Chef de Cuisine – Serena Hotel
Job Purpose
To lead the daily culinary operations of the Nairobi Serena Hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant, designing and executing an authentic, innovative, and commercially viable menu while upholding the highest standards of quality, consistency, food safety, cost control, and guest satisfaction.
Roles & Responsibilities
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Kitchen Operations & Workflow Leadership: Manage day-to-day culinary operations, ensuring seamless workflows, high kitchen productivity, and excellent service delivery across all shifts.
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Menu Design & Innovation: Develop and implement authentic Mediterranean menus reflecting seasonality, commercial viability, and diverse culinary traditions (including Italian, Greek, Spanish, Southern French, and Eastern/Southern Mediterranean cuisines), alongside creative chef’s specials and tasting events.
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Recipe Standardization & Food Costing: Prepare, standardize, and maintain detailed recipe logs, portion controls, plating guides, and allergen information; collaborate with the Executive Chef and Cost Controller to manage accurate food costing and maintain budgetary targets.
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Quality Assurance & Food Safety: Conduct rigorous quality checks on raw ingredients, mise en place, and final plate presentations; maintain strict compliance with hotel policies, public health regulations, HACCP principles, and kitchen hygiene standards.
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Team Training & Inventory Management: Train, supervise, and motivate kitchen staff in Mediterranean cooking techniques and presentation standards; monitor specialty stock levels, storage rotation, ingredient controls, and equipment maintenance.
Qualifications
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Professional training or qualification in Culinary Arts, Hotel Management, or Food Production.
Skills, Experience & Competences
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Minimum of 3 to 5 years of professional experience as a Chef de Cuisine, Sous Chef, or Specialty Chef within a reputable Mediterranean restaurant or luxury hotel environment.
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Demonstrated hands-on expertise preparing authentic dishes across multiple Mediterranean culinary traditions, such as Italian, Greek, Spanish, Southern French, Lebanese, Syrian, Turkish, Moroccan, Tunisian, and Egyptian cuisines.
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Deep knowledge of traditional Mediterranean ingredients, cooking techniques (olive oil cookery, mezze preparation, seafood, grilled meats, custom spice blends, and artisan breads/desserts).
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Proven commercial awareness in menu engineering, recipe writing, food cost management, waste control, and inventory optimization.
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Strong leadership, organizational, and team management capabilities, with clear written and verbal communication skills in English.