Cook

About the Role

This position involves managing and maintaining the buffet area, ensuring a clean, organized, and well-stocked buffet with a variety of fresh food options. Responsibilities include prepping vegetables, meats, and other buffet items, operating and maintaining equipment, and adhering to food safety and quality standards.

Responsibilities

• Set up the prep area and all equipment needed for vegetable prep.
• Accurately prep all vegetables for the make table, including making back-ups, rotating, and storing prepped items.
• Check the Pull/Thaw Chart and rotate foods from the freezer to the walk-in as needed.
• Review the Make Table Prep Chart and prepare the make table for daily sales, including prepping all meats.
• Operate, assemble, disassemble, clean, and sanitize equipment such as hot-wells, buffet warmers/lamps, ovens, and soup wells safely.
• Maintain a clean and fresh buffet with plenty of variety, including pizza, pizzerts, pastas, and soups.
• Label, store, and rotate products correctly on the buffet.
• Maintain buffet bar cleanliness and organization.
• Follow the "clean as you go" policy and keep the work area organized.
• Manage buffet inventory (e.g., number of pizzas in the oven) based on customer volume to avoid running out of product.
• Adhere to food quality standards (freshness, temperature, taste, appearance) by following portion control and buffet rotation charts.
• Understand and apply FIFO (First In, First Out) rotation principles.
• Cut and pack all dine-in orders, buffet items, and delivery orders with a sense of urgency.
• Sample and describe all products, including identifying abbreviations, plate presentations, and key ingredients.
• Minimize waste and manage food costs effectively.
• Complete side work duties and open/close the station correctly (open, mid-shift, close).
• Perform additional responsibilities during slow times and mid-lunch/dinner shifts.
• Make all pizzas correctly by following portion control charts and using scales for accurate portioning.
• Prepare specialty items such as Pizzerts®, Stromboli, pasta, sandwiches, and appetizers.
• Know the shelf life of products and where to locate them; apply FIFO, flip and fill, and restocking procedures.
• Prep and label items correctly (e.g., vegetables, taco meat mix, pastas, sauces, Pizzert Mix®).
• Produce consistent dough products, including thin, New York, and Italian dough, following proper proofing and shelf-life guidelines.
• Calibrate and operate the dough roller for each dough type and understand post-mix preps.
• Label all dough properly and maintain correct post-mix temperatures.

Requirements

• Neat, clean appearance and adherence to dress code.
• Ability to follow directions and demonstrate guest focus.
• Strong teamwork and communication skills with staff, management, and guests.
• Knowledge of safety and sanitation procedures, including regular handwashing.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks with a sense of urgency.
• Understanding of food quality standards, portion control, and buffet rotation.
• Experience with equipment such as make-tables, fryers, tilt kettles, pasta machines, warmers, dough rollers, and ovens.
• Ability to read guest checks and/or POS monitors.
• Knowledge of product abbreviations, descriptions, and key ingredients.
• Ability to explain the importance of minimizing waste and managing food costs.
• Familiarity with dough quality, proofing times, and shelf life (e.g., 24 hours for New York dough, 48 hours for Italian dough).
• Ability to calibrate dough rollers and produce consistent dough products.