Head Chef

Smiths Restaurant · Chipping Ongar · £50,000–£52,000 per year · Full-time

Located in Ongar, Essex, Smiths of Ongar has become well known as one of the South East’s best seafood restaurants and are recruiting an experienced Head Chef to join its established team; As Head chef you will; - Lead and inspire a kitchen team, creating a supportive, high-performance culture - Oversee daily kitchen operations, ensuring excellence in quality, consistency, and food presentation - Collaborate with the Executive Chef and Sous Chefs to develop seasonal, creative Special’s menus - Strong commercial understanding with proven experience running a professional kitchen efficiently and profitably - Maintain exceptional food hygiene and safety standards across the kitchen - Skilled in managing labour controls, scheduling, and kitchen operations to maintain high standards while meeting financial targets - Manage food costs, ordering, and stock control efficiently and sustainably - Train, mentor, and develop junior chefs, fostering growth and creativity - Work closely with the Executive Chef and Director to ensure a seamless, memorable guest experience The ideal candidate will; · Have proven experience in a senior kitchen role, ideally as Head Chef in a high-volume, quality-led restaurant · Thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment · Brings creativity, curiosity, and a genuine love for fresh, seasonal cooking · Leads with empathy, professionalism, and a hands-on approach · Is passionate about nurturing talent and building a strong, inclusive kitchen culture In return we offer; Very competitive rates of pay Flexible Rotas 28 days holiday The opportunity to progress Pension Company Tronc system

Video Transcript
I've got a friend called Harry Stebbings. He runs a podcast called 20VC and on that podcast he sits with extremely rich people. The podcast, Harry's podcast, isn't as big as Joe Rogan's, but because Harry has had two-hour conversations with the richest people on planet Earth and continues to do so, he's built one of the biggest investment funds in Europe, especially as like a guy in his 20s. I mean, I think he's raised, if I'm not mistaken, 750 million just from the relationships. And he said to me, he said, you know, the biggest value leverage I've built in the last five, 10 years isn't like the views. People have more views than him. It's he knows everyone rich. And I think we underestimate that when we think about wealth creation, because if you can do what Ralph said and get around rich people, help them in some way, build those relationships, it pays dividends, what, forever?
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