Chef

Chef

Little Naples Pizzeria Fairfield

Fairfield, Melbourne VIC

Full time

$76,600 to $80,000 per year

About us

Little Naples Pizzeria Fairfield is an award-winning full-service Italian restaurant located in Fairfield. We offer authentic Neapolitan-style pizza, pasta, antipasto, desserts, drinks, dine-in service, takeaway, group bookings, functions, and catering.

We are looking for an experienced Chef to join our kitchen team. This is a full-time role suited to someone with strong restaurant experience, sound knowledge of Italian cuisine, and the ability to plan and organise the preparation and cooking of food in a busy dining and catering establishment.

About the role

The successful applicant will work across the preparation and cooking of our full menu, including Neapolitan-style pizzas, pasta dishes, sauces, antipasto, desserts, seasonal specials, and catering items.

The Chef position involves planning menus, estimating food and labour costs, ordering food supplies, preparing and cooking high quality Italian dishes, monitoring the quality of dishes, supervising kitchen staff, and maintaining food safety and hygiene standards.

Key duties and responsibilities

·       Preparing and cooking dishes across the full restaurant menu, including pizza, pasta, antipasto, sauces, desserts, and seasonal menu items.

·       Preparing food for dine-in service, takeaway orders, functions, group bookings, and catering orders.

·       Planning and contributing to restaurant menus, specials, catering menus, seasonal dishes, and menu changes.

·       Estimating food costs, assisting with menu pricing, and monitoring kitchen wastage.

·       Monitoring the quality of dishes at all stages of preparation, cooking, and presentation.

·       Ensuring all meals are prepared to the restaurant’s standards for taste, portion size, presentation, and consistency.

·       Demonstrating cooking techniques and advising kitchen staff on preparation and cooking procedures.

·       Discussing food preparation, service, and menu issues with managers, directors, kitchen staff, and front-of-house staff.

·       Training, supervising, and coordinating kitchen staff, cooks, and other kitchen employees during preparation and service.

·       Coordinating kitchen workflow during busy dine-in service, takeaway periods, catering preparation, and functions.

·       Ordering and managing food supplies, ingredients, and kitchen stock.

·       Maintaining proper stock rotation, food storage, food safety, and hygiene practices.

·       Ensuring all food and ingredients are stored correctly and safely.

·       Maintaining a clean, sanitised, and organised kitchen environment.

·       Working efficiently under pressure and managing time during busy service periods.

Required qualifications, skills and experience

Qualifications

·       At least a Diploma or higher qualification in commercial cookery or related field, or at least 3 years of full-time relevant experience may be considered in place of formal qualifications.

·       At least 1 year of full-time relevant work experience as a Chef in a commercial kitchen.

Experience and skills

·       Relevant experience must be in a closely related culinary role in a dining or catering establishment

·       Experience preparing and cooking food in a full-service restaurant, dining venue, or catering environment.

·       Experience with Italian cuisine, including pizza, pasta, sauces, antipasto, and related menu items.

·       Experience planning menus, estimating food costs, ordering supplies, preparing food, cooking dishes, and monitoring quality.

·       Experience supervising, training, or coordinating kitchen staff is preferred.

·       Strong understanding of food safety, hygiene, and workplace health and safety requirements

·       Ability to work under pressure in a busy restaurant environment.

·       Good communication skills and ability to work with kitchen and front-of-house teams

Positive attitude, reliability, and ability to lead by exa