Hotel Executive Chef - Donabe

Our Mission
To build relationships within our community by serving them with passion in a hospitable environment while providing food that is honest, consistent and fresh.

What Makes Us Unique

You would be joining a team of true restaurant hospitality professionals who are driven by quality, consistency and integrity with everything we do. We provide a positive, professional environment and constantly drive towards excellence. We value each individual team member and take a personalized approach to their growth. These same philosophies are carried through with our guests, vendors and everyone who we interact with. Alliance Hospitality Group is a growing company and we are looking for team members to grow with us.

Our Concept
Situated in the W Hotel in Scottsdale, Donabe is hosting a residency as a Japanese Steakhouse that offers rare and imported Wagyu, as well as a thoughtfully curated Sushi program that emphasizes high-quality seasonal cuisine through a shareable menu. Sushi Chef Lucas Chen brings an innovative take on Japanese cuisine, bringing dishes like mouthwatering Foie Gras & Duck Fried Rice as well as A5 Wagyu served on a hot stone with daikon & shiso chimichurri to the table. The restaurant has a full bar inclusive of worldly wines, Japanese whiskies, and alluring cocktails. The concept is brought to you by Alliance Hospitality Group, the masterminds behind FLINT By Baltaire in Phoenix, Baltaire Steakhouse in Los Angeles, and other notable restaurant concepts.

Donabe is located on the second floor of the W Scottsdale in a restricted area for 21+ guests. The restaurant is open 7 days a week (Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 to 9 PM, and Friday through Saturday from 5:30 to 10 PM). We are also open for Breakfast & Lunch from 6:30am - 2:00pm daily.

What We Expect:

Description & Necessary Qualifications

The Executive Chef will oversee complete operation of the kitchen. 5 - 10 years of experience in a leadership level kitchen position are required. Experience leading and conducting at least two to three restaurant openings, banquet experience for private parties of 2-500 people are desired. Graduation from an accredited culinary school and multilingualism are both encouraged. This hands-on cooking position requires no less than 55-60 hours of work per week, with required holiday/night/weekend hours and need-based shift coverage for hourly staff. Candidate must be ServSafe certified.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Kitchen Operations Oversight.
• Execute and maintain quality and consistency of food with full adherence to corporate standards to acquire and protect restaurant sales - act with a sense of urgency, be friendly, professional, and engaged
• Provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere, attentive, detailed, friendly, and courteous service
• Understand the market and surrounding areas (i.e. restaurants, businesses, hotels)
• Regularly measure and evaluate service through company service audits, and leveraging guest/employee feedback
• Maintain the highest level of safety, security, sanitation, and cleanliness of facility
• "Inspire, Inspect, and Inform" restaurant personnel on a daily basis
• Follow, maintain, and enforce adherence to kitchen schedules, par lists, prep lists, order guides, and opening/closing procedures.
• Assist in overseeing kitchen repairs and maintenance, weekly food inventories, food education at pre-shift meetings, and quarterly food shows for FOH/BOH staff.
• Understand how to use basic computer applications and POS systems.
• Develop skillset of hourly kitchen staff, participate and conduct quarterly kitchen employee evaluations, and assist with kitchen employee sourcing, hiring and discipline.
• Maintain good rapport with vendors and have the capacity to work with multiple owner wants and needs.

General Executive Management

• Develop culinary manager team to develop people and manage systems.
• Give Chef's meaningful and challenging work assignments.
• Conduct quarterly management evaluations to track improvement of fundamental skills.
• Develop hourly staff positions within the restaurant, conduct quarterly restaurant staff evaluations.
• Hire great talent and terminate any member of the staff on an as needed basis.
• Develop plans for continuous improvement in the restaurant's service levels.
• Participate in Donabe's PR, Marketing, and Sales Building efforts/tactics for both the restaurant and the food operations at the W Hotel.
• Must firmly confront poor performance while also recognizing and rewarding good performance.
• Maintain good rapport with vendors and have the capacity to work with multiple owner wants and needs.
• Instill a culture of excellence and inspire confidence throughout the restaurant staff while displaying strong leadership skills.
• Implement efficient and productive systems/processes in all departments (staffing levels, etc.).
• Must be compliant with all Arizona State labor/hiring laws, Department of Health standards, and OSHA standards.
• Responsible for all food service within the W Hotel which include; a 3 meal period a day fine-dining Restaurant, Pool food service, Lobby food service, Banquet Event food and execution, and In-Room Dining.

