Job Description

INDUSTRY TAVERN CHEF DE CUISINE (CDC) — JOB DESCRIPTION

Location: 1 Lackawanna Plaza, Montclair, NJ
Reports To: Ownership / Director of Operations
Department: Culinary Operations

POSITION SUMMARY

The Chef de Cuisine is the culinary leader of Industry Tavern and is responsible for the complete day-to-day management and performance of the kitchen.

Industry Tavern is a classic tavern reimagined with an elevated culinary approach—approachable, recognizable food executed with the technique, quality, presentation, and consistency expected from a serious kitchen. The CDC must understand that great tavern food does not mean simple execution. Every dish must be thoughtful, craveable, consistent, properly prepared, and worthy of the guest experience we are building.

This is a hands-on leadership position , not simply an administrative chef role. The CDC is expected to lead from the kitchen, develop the team, control costs, maintain exceptional standards, and take full ownership of culinary operations.

The CDC is accountable for food quality, execution, prep and production, kitchen organization, sanitation, staffing, hiring, training, scheduling, labor management, food cost, purchasing, inventory, waste control, menu development, and overall BOH culture and performance.

LEADERSHIP & KITCHEN OWNERSHIP

The CDC is expected to operate the kitchen with an ownership mentality. This includes leading by example, setting clear expectations, holding the team accountable, creating structure and discipline without creating an unnecessarily rigid environment, and building a kitchen culture where talented people enjoy coming to work.

The CDC must be visible and engaged during service, recognize problems before they affect guests, coach employees in real time, and develop strong cooks rather than simply replacing people when performance can be improved through leadership and training.

CULINARY EXECUTION & QUALITY CONTROL

• Maintain complete responsibility for the quality and consistency of every dish leaving the kitchen.
• Ensure all food is prepared according to approved recipes, portions, specifications, and presentation standards.
• Personally monitor execution during service and maintain an active presence on the line and at expo.
• Taste food continuously and require the culinary team to do the same.
• Ensure proper seasoning, temperature, texture, portioning, and presentation.
• Establish clear quality-control checkpoints from receiving through prep, production, cooking, plating, and final expo.
• Never allow speed or volume to become an excuse for declining food quality.
• Immediately correct dishes or production that do not meet standards.
• Maintain consistent execution regardless of who is working a particular station.

PREP, PRODUCTION & DAILY READINESS

• Develop and oversee daily prep lists and production schedules.
• Establish appropriate pars based on sales patterns and anticipated volume.
• Ensure stations are fully prepared before service.
• Inspect mise en place before each service period.
• Maintain recipe books, production guides, portion standards, and station procedures.
• Ensure proper cooling, storage, labeling, dating, rotation, and reheating procedures.
• Minimize unnecessary overproduction while ensuring the kitchen is prepared for anticipated business.
• Maintain an organized walk-in, freezer, dry storage, prep kitchen, line, and all BOH areas.

TEAM MANAGEMENT, HIRING & DEVELOPMENT

• Recruit, interview, select, and onboard qualified BOH employees.
• Build and maintain appropriate staffing levels.
• Train cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, and other culinary employees.
• Establish structured training standards for every station.
• Evaluate employee performance and provide regular coaching.
• Develop high-performing employees for additional responsibility and advancement.
• Address performance, attendance, behavioral, and professionalism concerns promptly.
• Maintain a respectful, professional, accountable kitchen environment.
• Create schedules based on business needs while maintaining appropriate labor controls.
• Reduce unnecessary overtime through planning and effective scheduling.
• Ensure the kitchen is never dependent on one employee knowing a particular station or production process.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & COST CONTROL

The CDC is responsible not only for cooking great food but also for operating a financially responsible kitchen.

Responsibilities include:

• Manage food cost against established targets.
• Monitor BOH hourly labor and overtime.
• Build schedules according to forecasted sales and operational needs.
• Conduct and oversee accurate inventory counts.
• Review purchasing and product usage.
• Monitor theoretical versus actual food cost when reporting is available.
• Control waste, spoilage, overproduction, incorrect portioning, comps, and remakes.
• Maintain portion-control systems.
• Review vendor pricing and identify opportunities for improved purchasing without compromising quality.
• Maintain accurate receiving procedures and verify pricing, quantity, and product quality.
• Understand menu contribution margins and the financial impact of menu decisions.
• Work collaboratively with ownership and operations leadership on budgets, forecasts, and financial performance.

