ABOUT US:

Half Acre is a cool curated garden eatery for people to connect with friends and family, or professionals alike. Located in South Melbourne on the grounds of the Old Mill, our 90-seat restaurant provides a unique indoor/outdoor environment with a wood-fired oven, charcoal grill and open kitchen. We serve lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday. Bottomless Brunch is a weekend feature.
Our service creates a space where locals feel at home and newcomers feel like locals. This environment is crafted by our front of house team. Sound like you?
Half Acre is looking for a Sous Chef to support our back of house team in the pursuit of culinary excellence. Your energy and love for what you do is your morning motivation, consistently delivering culinary excellence for guests and encouraging the team to do the same. To create experiences and memories for both our customers and team.

REQUIREMENTS

• Proven experience as Qualified Chef - minimum 3 years at high end or upmarket restaurants
• Hands-on experience in kitchen operations
• Solid understanding of hospitality procedures and best practices
• Knowledge of quality standards
• Proficient in MS Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and relevant software
• Organisational and leadership skills
• Outstanding communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills
• Problem-solving aptitude

PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Self-discipline, initiative, leadership ability and outgoing
• Ability to motivate employees to work as a team to ensure that food and service meet appropriate standards
• Must be able to handle the pressures of simultaneously coordinating a wide range of activities and recommend appropriate solutions to restaurant problems
• Ability to coordinate multiple tasks such as food and labour cost while maintaining required standards of operation in daily restaurant activities

ABOUT THE ROLE - LEADERSHIP

• Establish a reputation as a Leader
• Ensure Food and Desire maintains a reputation for service excellence and creating experience
• The developing and enhancing of technical knowledge
• Menu writing
• Suppliers and quality control
• Kitchens financial commitments

OPERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish excellent relationships with kitchen teams, front of house teams and support office teams
• Provide best practice kitchen processes, guided by the Head Chef
• Proactively working with stakeholders at all levels to meet needs of the business with a solution focused attitude
• Informal catch ups with kitchen team leaders and external suppliers & contractors
• Develop and maintain relevant networks and relationships with key stakeholders with respect to best practice including:
• Advise, prepare and implement seasonal menu’s, quality control, and service standards
• Consult with Head Chef on creating all seasonal menus
• Ensuring all prepared/ cooked food for the dining room are in line with Food & Desire’s high-quality food standards
• Managing stock control
• Actively checking the quality of food delivered and ensuring all products are stored correctly and safely
• Manage kitchens cost by reviewing daily and weekly rostering and ordering, making recommendations to the relevant body on any potential over spends, as well as stock on hand
• Be mindful of seasonality, economic and weather effects on the costs of raw product