Sous Chef

WHO WE ARE

The Detroit Foundation Hotel has transformed the historic Detroit Fire Department Headquarters into a 100 room independent hotel that adds another piece to the ongoing Detroit renaissance puzzle. The hotel draws on the Motor-City's unparalleled past while proactively moving the city to its next incarnation as a national cultural, business, and artistic touch-point. Featuring an inviting ground-floor restaurant, The Apparatus Room, the hotel partners with local distillers, brewers, farmers, and other edible sundry purveyors to deliver and authentic Detroit experience.

WHO YOU ARE

• A mentor to your team and capable of working any station in your kitchen, but are hungry for the next step.
• An intrinsically motivated individual who finds their moment of Zen in a dining room filled with happy guests.
• Lead your team with a composed disposition and gentle correction, passing along your culinary acumen in the process.
• Have the utmost respect for the ingredients and the process: you strive to work directly with local farmers and artisans to obtain your ingredients at their height of freshness and peak of flavor.
• Have tremendous culinary aptitude and are just beginning your journey to understanding the financial side of the business, and are eager to learn more.

THE ROLE

• Uphold and role model the company’s principles of People, Place, and Character, while encouraging your direct reports to embody our values that drive collaboration, intuitive service, and translocal hospitality.
• Be a key partner with the Executive Chef, Sous Chefs, and F&B Management team, demonstrating a united front committed to providing the best possible guest experience.
• Collaborate with and coach your team to uphold the integrity of the food, guest experience, cleanliness, and maintenance of the culinary spaces.
• Demonstrate your aptitude of how to deliver on a guest’s expectation for an amazing culinary experience, including balancing flavor combinations, considerations for temperature and texture, guest satisfaction, and menu flow.
• Understand of operational metrics (KPI’s and P&L’s), demonstrating critical thinking skills by connecting those with operational observations.
• Coach and mentor your team on development of their skill set, technique, and menu execution, fostering an environment of continuous growth; effectively use corrective action to address root causes of issues, course-correcting any missed opportunities.
• Foster open lines of communication within the department by helping to facilitate daily line ups, weekly culinary leadership meetings, and quarterly culinary all staff meetings to create a transparent dialogue among the team to voice ideas and concerns, while addressing the department’s key priorities.
• Actively participate in recruitment, training, scheduling, supervising, coaching, and motivation of all culinary associates in order to create an environment that nurtures ideas and develops future talent for succession planning in the culinary program.
• Maintain regular communication with the Executive Chef and F&B Management team to provide updates, discuss plans, communicate needs, and align on priorities, understanding that flexibility with your responsibilities is paramount to support a successful operation.

HOW YOU LEAD

• Offer direct support for your team through coaching, counseling, gentle correction, and constructive feedback.
• Collaborate effectively with all hotel departments including Sales, Banquets & Catering, Food & Beverage, and Hotel Operations to provide an exemplary guest experience.
• Respectfully interact with your managers, direct reports, and peers, exemplifying the utmost level of professionalism and being a pillar within your community.
• Be a subject matter expert in food and culinary techniques as well as understanding the history of the cuisine most closely related to the hotel food and beverage concept(s), effectively guiding others in their personal search with a gentle hand, never admonishing their lack of knowledge.
• Show the beginnings of business acumen by ensuring that initiatives align with operational goals and budgets; show passion to further develop this skill-set.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Five or more years progressive culinary experience required, preferably in a multi-service hotel or restaurant.
• Passion for culinary arts, experience in a wide range of cuisines.
• Basic skills in Microsoft Excel and Word to create spreadsheets and proposals.
• Adaptable interpersonal communication skills to address all employee levels of the hotel.
• Proficiency of the English language in reading, writing, and verbal communication.
• Ability to calculate basic math principles to meet proper menu ingredients and perform inventory.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment for extended periods of time to meet high volume business.
• Ability to lift, balance, and carry up to 25 lbs. to transport dry goods inventory, equipment, etc.
• Ability to lift, balance, and carry (with assistance) up to 100 lbs. to transport dry goods inventory, equipment, etc.
• Ability to stand or walk for prolonged periods to cook required menu items.
• Ability to withstand warm to hot environments for prolonged periods while utilizing ovens, stoves, or fryers.