The CDC should know where the kitchen's money is going—not simply whether the food looks good.

PURCHASING, RECEIVING & INVENTORY

• Maintain appropriate inventory levels.
• Place orders according to established pars and business needs.
• Develop productive relationships with approved vendors.
• Inspect deliveries for quality, quantity, temperature, and accuracy.
• Reject products that do not meet standards.
• Maintain organized storage and FIFO rotation.
• Conduct regular inventories accurately and on schedule.
• Investigate unusual usage, shortages, waste, or cost variances.
• Prevent unnecessary emergency purchasing and excessive inventory.

MENU DEVELOPMENT

The CDC will work collaboratively with ownership and leadership to continually develop the Industry Tavern menu.

Menu development should reflect the identity of the restaurant:

Classic tavern food with a real chef behind it.

New dishes should be approachable and recognizable while demonstrating thoughtful technique, excellent ingredients, strong presentation, and a reason for guests to return.

The CDC will:

• Develop and test new dishes.
• Create complete recipes and specifications before rollout.
• Accurately cost proposed menu items.
• Consider execution, prep requirements, station capacity, ingredients, cross-utilization, waste, and profitability.
• Develop seasonal features and specials.
• Continuously evaluate existing dishes based on guest feedback, sales mix, quality, and profitability.
• Train the entire culinary team before introducing new menu items.

HOSPITALITY & THE GUEST EXPERIENCE

Although the CDC primarily operates behind the scenes, every culinary decision ultimately affects a guest.

Industry Tavern is built around great hospitality. The kitchen and dining room cannot operate as separate businesses.

The CDC must maintain strong communication with FOH leadership, listen to guest feedback without defensiveness, investigate returned or unfinished dishes, and immediately address recurring issues.

When something goes wrong, the objective is not to determine why the guest is wrong. The objective is to understand what happened, fix what we can, learn from it, and protect the guest experience.

SAFETY, SANITATION & ORGANIZATION

The CDC owns BOH sanitation and food safety standards.

• Maintain compliance with all applicable health department and food safety requirements.
• Maintain proper food temperatures and temperature logs.
• Ensure correct cooling, reheating, thawing, storage, labeling, and dating procedures.
• Enforce proper handwashing, glove use, personal hygiene, and uniform standards.
• Maintain organized walk-ins, freezers, dry storage, prep areas, line stations, dish areas, and receiving areas.
• Maintain appropriate sanitizer procedures.
• Ensure equipment is properly cleaned and maintained.
• Establish and enforce daily, weekly, and scheduled deep-cleaning procedures.
• Immediately address pest, plumbing, refrigeration, equipment, fire-safety, or other sanitation and safety concerns.
• Maintain a kitchen that is inspection-ready every day—not cleaned only because an inspection may occur.

COMMUNICATION & MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

The CDC is expected to communicate clearly and proactively with ownership and restaurant leadership regarding staffing, labor, food cost, inventory, equipment, maintenance, menu performance, vendor issues, operational concerns, and opportunities for improvement.

Problems should be communicated with proposed solutions whenever possible.

The expectation is not perfection. The expectation is awareness, ownership, communication, and action.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will have strong experience leading a high-volume, quality-driven restaurant kitchen, preferably within an elevated casual, tavern, gastropub, American, or comparable chef-driven concept.

The candidate should demonstrate strong culinary technique, leadership ability, financial understanding, organization, communication skills, menu-development experience, food-safety knowledge, and the ability to lead a kitchen during demanding services.

SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

A successful Industry Tavern Chef de Cuisine builds a kitchen that performs consistently whether ownership is standing in the building or not.

The food is excellent and consistent. The kitchen is clean and organized. Prep is completed on time. Stations are ready before service. Employees know what is expected of them. Strong employees are developed. Problems are addressed quickly. Inventory is controlled. Waste is minimized. Labor is managed responsibly. Food cost is understood. The menu continues to evolve. FOH and BOH operate as one restaurant.

Most importantly, guests leave wanting to come back because the food, hospitality, atmosphere, and execution together created an experience worth repeating.

Job Tags

Hourly pay, Full time, Casual work, Seasonal work, Immediate start

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