CHEF DE CUISINE

Crescent Hotels & Resorts; Williamsburg (VA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation seeks a Chef de Cuisine to lead kitchen operations, train and supervise culinary teams, and ensure high-quality, creatively presented dishes. The role drives guest satisfaction, menu innovation, and adherence to cost controls and brand standards.

Responsibilities include inventory control, sanitation and safety compliance, and collaboration with Restaurant and Guest Services managers. ServSafe certification and Virginia driver’s license required.

Qualifications

• Culinary degree required.
• Minimum 5 years of professional managerial experience in hotels/restaurants.
• Strong knowledge of kitchen operations.

Responsibilities

• Ensure culinary and utility staff perform to established standards.
• Develop and cost breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus aligning with brand policies.
• Oversee inventory forecasting, par levels, and monthly inventories.
• Enforce sanitation, health, and safety guidelines and training.
• Manage financial aspects including cost of food, labor, and budgeting.

Skills

Managerial experience

Education

Culinary Degree

Job description

Who We Are

Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.

Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301‑acre restored colonial capital with 89 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world‑class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute, and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.

Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world‑class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on‑site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over five million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.

About The Position

The Chef de Cuisine is responsible for the successful achievement of operational and quality goals. The Chef trains, supervises, counsels, and motivates the kitchen teams while controlling production, quality and food costs.

Responsible for the consistent preparation of innovative and creative cuisine of the highest quality, presentation, and flavors for the dining room, resulting in outstanding guest satisfaction, improved market share, increased covers, and revenues. The Chef must work in conjunction with the Restaurant Manager to ensure adherence to the policies, procedures and standards of conduct established by the company. Chef interacts on a daily basis with colleagues in Chef positions across CWC‑HG.

Production

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Ensures that the culinary and utility staffs are performing to the established standards.
• Food Preparation: Prepares food correctly for service according to the standards of the specific dish, and the various meal periods.
• Accurately develops the proper quantities of product through use of station checklists and forecasting.
• Food Service: Prepares all food according to the POS system print out, while producing and executing the special request items to meet guest expectations. The established pace of service is to be maintained in order to sustain a steady flow of service.
• Creation and costing of breakfast, lunch and dinner menu’s in accordance to the branding of the specific food outlets policies and procedures.
• Set the example, create and ensure kitchen standards are followed in a positive and professional manner.
• Ensure that the culinary staff are following through with the noted daily tasks by following checklists and your demonstrations of proper technique and guidance.
• Effectively oversee that the expediting of breakfast, lunch or bunch and dinner shifts are being followed to standard.
• Demonstrates a proactive approach to managing large parties in the Dining room, in cooperation with the Restaurant and Guest Service Managers.
• Oversees production of all prep items ensuring recipe adherence, ticket times, and food production meet or exceed standard as established by yourself and the Restaurant Manager.
• Ensures adherence to the recipe cards and plate presentation.
• Works in corporation with purchasing agent to insure the freshest and cost effective ingredients are present in the taverns
• Pull change log Monday thru Saturday and update all production sheets with the updated information.
• Supervises utility and receiving staff for cleanliness of storage and kitchen areas.
• Assists in making sure staff is scheduled appropriately.
• Ensures that food is properly ordered for the area of operations you are managing.

Inventory Control

• Thoroughly understands and adheres to the Food Order Guides system of ordering food in the kitchen.
• Orders according to established pars and forecasting.
• Properly rotates all food in storage utilizing the F.I.F.O. system.
• Accurately conducts monthly inventory.
• Accurately places orders with the use of the ordering checklists.
• Communicates product levels to storeroom keeper when subpar.
• Completes weekly spot inventories on high dollar items and communicate those findings to the storeroom keeper to reconcile with perpetual inventories.

Sanitation

Follows food safety and sanitation guidelines and ensure that staff understands and practices the same, including, but not limited to:

• Maintain a working knowledge of the Temperature Danger Zone (41˚-135˚F)
• Thoroughly sanitize station, equipment and hands after handling potentially hazardous foods.
• Prevent potential cross‑contamination through hand washing and awareness of surroundings.
• Read and follow the standards of the Appearance Policy provided by CW.
• Clean as you go, maintain a clean and orderly work station at all times.
• Keep jackets, pants, aprons, shoe and hats as clean as possible.
• Wear protective gloves when handling ready to eat foods.

Obtains and maintains a valid ServSafe® certification and manage to the standards of the ServSafe® criteria.

