Sous Chef - Bar Sprezzatura

About the Role

Bar Sprezzatura, inspired by the casual elegance of Italy and located in the historic Heathman Hotel, is a bustling lunch spot by day and aperitivo and cicchetti bar at night. The Sous Chef plays a vital leadership role in daily kitchen operations, supporting the Executive Chef and mentoring line cooks to deliver excellence at every service. With strong technical skills, a focus on organization, and a collaborative spirit, the Sous Chef ensures consistency in food quality, safety, and presentation while helping manage inventory, labor, and training. This role is hands-on in the kitchen, balancing execution with leadership to elevate both guest experiences and team performance.

Our ideal candidate is a detail-oriented culinary leader who operates the kitchen daily with professionalism, respect, efficiency, knowledge, and awareness. You will understand the philosophy of the Chef, adhere to all restaurant policies, mentor and lead junior staff members, and uphold restaurant standards and cleanliness. The ideal candidate supervises and coordinates planning, training, and leadership to achieve objectives in sales, costs, employee retention, guest service, food quality, cleanliness, and sanitation. You will work with the Chef and HR to develop an atmosphere that embraces diversity, education, and discipline, leading execution of service and staff development using tools like line checks, mentorship, and performance management.

Responsibilities

• Support the Executive Chef in daily kitchen operations.
• Mentor line cooks and junior staff members.
• Ensure consistency in food quality, safety, and presentation.
• Manage inventory, labor, and training.
• Supervise and coordinate planning, training, and leadership to meet objectives in sales, costs, employee retention, guest service, food quality, cleanliness, and sanitation.
• Work with the Chef and HR to foster an atmosphere of diversity, education, and discipline.
• Lead execution of service and staff development through line checks, mentorship, and performance management.

Qualifications

Personal Attributes

• Exceptional communication and organizational skills.
• Gracious spirit of hospitality.
• Intellectual curiosity and emotional maturity.
• Ability to continually develop staff in all areas of food education.
• Ability to work clean, organized, and lead a team.

Professional Attributes

• Advanced knowledge of kitchen fundamentals (knife skills, butchery, sauces, fabrication, all kitchen stations).
• Knowledge of financial reporting and ability to analyze data.
• Strong focus on personal and team development.
• Desire to teach and mentor both staff and culinary interns.

Requirements

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a fine dining, high-volume kitchen, with at least 1 year in a leadership role.
• Knowledge of safety and hygiene protocols.
• Working knowledge of HR practices and labor laws.
• Ability to frequently lift up to 40 pounds.
• Stamina to work in excess of 50 hours per week.
• Spanish language skills a plus.

Benefits

As part of the Makeready collection, we offer a variety of thoughtful benefits and perks for eligible team members, including:

• Accommodating PTO/PTO exchange.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Maternity/paternity leave.
• Pet insurance.
• Company-matched dependent care and 401k.
• Student loan repayment program.
• A wide range of additional ancillary benefits.

The health, happiness, and well-being of our team is our top priority. We take pride in our Guiding Principles to define how we successfully work together.