Café Kitchen Lead: Systems, Prep & Quality

Park Avenue Coffee; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 40,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Park Avenue Coffee in St. Louis is seeking a Kitchen Lead to own the day-to-day operation of our café kitchen. This is a hands-on role for prepping, cooking, assembling, organizing, and keeping the kitchen moving while building repeatable systems and standards for quality.

You'll lead by example, supervise daily prep, and ensure recipes are followed, portions are accurate, and food safety and sanitation are maintained. You’ll work with café and operations leadership to evolve the food program.

Qualifications

• 2+ years in kitchen or food-service roles
• Lead or supervisory experience preferred
• Strong knowledge of basic food safety and sanitation
• Solid knife skills and familiarity with standard commercial kitchen equipment
• Experience with food prep, portioning, labeling, storage, and inventory rotation
• Ability to follow recipes accurately and consistently
• Strong organizational and time-management skills
• Willingness to clean, organize, and maintain the kitchen as part of the job

Responsibilities

• Lead daily kitchen prep and food production
• Execute sandwiches, salads, wraps, sides, and other menu items consistently and efficiently
• Maintain high standards for food quality, portioning, presentation, and recipe execution
• Organize daily and weekly prep based on expected sales and inventory
• Maintain a clean, organized, and service-ready kitchen
• Follow and reinforce food safety, sanitation, labeling, storage, and temperature-control standards
• Receive, organize, rotate, and properly store food deliveries
• Perform inventory counts and help maintain appropriate par levels
• Identify low-stock items and communicate ordering needs before they become problems
• Monitor product rotation and waste using FIFO and established kitchen procedures
• Help reduce unnecessary food waste while maintaining product availability
• Train and support team members on recipes, prep procedures, equipment, food safety, and kitchen standards
• Help maintain recipes, prep sheets, build guides, and other kitchen documentation
• Provide feedback on kitchen workflow, equipment, ingredients, and procedures
• Work with leadership on seasonal menu items, specials, and improvements to the food program
• Keep equipment, work surfaces, storage areas, refrigeration, and the overall kitchen clean and properly maintained
• Communicate problems early and help find practical solutions

Skills

Kitchen leadership

Food safety

Food prep

Inventory management

Communication

Team collaboration

Time management

Adaptability

Job description

Park Avenue Coffee in St. Louis is seeking a Kitchen Lead to own the day-to-day operation of our café kitchen. This is a hands-on role for prepping, cooking, assembling, organizing, and keeping the kitchen moving while building repeatable systems and standards for quality.

You'll lead by example, supervise daily prep, and ensure recipes are followed, portions are accurate, and food safety and sanitation are maintained. You’ll work with café and operations leadership to evolve the food program.