Ensures all employees obtain and maintain food handler’s certification from the Health Department. Creates and nourishes a positive working relationship with the local Health Department. Work through any Health Department issues, correcting immediately when possible, and do not allow any repeats on critical violations.

Supervises Daily detailed cleaning of the kitchens. Ensure sanitation throughout property including kitchen, dining rooms, and outdoor public areas such as Fire Pit dining area, gardens, walkways, back dock and dumpster area etc.

Safety

• Ensures that direct reports have successfully completed all required Safety Training, including but not limited to: Safety orientation.; Fire Extinguisher Training; Lifting, etc.; Asbestos Awareness; Preventing Slips, Trips, Falls; Fill out an incident report for all accidents that happen on your shift.; Complete the incident follow–up form for each accident; Wear slip resistant shoe to prevent slips, trips and falls.
• Practice safety in the work place at all times, including but not limited to: Understands and identifies hazards in the work place so proper actions may take place in order to reduce injury.; Maintains a sharp knife while safely handling as to not obtain injury.; Has a working knowledge of safely prepping, using and cleaning of all equipment in the kitchen.; Lifts with legs and always ask for assistance when necessary.; Utilizes a pushcart whenever transporting products over a distance.; Takes action to secure a hazard through the supervisor by reporting issues immediately.; Ensures that others are practicing safety procedures at all times.

Troubleshoots and locates potential problems with the Kitchen facilities and equipment (i.e. maintaining machinery, cleaning equipment regularly, spotting safety hazards, etc.). Ensures repair and maintenance of kitchen equipment by partnering with our maintenance department.

Stays informed and current on all areas of Risk Management.

Financial Responsibility

• Insure that the culinary Staff under your direction are clocking in and out accurately and according to the CW attendance policy.
• Be financially aware of the cost of food and cost of labor and effectively contribute to the control of both.
• Be aware and understand overtime and maintain practices to avoid accruing any pertaining to yourself and other staff members.
• Ensure employee standards are consistent through documented, timely performance evaluations, training checklists and daily reviews, and discharges when necessary.
• Attends daily front of the house line ups to highlight specials and up selling techniques associated with those specials
• Make sure quality and timeliness of food product maintained to that particular areas standards.

Required Qualifications

• Culinary Degree and 5 years’ experience accompanying professional managerial experience with the hotel and restaurant industries.

Knowledge

Thorough knowledge of all aspects of Kitchen operations including but not limited to:

• thorough understanding of profit and loss management, marketing and management of Kitchen
• knowledge of American regional cuisine, and menu development
• Experienced in the development and administration of operating and capital budgets, manpower planning, purchasing, and control of operating equipment and sensitivity to design and refurbishing of restaurant and kitchen facilities.

Experience

Progressive track record with deluxe hotel, resort and restaurant organizations. Proven record of culinary accomplishments. Functional experience in guest service, dining room, catering and back of the house management.

Must possess a valid Commonwealth of Virginia driver’s license and have an acceptable driving record based on The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s criteria.

• Must be able to provide a 5‑year Motor Vehicle Record prior to employment
• Must be at least 21 years of age
• May not have more than 1 moving violation or at fault accident within 12 months
• May not have more than 2 moving violations or at fault accidents within 36 months

May not have any serious motor vehicle violations including but not limited to excessive speeding, reckless driving, DUI/DWI, suspended or revoked license, etc.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience in presenting training and development programs as well as administration of a union contract preferred.

Physical and Environmental Demands

• Stand - Constantly
• Walk - Constantly
• Sit - Occasionally
• Use hands/fingers - Constantly
• Climb or balance - Occasionally
• Stoop/kneel/crouch/crawl - Constantly
• Reach with hands/arms - Constantly
• Talk or hear - Constantly
• Lifting up to 10 lbs. - Constantly
• Lifting up to 25 lbs. - Frequently
• Lifting up to 50 lbs. (with assistance) - Occasionally
• Lifting up to 100 lbs. (with assistance) - Occasionally
• More than 100 lbs. (with assistance) - Occasionally

Wet/humid Conditions: Frequently

Work Near Moving Mechanical Parts: Frequently

Fumes/airborne Particles: Occasionally

Extreme Cold: Rarely

Extreme Heat: Occasionally

Risk of electrical shock: Occasionally

Driving Requirement: Occasionally

Compensation Disclaimer

The compensation listed below for this position represents the anticipated hiring range and is provided in accordance with Virginia pay transparency requirements. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors such as the selected candidate’s skills, qualifications, experience, education, certifications, internal equity, and the specific requirements of the role.

Range: $69,700 - $90,000/year

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.