Financial and P&L Adherence

• Build a culture of financial responsibility (sales tracking, labor, waste, breakage, PPA, costs).
• Accurately process and submit.
• Develop, establish, implement, and enforce proper and timely use of waste sheets and labor proforma.
• Control cash, credit, and other receipts by following company cash handling/reconciliation procedures.
• Assist in developing plan to meet or surpass expectations set by P&L projections with an eye toward maximizing efficiency and productivity and holding department managers accountable to budgets.
• Approve/track all spending and prepare any necessary paperwork in a prompt and organized fashion.
• Seek better efficiency and productivity.
• Hold all Department Managers accountable for costs and budgets.

Standards & Safety Compliance

• Must have thorough understanding of Arizona labor and hiring laws.
• Must follow in-house safety program and conduct monthly in-house health inspections.
• Must adhere to corporate kitchen cleanliness standards, ordering/receiving standards, and shelf life guidelines.
• Commit to source locally when possible and cultivate diversity in the kitchen.

THE CULTURE OF AN AHG EXECUTIVE CHEF

As an Executive Chef for Alliance Hospitality Group, LLC your goal is to assist the staff, both front and back of house, and the restaurant to succeed. You must instill best practices for the staff to not only succeed in their basic job functions, but to fulfill our philosophy of engaging, befriending, and building a long-term relationship with every guest through our food offerings, beverage offerings and human interactions.

How does this apply to the Executive Chef?

1. You must ensure the entire staff, front and back of house, has a complete understanding and thorough knowledge of the food. The first step is to maintain a complete understanding of all menu items and corresponding recipes. You must also participate in regular verbal testing of the staff, particularly BOH members.

2. You must motivate the BOH staff to build enthusiasm around the products and the food being served to the guest.

3. You may delegate duties, but the results remain your responsibility. The task of serving the food perfectly rests on your shoulders. Excuses of a runner shortage or food not coming up together will not be accepted. You must work to find a solution to these types of problems so the guest experience is not compromised. REMEMBER: You can't delegate the follow through!

4. You must ensure each guest is WOWed by every dish. You are responsible for knowing when 50% of a dish remains untouched. If the remaining portion has not been requested to-go, then the guest likely wasn't wowed. You need to pull information from the staff and directly from guests to ensure a perfect experience for each diner.

5. You must understand your clientele and your market. Know what prices your market can bear and understand your clientele's perception of portion size.

6. You must fully engage with guests to help build lasting relationships. Touch tables in the dining room, take guests on kitchen tours, and be available for FOH management whenever possible for table visits. You need to give guests a superb culinary experience and befriend them personally.

7. Whenever possible, offer to cook for guests that you have a relationship with. Making a repeat guest feel special only strengthens the relationship - and diners like to feel important in front of their guests.

8. You must work with employees tirelessly to ensure everyone understands our philosophy of engaging, befriending and building long-term relationships. Always look through those glasses when making decisions.

9. You must run a balanced business; financial responsibility must be taken as seriously as the livelihoods of the staff are dependent on your decision-making. Within the budget we must constantly strive to exceed the expectations and manage our resources creatively and responsibly.

10. You must manage the cultivation and education of the BOH culinary team. You should acknowledge an employee's readiness for promotion and understand who our future leaders are, ensuring we find a place for them in the company.

Ideal Candidate Will Have:

• Minimum of 5+ years of Executive Chef experience within a high-volume fine dining restaurant and/or hotel environment.
• Minimum of 12+ years cooking experience
• ServeSafe Certified
• Ability to work on your feet for extended hours.
• Strong organizational and time management skills with a particular attention to detail.
• Strong knife skills.
• Creativity and idea generator and executer.
• Must be available to wore irregular hours, shifts, weekends, special events, weekends and holidays.
• Strong food and beverage knowledge.
• Strong organizational and time management skills with a particular attention to detail.

We Offer:

• $90-$100K Annual Salary + 20% Quarterly Bonus
• 401K Retirement Savings
• Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance
• Free meal per shift
• Growth & Development opportunities