Pastry Chef

About the Role

We're always looking for talent that believes in having fun. At PENN Entertainment, you'll get to be a part of an exciting industry, where the days and nights are fast paced. You'll work with an incredibly diverse set of co-workers driven by their enthusiasm for helping people find and have more fun. You'll also get to work at a company that cares about your career growth and will help you get the support you need to expand your possibilities. Ameristar Casino Resort Spa offers Team Members a dynamic environment where you can grow your career.

Responsibilities

• Staffing & Development: Staff, schedule, evaluate, train, develop, and monitor the property pastry culinary team. Recommend wage increases, promotions, demotions, discipline, and other employment actions for team members.
• Multi-Outlet Operations: Understand department objectives, standards, guidelines, and budget to achieve effective supervision of the pastry department across all venues; adjust daily schedules according to business and banquet occupancy levels.
• Production & Quality Control: Oversee all central baking and pastry operations, including bulk preparation methods, storage logistics, cross-property transportation, timing of delivery, and garnishing. Ensure high-quality presentation of all desserts and baked goods to meet corporate standards and policies.
• Health & Safety Compliance: Observe and monitor staff adherence to health department regulations regarding food handling, storage, temperature logs, cooling charts, and cleanliness of the work environment.
• Strategic Planning: Assist the Executive Chef in developing and implementing department management plans including labor schedules, equipment maintenance systems, and operational goals.
• Administrative Systems: Assist the Executive Chef in developing and implementing policies, procedures, and rules, including central pastry operations manuals, to promote compliance with company and regulatory guidelines.
• Cross-Departmental Alignment: Ensure proper communication between front of house venue managers, banquet service staff, and back of house operations while taking total ownership of the centralized pastry department.
• Quality Checks: Ensure periodic quality checks for all pastry products (e.g., temperature checks, Brix levels, and freshness) are continuously conducted.
• Daily Deliveries & Deadlines: Meet daily deadlines of opening, creating, and posting menu documentation or banquet prep sheets, producing sample dishes for pre-shifts in a timely manner, and reviewing nightly production reports, prep levels, and critical inventory comparisons.
• Cost Transfer Financial Control: Monitor pastry ingredient purchasing, staffing, prep execution, and central inventory to manage labor costs and completely mitigate waste. Maintain meticulous records of sub-recipe costing to ensure all production expenses are accurately accounted for and systematically cost-transferred out to the respective receiving outlets and banquet functions.
• Product Consistency: Monitor and evaluate food preparation by observing baking techniques and tasting results to ensure dessert quality and consistency match individual outlet specs and standards.
• Asset Security: Open and close work areas at scheduled times, ensuring full preparation for daily multi-outlet operations and scheduled banquet functions; ensure the cleanliness and security of company assets.
• Menu Engineering: Research and develop property-wide menu changes and specialized dessert concepts to ensure variety, cost-efficiency, and modern flavor profiles.
• Vendor Procurement: Help write and cost detailed recipes while building and managing a comprehensive digital master collection of property pastry recipes.
• Station Management: Oversee and ensure all station prep lists are properly followed, stocked, and set up to supply the property efficiently.
• Kitchen Inspections: Initiate periodic kitchen walk-throughs to ensure the quality of food meets corporate specifications and cleanliness standards.
• Equipment Care: Oversee and ensure all high-volume specialized kitchen equipment (including combi ovens, blast chillers, and mixers) and working conditions are well maintained and operated correctly.
• Other Duties: Perform other duties as assigned by management.

Qualifications

• Completion of a culinary arts degree or accredited apprenticeship specializing in Baking and Pastry Arts, and four (4) years of progressive high-volume pastry preparation experience.
• Minimum of one (1) to two (2) years in a culinary supervisory capacity or an equivalent combination of training, education, and experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of a multi-outlet area manager.
• Computer literacy includes Excel spreadsheet and Microsoft Word experience for recipe tracking and reporting.
• Must successfully pass a background check.
• Must be 21 years of age.

Pay

$76,000 to $80,000 annually, based on experience.

This response is AI-generated, for reference only.