Culinary General Manager

Vital-Root; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

401(k) with match

ESOP

Paid Sick leave

Employee discount

Family meal provided during shifts

Job summary

Vital Root in Denver seeks a Culinary General Manager to lead daily operations, balancing exceptional food quality with strong team leadership, guest service, and financial performance.

The role requires managing a 50-hour week, developing menus, and ensuring SOPs, training, and a positive team culture while delivering an excellent guest experience.

Qualifications

• Requires 5+ years of experience in a similar role.
• Ability to lead and balance food quality with financial performance.
• Strong communication and team leadership to foster positive culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations to ensure guest experience and product quality.
• Develop menus and supervise seasonal changes and SOPs.
• Manage BOH schedules, forecasting, and labor targets.
• Review financial reporting related to food and labor.
• Source products with approved vendors ensuring quality and pricing.
• Coach and develop BOH staff and ensure health department compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Guest service

Financial acumen

Communication

Spanish (bonus)

Problem solving

Adaptability

Education

High School diploma or GED

Tools

Restaurant365 or similar invoicing systems

Job description

Description

Culinary General Manager leads the day-to-day operations of Vital Root, balancing exceptional food quality with strong team leadership, guest service, and financial performance. This role is responsible for creating a positive team culture while ensuring the store consistently delivers high-quality products and an excellent guest experience.

Salary Range : $70,000 - $80,000 per year

Employee Benefits:

• We offer a competitive benefits package to support you both in and out of work:
• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance (available for employees working 4+ shifts per week; eligible after 6 months)
• Life insurance
• 401(k) with a 4% safe harbor match (eligible after 1 year)
• JOON wellness benefit
• ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) with share vesting based on tenure (see below)
• Paid Sick leave
• Employee discount
• Family meal provided during shifts

Qualifications and Skills:

• Our operations team are often present and involved in the day to day operations at Vital Root, and will be involved in many conversations and decisions pertaining to everything that impacts the guest, staff, and business
• Work weeks consist of 5 days and approximately 50 hours. We work with our managers to bring consistency and balance to their schedule, which typically consists of two days off in a row. There can be more demanding weeks, and less demanding weeks, that come with the ebb and flow of business.
• Our manager schedules include, opens, closes, and volume shifts intended to help support the closing manager. Everyone works a little bit of everything.
• In coordination with other Vital leadership and operations, some administrative time will be scheduled, to follow up on emails, attend to administrative tasks, and to allow for strategic and consistent communication & planning regarding the day to day
• Develop menu items and create specials in accordance with EB and your specific concepts style. Adhere to a seasonal menu change cycle(4 per year) and associated standard operating procedures.
• Collaborate with the Operations team to ensure menu direction, tastings and audit cadence, menu engineering, product mix analysis, station balance, pricing and verbiage.
• Teach, lead, communicate, and coach all BOH in accordance with EB expectations & standards, focusing on the preparation and execution of all menu items in the pursuit of excellence.
• Ensure recipe books(physical or digital), allergy guides and to-go platforms are updated & accurate with all current offerings.
• Perform line tastes prior to every service to ensure quality, consistency and conformity to recipes, portioning, and plating standards.
• Acknowledge and address all allergies, dietary restrictions, and preferences with staff and guests to accommodate accordingly.
• Review and understand financial reporting in relation to food and labor targets.
• Manage cost of goods (COGs) and associated goals by developing and maintaining standardized recipes, efficient ordering, thorough and accurate inventory, timely and consistent waste and transfer logs.
• Creating an effective and efficient BOH schedule based on forecasted sales to ensure proper coverage and support while maintaining budgeted labor goals.
• Working various shifts (open, mid, close) to ensure support, menu execution, and service flow are up to standards.
• Responsible for timely Paycom punch edits and accurate point share allocations for the BOH.
• Acknowledge and adherence to EB "green mission" initiatives. (Compost, reduce, reuse, and recycle.
• Maintain awareness of local competition, general industry trends and cutting edge menu innovation.
• Communicate concerns immediately to Operations regarding problems involving product availability, quality, preparation and execution.
• Captain guest satisfaction by ensuring excellence in quality through consistency of preparation and execution of menu items.
• Sourcing products through approved vendors in which product quality, consistency, pricing, and company ethos are aligned with EB.
• Maintain a clean and organized kitchen as outlined in the Employee Handbook as well as in accordance with all state and local Health Department requirements.
• Provide ongoing feedback for the BOH team. Establish and reinforce performance expectations and deliver timely performance reviews.

Requirements

• Being positive, patient, prepared, prompt, precise, and passionate while caring and curious.
• Thorough written and verbal communication skills. Fluency in Spanish is a plus.
• Must be able to work well under pressure while remaining unflappable.
• Self motivated and driven with a sense of awareness and urgency.
• Great organizational, time management, delegation, and follow-through capabilities.
• Must have at least a high school diploma or GED.
• Previous kitchen experience is required with at least 5 years of working in a similar position.
• Comfortable and confident with your computer literacy.
• Intermediate knowledge of restaurant 365 or similar invoicing and reporting systems.
• Possess the ability to understand a P&L statement.
• Physically able to lift, reach, bend and stoop.
• Able to work in a standing position for long periods of time (up to 10 hours).
• This position may require lifting, carrying, pulling or pushing of approximately 21-50 pounds.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status.