Executive Catering & Events Chef

nan; Greenville (SC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Larkin's Restaurants is seeking an Executive Catering & Events Chef to lead culinary operations for weddings, corporate events, galas, and large-scale functions. You will plan menus, scale recipes for volume, and coordinate production with teams across multiple venues to ensure quality and on-time delivery.

The role requires extensive experience in production planning, logistics, and leadership while maintaining food safety and exceptional presentation at scale.

Qualifications

• Lead catering and event culinary operations for weddings, corporate functions, galas, and large events.
• Develop production plans, menus, guest counts, dietary needs, and service styles.
• Coordinate multiple events, ensure on-time delivery, and maintain food safety and quality.

Responsibilities

• Oversee high-volume production for all catering and events from menu to post-event review.
• Translate event orders into prep lists, schedules, staffing, and purchasing needs.
• Scale recipes for large volumes while preserving flavor, texture, and presentation.
• Establish on-site kitchen procedures and ensure flawless event execution.

Skills

Large-Scale Production

Production Planning

Culinary Leadership

Logistics & Event Execution

Organization & Systems

Culinary Excellence

Team Development

Financial Acumen

Labor Planning

Purchasing & Inventory

Recipe Scaling

Quality Control

Food Safety

Communication

Emotional Intelligence

Decision Making

Problem Solving

Adaptability

Composure Under Pressure

Accountability

Professionalism

Hospitality Mindset

Job description

EXECUTIVE CATERING & EVENTS CHEF

Department: Catering & Events – Culinary Operations
Reports To: Catering & Events Operations Manager
FLSA Status: Exempt (Salary)

About Larkin's Restaurants

Larkin's Restaurants is a family of chef-driven restaurants, catering operations, and hospitality venues committed to delivering exceptional experiences through outstanding food, genuine hospitality, and passionate people.

Our Catering & Events division executes weddings, corporate events, private celebrations, galas, and large-scale functions across a variety of venues and service environments. Success requires more than exceptional culinary ability—it requires disciplined production planning, logistics, organization, leadership, and the ability to reproduce restaurant-quality food consistently at significant volume.

The Executive Catering & Events Chef is the senior culinary leader responsible for making that happen.

Position Summary

The Executive Catering & Events Chef provides strategic and operational leadership for all catering and event culinary operations. This is a high-volume production leadership position requiring extensive experience planning, producing, transporting, and executing food for large-scale events while maintaining exceptional standards for quality, presentation, food safety, and consistency.

This position is responsible for the complete culinary lifecycle of an event—from menu development, recipe scaling, purchasing, production planning, staffing, and prep through transportation, on-site execution, service, and post-event evaluation.

The Executive Catering & Events Chef must be capable of looking at an upcoming event calendar and translating hundreds or thousands of individual guest meals across multiple events into a coordinated production plan.

This role requires an experienced culinary leader who understands that catering production is fundamentally different from restaurant line production. Success depends on planning days and weeks ahead, anticipating constraints, creating repeatable systems, coordinating multiple teams and locations, and delivering exceptional food regardless of volume or venue.

Core Competencies

Successful Executive Catering & Events Chefs consistently demonstrate excellence in:

• Large-Scale Culinary Production

• Production Planning & Forecasting

• Culinary Leadership

• Logistics & Event Execution

• Organization & Systems Thinking

• Culinary Excellence

• Team Development

• Financial Acumen

• Labor Planning

• Purchasing & Inventory Management

• Recipe Scaling & Standardization

• Quality Control

• Food Safety

• Communication

• Emotional Intelligence

• Decision Making

• Problem Solving

• Adaptability

• Composure Under Pressure

• Accountability

• Professionalism

• Hospitality Mindset

Essential Functions

Large-Scale Production Leadership

• Lead all culinary production for catering, weddings, corporate functions, private events, galas, and other large-scale events.

• Develop detailed production plans based on event schedules, menus, guest counts, dietary requirements, service styles, venues, and execution timelines.

• Translate event orders and banquet event information into actionable prep lists, production schedules, staffing plans, and purchasing requirements.

• Scale recipes accurately for high-volume production while maintaining flavor, texture, yield, portioning, and presentation standards.

• Coordinate production for multiple simultaneous or consecutive events.

• Establish production timelines that ensure work is completed efficiently without compromising freshness or quality.

• Anticipate production bottlenecks and develop contingency plans before they affect event execution.

• Maintain adequate production capacity during periods of significant event volume.

• Develop systems that allow the culinary operation to scale as catering volume grows.

Event Culinary Execution

• Oversee culinary execution from initial production through final guest service.

• Determine appropriate production, cooking, cooling, holding, transportation, reheating, finishing, and plating methods for each menu and venue.

• Ensure food arrives at event locations safely, on time, properly organized, and ready for successful execution.

• Coordinate load-out and culinary equipment requirements for off-site events.

• Establish on-site kitchen and finishing procedures when operating in temporary or nontraditional kitchen environments.

• Lead culinary execution for high-profile and complex events as necessary.

• Maintain quality and presentation standards regardless of event size, location, or service style.

• Develop contingency plans for weather, equipment limitations, transportation issues, staffing challenges, and venue constraints.

Culinary Excellence

• Ensure consistent execution of recipes, portions, flavor profiles, and presentation standards.

• Establish standardized recipes and production procedures appropriate for high-volume catering.

• Maintain exceptional food quality throughout production, transportation, holding, finishing, and service.

• Evaluate menu items for scalability, execution feasibility, cost, and guest experience.

• Collaborate on menu development, seasonal offerings, event packages, and custom menus.

• Continuously improve recipes and production methods based on execution results and guest feedback.

• Protect the culinary reputation of Larkin's Restaurants at every event.

Production Systems & Organization

• Develop and maintain production calendars, prep systems, pull sheets, packing lists, and event execution checklists.

• Establish clear production responsibilities and deadlines for the culinary team.

• Coordinate purchasing and receiving around the event calendar.

• Maintain organized walk-ins, freezers, dry storage, production areas, and event equipment.

• Develop systems for labeling, staging, storage, transportation, and event-specific organization.

• Ensure ingredients, equipment, smallwares, disposables, and service items are accounted for before event departure.

• Conduct post-event reviews to identify opportunities to improve future execution.

Leadership & Team Development

• Recruit, interview, hire, train, coach, and retain a strong catering culinary team