Kitchen Trainer Chicago Market Full-Time

Phoenix3 Collective; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 34,000 - 41,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Free café food and coffee

Job summary

Fairgrounds is building something different — a café where the food program matters just as much as the coffee. We're expanding our food offerings across the Chicago market (River North, Oak Park, and University of Chicago), and we need someone who lives and breathes kitchen execution to make sure every plate that goes out is right.

You'll be on the line, at the prep station, and shoulder‑to‑shoulder with our teams.

Qualifications

• 2+ years in a commercial kitchen.
• Experience training staff, even if not titled.
• Ability to read a recipe and teach it to someone new.
• Strong organizational skills to manage three locations.
• Willingness to step up to shape kitchen operations.
• Food safety certification preferred; can be obtained if needed.

Responsibilities

• Train café staff on food preparation, assembly, plating, and quality standards.
• Lead hands‑on training sessions for new hires and ongoing skill development.
• Roll out new menu items from recipe development to in‑café execution and SOPs.
• Audit kitchen execution across three locations and coach in real time.
• Help establish prep schedules, par levels, and batch production across locations.
• Standardize build stations, ingredient specs, and plating across the market.

Skills

Kitchen management

Training experience

Team leadership

Read recipes and teach

Education

ServSafe certification

Job description

Fairgrounds is building something different — a café where the food program matters just as much as the coffee. We're expanding our food offerings across the Chicago market (River North, Oak Park, and University of Chicago), and we need someone who lives and breathes kitchen execution to make sure every plate that goes out is right.

This is not a desk job. You'll be in the cafés — on the line, at the prep station, and shoulder‑to‑shoulder with our teams. You'll own food training and execution across three Chicago locations, lead new menu launches from recipe to plate, and make sure our standards don't slip as we grow.

Responsibilities

• Training all café staff on food preparation, assembly, plating, and quality standards.
• Building and running hands‑on training sessions for new hires and ongoing skill development.
• Leading rollout of new menu items from recipe development to in‑café execution — writing and refining SOPs, training teams before items go live, and auditing execution during launch.
• Conducting regular kitchen audits across all three locations, checking portioning, temperature, presentation, and speed, and coaching in real time when gaps occur.
• Assisting cafés in establishing and maintaining prep schedules, par levels, and batch production that scale across locations without sacrificing quality.
• Standardizing build stations, ingredient specifications, and plating across the entire market.

Qualifications

• 2+ years in a commercial kitchen — line cook, prep cook, or junior kitchen leadership role.
• Experience in a batch cook, prep sheet, and Friday lunch rush.
• Prior experience training people, even if it wasn't your official title.
• Ability to read a recipe and teach it to someone who has never made it before.
• Strong organizational skills to manage three locations without dropping the ball.
• Willingness to step up from the line into a role where you shape kitchen operations.
• Food safety certification (ServSafe or equivalent) preferred; can be obtained if needed.

Company Culture

Fairgrounds operates on four brand pillars: Clarity (simplify relentlessly), Craft (excellence is the expectation), Courtesy (lead with respect), and Cleanliness (every space, every detail, every day). We're obsessed with craft, customer experience, and constant improvement.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation is $25–$30/hr including average tip rate.

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Free café food and coffee

Schedule & Travel

Schedule is primarily daytime shifts with flexibility for launch weeks and occasional weekends. Regular travel between River North, Oak Park, and UofC locations is required (all within Chicago metro). This role is built to grow with the market — as Fairgrounds expands its food program, this position grows with it.

Tagline

Fairgrounds — Obsessed with Craft. Customer Experience. Constant Improvement.