Mereworth is an award-winning wine producer with a vibrant cellar-door/café. Mereworth is looking to improve on its already successful food offering and increase our retail and trade offering by becoming increasingly bakery-led. We are looking for a Head Chef / Baker to drive this change and future growth.
We are searching for an established hands-on chef with bakery experience who will head up the kitchen team and be responsible for production, staffing, catering health & safety, ordering and product development.
Mereworth consists of a highly passionate team driven by quality. The vision we are working towards is creating a center of excellence for all things food and drink led. This is an exciting opportunity to join a creative team and put a personal stamp on the Mereworth product portfolio.
What Youll Be Doing:
Managing catering production for our café, private hire events, retail and trade
Lead day-to-day kitchen operations baking, brunch, lunch
Oversee for all aspects of food quality control
Oversee catering health & safety and food standards
Ordering, stock control, wastage and working with management on cash-flow planning and profitability
Manage staffing and staff kitchen training
Product development
Working with other departments such as Events to create bespoke catering packages and prices.
Working with operations and bar manager to deliver a successful hospitality service.
Covering operations manager / bar manager in their absences to oversee staff and running of the bar/retail
Were Looking For Someone Who:
Has at least 3 years of experience in a commercial kitchen
Experience in artisan baking
Experience managing staff
Knows fermentation inside out and can work with hydration, temperature, and timing with confidence
Is reliable, creative, and able to lead by example
Can balance quality and efficiency in a busy kitchen
Has experience managing staff and purchasing
Wants to be part of a small, passionate team
Bonus Points If You:
Love experimenting with new recipes and flavours
Have experience with deck ovens or steam-injected baking
Have knowledge of sourdough
Have experience with budgeting and planning
Care about local sourcing, seasonality, and sustainability
Have knowledge of wine and food pairings
Have knowledge of retail
What Youll Get:
Competitive salary
Simply Health Healthcare
Free parking
Pension
Discounts on the Mereworth product portfolio including award-winning English Sparking Wine
A beautiful setting in the Kent countryside
The chance to make changes and influence the direction of a growing business and to put a personal stamp on our product portfolio
AMRT1_UKCT