Head of Food

Rick Stein's seafood odyssey started back in the seventies, opening a small bistro in a Cornish fishing village with red checked tablecloths and candles in Verdicchio bottles. That small bistro soon established an international reputation and is known today as The Seafood Restaurant, but nearly 50 years and ten restaurants later, the same ethos for fresh fish, simply cooked remains.

We’ve never thought of our restaurants as temples of gastronomy they’re just places where the fish is fresh, and the atmosphere is alive and full of fun.

Our food lets the ingredients do the talking, it doesn’t need edible flowers or foams. We use the best quality ingredients, Cornish when we can and always respect the seasons.

If people like Simon Hopkinson, Alistair Little and Rowley Leigh inspire you, and you share our joy for simple, elbows-on-the-table food, then we’d love to hear from you. 

We are looking for an engaging and inspirational Company Executive Chef with a passion for high quality food and delighting customers. A collaborative leader who can demonstrate a teamworking mindset with a good mix of strategic and operational thinking and the ability to plan for success. You must have the drive, reputation, and motivation to lead the teams, with a track record of chef development.

What will your role involve?

• Responsibility for proposing the food strategy for the restaurants, aligning with the brand whilst delivering an inspiring menus and great experiences for our customers.
• Leading by example to create the right culture in the kitchens to drive consistency ensuring the head chefs are producing the highest quality of food.
• Working with the area chef to maintain standards, safety, food quality, profitability and motivating the kitchen teams.
• Weekly reviewing of customer feedback, carrying out trend analysis and identifying feedback for all sites on menu quality to inform decisions on food and menus moving forward.
• Leading the food element of the menu change process, liaising with all stakeholders to deliver every menu on time.
• Reviewing all menu content changes checking calories, allergens, seasonality, size, and quality before handing over to supply chain to price and check GP and produce recipe cards.
• Having a proactive approach to health and safety and food safety in the kitchens.
• Establishing and maintaining good control regimes to ensure GP performance is on track, through management of stock and wastage.
• Focusing on driving profit through influencing average spend by analysing sales mix, course conversions, sales of verbal specials and menu promotions.
• Completing competitor analysis and ensuring industry awareness to inform thinking and to make recommendations.
• Using company values-based decision making to manage people and to drive values through the kitchen teams, being an example for the company values.
• The upskilling of chefs in our business, attracting new talent into the business and identifying and creating a pipeline to fill future senior roles and ensuring we are seen as a leader of developing kitchen talent in the restaurant industry        

 Skills and experience needed

• 5 years’ experience in a senior area chef position in restaurants
• An effective communicator, able to motivate teams remotely
• High standard of attention to detail
• Great prioritising and planning skills, able to run several projects at any time
• Strong coaching skill to support the unlocking of potential to maximise performance
• Passionate with a great knowledge of food, able to inspire the teams whilst thinking quality and standards.
• A Strategic thinker that can move from big picture thinking to operational detail with ease.
• Brilliantly organised with an ability to get things done
• Strong commerciality, understanding the levers that drive profitability and growth.

In return we'll offer 

• Holidays - You'll get 28 days paid holiday which increases after two years
• 50% discount in our restaurants, 20% discount in our shops and online, and discounted hotel stays and cookery courses. 
• Free meal for two - after one year with us you'll get a complimentary meal for two people in one of our restaurants, every year. 
• A values-based culture recognised as one of the top 100 companies to work for in the UK.
• Social events - you'll get the chance to meet and work with Rick, Jill, and the Stein family 
• Training and development - we'll support your development with regular discussions, support and coaching to help you learn and improve

Head of Food

Rick Stein's seafood odyssey started back in the seventies, opening a small bistro in a Cornish fishing village with red checked tablecloths and candles in Verdicchio bottles. That small bistro soon established an international reputation and is known today as The Seafood Restaurant, but nearly 50 years and ten restaurants later, the same ethos for fresh fish, simply cooked remains.

We’ve never thought of our restaurants as temples of gastronomy they’re just places where the fish is fresh, and the atmosphere is alive and full of fun.

Our food lets the ingredients do the talking, it doesn’t need edible flowers or foams. We use the best quality ingredients, Cornish when we can and always respect the seasons.

If people like Simon Hopkinson, Alistair Little and Rowley Leigh inspire you, and you share our joy for simple, elbows-on-the-table food, then we’d love to hear from you. 

We are looking for an engaging and inspirational Company Executive Chef with a passion for high quality food and delighting customers. A collaborative leader who can demonstrate a teamworking mindset with a good mix of strategic and operational thinking and the ability to plan for success. You must have the drive, reputation, and motivation to lead the teams, with a track record of chef development.

What will your role involve?

• Responsibility for proposing the food strategy for the restaurants, aligning with the brand whilst delivering an inspiring menus and great experiences for our customers.
• Leading by example to create the right culture in the kitchens to drive consistency ensuring the head chefs are producing the highest quality of food.
• Working with the area chef to maintain standards, safety, food quality, profitability and motivating the kitchen teams.
• Weekly reviewing of customer feedback, carrying out trend analysis and identifying feedback for all sites on menu quality to inform decisions on food and menus moving forward.
• Leading the food element of the menu change process, liaising with all stakeholders to deliver every menu on time.
• Reviewing all menu content changes checking calories, allergens, seasonality, size, and quality before handing over to supply chain to price and check GP and produce recipe cards.
• Having a proactive approach to health and safety and food safety in the kitchens.
• Establishing and maintaining good control regimes to ensure GP performance is on track, through management of stock and wastage.
• Focusing on driving profit through influencing average spend by analysing sales mix, course conversions, sales of verbal specials and menu promotions.
• Completing competitor analysis and ensuring industry awareness to inform thinking and to make recommendations.
• Using company values-based decision making to manage people and to drive values through the kitchen teams, being an example for the company values.
• The upskilling of chefs in our business, attracting new talent into the business and identifying and creating a pipeline to fill future senior roles and ensuring we are seen as a leader of developing kitchen talent in the restaurant industry        

 Skills and experience needed

• 5 years’ experience in a senior area chef position in restaurants
• An effective communicator, able to motivate teams remotely
• High standard of attention to detail
• Great prioritising and planning skills, able to run several projects at any time
• Strong coaching skill to support the unlocking of potential to maximise performance
• Passionate with a great knowledge of food, able to inspire the teams whilst thinking quality and standards.
• A Strategic thinker that can move from big picture thinking to operational detail with ease.
• Brilliantly organised with an ability to get things done
• Strong commerciality, understanding the levers that drive profitability and growth.

In return we'll offer 

• Holidays - You'll get 28 days paid holiday which increases after two years
• 50% discount in our restaurants, 20% discount in our shops and online, and discounted hotel stays and cookery courses. 
• Free meal for two - after one year with us you'll get a complimentary meal for two people in one of our restaurants, every year. 
• A values-based culture recognised as one of the top 100 companies to work for in the UK.
• Social events - you'll get the chance to meet and work with Rick, Jill, and the Stein family 
• Training and development - we'll support your development with regular discussions, support and coaching to help you learn and improve