Chef Specialty Restaurant

About the Role

Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts is seeking a Chef Specialty Restaurant to join its team in Makkah. This full-time role is responsible for ensuring the quality, consistency, and production of the specialty restaurant kitchen. The Chef will lead staff, manage food-related functions, and coordinate menus, purchasing, staffing, and food preparation while maintaining operating budgets and ensuring high standards of sanitation and food quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, design, and create new culinary applications, ideas, and products for the specialty restaurant, including artistic contributions.
• Supervise specialty restaurant kitchen shift operations, ensuring compliance with all Food & Beverage policies, standards, and procedures.
• Maintain proper food preparation, handling, and storage standards.
• Recognize and ensure superior quality in products, presentations, and flavors.
• Plan and manage food quantities and plating requirements for the specialty restaurant.
• Assist in developing daily and seasonal menu items and estimate daily production needs.
• Prepare and cook various types of food for regular service, special guests, or functions.
• Check the quality of raw and cooked food products to ensure standards are met and determine food presentation, creating decorative displays.

Team Leadership and Management

• Supervise and coordinate activities of cooks and other food preparation staff.
• Lead shift teams by personally preparing food items and executing requests according to specifications.
• Manage all day-to-day operations of the specialty restaurant kitchen, understanding employee positions to perform duties in their absence.
• Encourage mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members, serving as a role model for appropriate behaviors.
• Ensure and maintain employee productivity levels and cross-training to support successful daily operations.
• Establish and maintain open, collaborative relationships with employees.

Operational and Financial Oversight

• Set and support the achievement of kitchen goals, including performance, budget, and team objectives.
• Develop specific guidance and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish daily kitchen operations.
• Understand the impact of kitchen operations on overall property financial goals and objectives, managing to achieve or exceed budgeted goals.
• Effectively investigate, report, and follow up on employee accidents, ensuring compliance with company safety standards.

Guest Experience and Human Resources

• Ensure exceptional customer service by managing daily operations to meet and exceed guest expectations.
• Improve service by communicating guest needs, providing guidance, feedback, and coaching to staff.
• Handle guest problems and complaints, interacting with guests to obtain feedback on product quality and service levels.
• Identify developmental needs of staff, providing coaching, mentoring, and training on menu items, ingredients, and preparation methods.
• Manage employee progressive discipline procedures and participate in performance appraisals.
• Assist in the interviewing and hiring of team members with appropriate skills.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 5-10 years of experience in a culinary role, preferably within a specialty restaurant setting.
• Demonstrated culinary talent and leadership skills.
• Strong understanding of food preparation, handling, and storage standards.
• Ability to manage budgets and ensure operational efficiency.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to lead and influence a team.
• Commitment to ensuring high standards of sanitation and food quality.