<>Executive Chef<>

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus pay

Health insurance

Job summary

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen in Palo Alto is seeking an Executive Chef to lead our culinary team and manage operations at the Palo Alto location. This full-time role requires a culinary degree and offers a $120,000 per year salary.

You will oversee menu development, cost controls, and staff training in a high-quality, fresh-food environment. The ideal candidate has 5+ years in executive culinary roles, expertise in Mediterranean cuisine, ServSafe certification, and a passion for sustainable

Qualifications

• Must have strong culinary leadership and ability to direct staff
• Proven ability to develop menus and evaluate food cost targets
• Deep knowledge of nutrition, sanitation, and allergen handling
• Experience with vendor management and contract negotiations
• Exceptional verbal and written communication; able to mentor teams
• Experience leading executive-level culinary operations in Mediterranean cuisine

Responsibilities

• Lead culinary operations and staff to meet quality and cost targets
• Develop and test new recipes and menu items
• Oversee budgeting, cost controls and procurement decisions
• Ensure compliance with sanitation, safety, and QA standards
• Collaborate with vendors and manage relationships to support operations
• Provide training and leadership for food production and service teams
• Lead high-profile events and menu rollouts
• Maintain quality control across multiple units and operations

Skills

Leadership

Menu development

Food cost management

Nutrition & sanitation

Allergen knowledge

Vendor relationships

Communication

Team mentorship

Education

Culinary degree or equivalent

Job description

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen Careers

Palo Alto

Executive Chef

Full-time

Bachelor's degree

$120,000.00 per year

We're a local bay area brand. We strongly believe that fresh food made in-house using only the finest ingredients just tastes better. We prepare our dishes using only EVOO, fresh herbs and spices and slow roast our naturally-raised meats rotisserie style.

We are looking for an experienced Executive Chef for our Palo Alto Location

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Hummus Mediterranean subject matter food expert.
• Provides leadership and direction to unit culinary and service staff as needed.
• Develop recipes, testing and evaluation guidelines and ensures that current trends and best practices are considered.
• Provide menu review and analysis to ensure overall food cost targets are met.
• Manage staff to ensure timely, accurate, data and maintenance for centralized menu management system; vendor relationships, contract compliance, negotiations, appointments and cuttings; online nutrition information, student contact regarding allergies and special dietary needs, etc.
• Manage budgetary responsibility within the cost per meal and cost guidelines.
• Make key decisions regarding food purchases in support of Real Food and Sustainable practices without compromising food cost.
• Oversee and ensure compliance of food prep to QA standards and safety/security related to handling and preparation of food, third party certification, and recipe and product adherence.
• Ensure compliance for sanitation standards to meet all health codes.
• Facilitate quality control programs for optimal product quality.
• Develop and implement exceptional customer service standards.
• Establish culinary goals and vision for all operations.
• Create and provide continuous training to all food production staff and managers in food preparation, presentation, customer service, sanitation and safety.
• Maintain a high quality food production system.
• Provide training and advocacy for individual and team culinary challenges, catering operations and special events.
• Provide excellent communication and interpersonal skills when interacting with culinary staff, management and external stakeholders.
• Host vendors in product testing and sampling.
• Oversee implementation of new product roll out, education and training for unit operations.
• Facilitates training and development of all food production staff and managers in food preparation, allergy awareness, vegan and vegetarian cuisine, new culinary trends, presentation, customer service, sanitation and safety.
• Leads and directs culinary staff.
• Mentors and coaches culinary staff for improved performance and menu executions and cost management.
• Lead and participate in the planning and execution of high profile special events on and off campus, using innovative techniques and methods.
• Lead new recipe development
• Provide excellent communication and interpersonal skills when interacting with culinary staff and management.

Required Qualifications

• Must be able to create middle eastern recipes from scratch, improving current product lines and new item roll outs.
• Expert knowledge in food preparation, nutrition, special needs and sanitation regulations
• Advanced verbal and written communication, and active listening, dynamic flexibility, critical thinking, and ability to multi-task and ensure effective time management.
• Advanced decision-making and reasoning skills, and ability to develop original ideas to solve problems, and perform operations analysis and quality control analysis.
• Advanced skill in effective interpersonal and work leadership skills to provide guidance to all levels of personnel.
• Ability to lead in food purchasing contracts, experience in building and maintaining quality vendor relationships.
• Ability to work effectively as a member of an Executive Team as well as inter-departmentally
• Demonstrated skill in leading work groups, managing and supervising complex projects, leading and supervising students.
• Advanced nutritional and allergen knowledge
• Intermediate computer applications skills.
• Prior experience in culinary food service operations as an Executive Chef in Mediterranean Cuisine with a minimum of 5 years industry experience, Culinary Degree or equivalent required.
• Allergen training and experience required.
• Has valid Servsafe Manager Certificate.
• Lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 50 lbs +.

Supplemental pay

• Bonus pay

Benefits

• Health insurance

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen - Palo Alto

715 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA