefs, Junior Sous Chefs and Sous Chefs.

If you want to find out more about us, follow us on LinkedIn or @life.at.loungers on TikTok and Instagram.