Stellenbosch: Head Chef posted by Helderberg Personnel

Position Overview
The Head Chef is responsible for leading the culinary direction and daily kitchen operations for the Restaurant. This includes crafting seasonal menus, curating dishes that pair beautifully with the company wines, upholding high service standards, and shaping an exceptional dining experience that aligns with the restaurant’s brand of authentic, heartfelt cuisine.

Key Responsibilities:
Menu Development & Culinary Creativity

• Develop and update seasonal menus featuring fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
• Craft dishes specifically designed to pair with the company’s wine portfolio and tasting experiences.
• Create specialty menus for:
  • Summer/seasonal menus
  • Date Night Experiences (4course shared menu)
  • Sunset Rouge limited menus
  • Canapé & wine pairing experiences
  • Holiday or event offerings

Kitchen Operations & Quality Control:

• Oversee all daily kitchen activities, ensuring quality, consistency, and presentation standards.
• Maintain exceptional standards for plating—reflecting the company’s reputation for wellpresented, thoughtfully composed dishes.
• Ensure smooth service during lunch and dinner services

Wine Estate Collaboration:

• Coordinate closely with:
  • Company winemaker
  • Tasting room team
  • Sales and Marketing team
  • Ensure coherence between food menus, wine tastings, pairings, and special events

Team Leadership:

• Recruit, train, schedule, and lead all kitchen staff.
• Implement consistent training on:
• Latest techniques
• Wine pairing fundamentalspairing fundamentals
• Seasonal ingredient handling
• Plating disciplinedining plating discipline
• Build a positive and high-performance kitchen culture

Costing, Inventory & Supplier Management:

• Manage food costs while maintaining high-quality ingredients.
• Develop strong relationships with local farmers, producers, suppliers, and estate resources.
• Conduct stock control, ordering, waste management, and compliance documentation.

Health, Safety & Compliance:

• Ensure full compliance with HACCP and food safety protocols.
• Maintain cleanliness and organization of all kitchen areas.
• Conduct regular audits and adhere to all health regulations

Guest Experience Support:

• Collaborate with FOH team to ensure seamless service delivery.
• Adapt menus to customer feedback (noting trends from Dine Plan and Tripadvisor).
• Contribute to storytelling around food, wine pairing, and company heritage.

Required Skills & Experience:
Formal Culinary Education (Preferred but Not Always Mandatory)
A strong educational foundation supports consistency and expertise. Most fine dining or winery establishments prefer:

• A professional culinary diploma or certification from a recognized culinary school.
• Advanced qualifications in:
• Classical French cooking
• Mediterranean/Italian cuisineinfluenced menu
• Pastry or baking fundamentals

• Additional training in:
• Menu engineering
• Nutrition
• Hospitality management

While formal training is beneficial, extensive real world dining experience can compensate.

Experience:

5 –10 Years of progressive kitchen experience, including:

• Fine dining, luxury, winery or boutique hospitality restaurants.
• Demonstrated progression from:
• Commis → Chef de Partie → Sous Chef → Head Chef (or Executive Sous).
• Experience designing, costing, and executing seasonal menus.
• Strong track record managing full services during high-pressure services.

Winery or Estate Experience (Highly Advantageous):

• Working in restaurants attached to wine estates, vineyards, or tasting rooms.
• Designing dishes specifically for wine pairing.
• Experience coordinating with:

• Winemakers
• Tasting room managers
• Event coordinators

Core Technical Skills:

• Advanced cooking techniques (French, Italian, modern techniques).
• Butchery and fish fabrication.
• Sauces, reductions, emulsions, and stock production.
• Pasta and Italian cooking foundations
• Plating and presentation

Menu Development Skills:

• Seasonal menu creation.
• Understanding of terroir-driven cuisine.
• Designing dishes that intentionally complement wine profiles.

• Ability to create:
• Tasting menus
• Canapé pairings
• Event menus
• Special menus (e.g., date-night or themed evenings)

Leadership & Management Experience:

• Managing teams of 6 – 12 kitchen staff
• Training junior chefs in technique, hygiene, and standards.
• Conducting performance reviews and developmental coaching.
• Scheduling staff for seasonal fluctuations—particularly important on busy estates.
• Maintaining team morale in a high-pressure environment.

Operational & Business Competency: 

• Cost Management
• Food cost calculation
• GP management
• Waste and portion control
• Supplier negotiation

Inventory & Systems

• Stock rotation, ordering cycles, par levels
• Kitchen administration (recipe cards, audits, compliance)
• Knowledge of POS systems and kitchen management software