Head Chef

HEAD CHEF

OPENING SOON

WONKY KETTLE CAFÉ & BISTRO —

£35,000 guaranteed basic salary

Structured performance bonus of up to £8,000 per year

Potential earnings up to £43,000, plus shared tips

Full-time | Approximately 42–48 hours per week

Predominantly daytime with 1–2 evenings per week

Most Head Chef jobs ask you to take over somebody else’s kitchen.

This one gives you the opportunity to help build something completely new.

Wonky Kettle is a brand-new independent café and bistro opening soon at a new location in the DE6 area of Derbyshire.

We’re looking for an experienced, ambitious and genuinely good-hearted Head Chef to work alongside chef and founder Danny Edwards and help shape the food, team and culture from day one.

The exact location will be shared confidentially with shortlisted applicants ahead of our official public announcement.

THIS ISN’T ANOTHER GENERIC CAFÉ

Wonky is being built around:

PROPER COMFORT FOOD. PROPER COFFEE. PROPER PEOPLE.

Familiar food made memorable, using great ingredients, generous portions and the personality of an independent business that genuinely cares.

Our food will move between brilliant breakfasts and brunches, chef-led lunches, Say Cheese melts, Wonky Sunday roasts, Friday Wonky Squares and a changing programme of collaborative and themed bistro evenings.

But Wonky is about more than food.

WHAT WONKY STANDS FOR

We want to create a place where everyone feels welcome, regardless of who they are, where they come from or whether they normally feel like hospitality spaces are designed for them.

That applies equally to our customers and our team.

Wonky will be family-friendly, dog-friendly and genuinely inclusive. We want to collaborate with local producers, independent businesses, charities, community groups, guest chefs and people with brilliant ideas.

Community and collaboration will not just be words painted on a wall. They will influence how we recruit, how we lead, what we cook and how we use our space.

We want a Head Chef who believes in that too.

THE OPPORTUNITY

You’ll be joining before the doors open, giving you a genuine role in building the kitchen rather than simply inheriting it.

Working directly with Danny, you will help:

Finalise, test and cost the opening menus

Develop Wonky’s signature dishes

Establish kitchen systems, standards and service flow

Recruit, train and develop the kitchen team

Build relationships with local suppliers and producers

Create a positive, inclusive and properly organised kitchen culture

Deliver consistent food across breakfast, lunch, Sunday and evening services

Maintain excellent food-safety and allergen standards

Control food costs, stock, waste and kitchen labour

Develop seasonal specials, collaborations and future Wonky concepts

Build a kitchen that performs without relying on shouting, ego or burnout

This is a hands-on role. You will cook, lead services and set the standards, particularly during the opening period.

You will also have genuine creative input. We already have a strong vision and several signature products in development, but we want a Head Chef who can improve ideas, challenge constructively and bring their own experience to the table.

THE WORKING WEEK

This is predominantly a daytime-led business, but it is not a daytime-only role.

You should expect:

Approximately 42–48 hours per week

Five working days with some flexibility on shift times when the business is established.

Regular weekend and Sunday work

Around one or two evening services per week

Some additional flexibility during the opening period and for special events

Our initial trading model means we are closed on Sunday evening and all day Monday each week.

The evening commitment will be considerably lower than in a traditional restaurant or hotel kitchen, but applicants must be comfortable leading both daytime and evening services.

Optional additional paid work may also be available through Say Cheese Toasties and The Larder Table events.

THE PACKAGE

£35,000 guaranteed basic salary

Structured performance bonus of up to £8,000 per year

Potential earnings up to £43,000

Shared team tips on top

Staff meals while working

Wonky uniform provided

Workplace pension scheme available

Paid holiday entitlement

Genuine input into the menu and direction of the business

Opportunity to recruit and develop your own kitchen team

Access to additional paid event work if wanted

A direct working relationship with the chef-founder

The chance to join an independent hospitality brand at the very beginning

HOW THE BONUS WORKS

We don’t want to advertise a vague bonus that nobody understands or can realistically achieve.

The potential £8,000 annual bonus is divided into two clear parts.

QUARTERLY KITCHEN-PERFORMANCE BONUS

Up to £4,000 per year

Up to £1,000 will be available each quarter against clearly agreed kitchen targets, including:

Food quality and consistency

Gross profit and recipe discipline

Stock control and waste

Kitchen labour and productivity

Food-hygiene and allergen standards

Customer feedback

Team training, development and retention

The kitchen’s ability to operate successfully without constant owner intervention

ANNUAL BUSINESS-PERFORMANCE BONUS

Up to £4,000 per year

A further annual bonus will be available against clearly agreed café sales, profitability and overall business-performance targets.

All targets and the way they are measured will be agreed in writing. Progress will be reviewed openly throughout the year, so you will always understand what you are working towards and how the business is performing.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

You may already be an experienced Head Chef, or you could be a strong Sous Chef ready to take ownership of your first kitchen.

What matters most is that you are:

A strong and confident fresh-food chef

Organised, commercially aware and calm under pressure

Comfortable with menu development and recipe costing

Experienced in ordering, stock control and kitchen systems

Serious about food safety, allergens and cleanliness

Able to train and bring the best out of other people

Creative without making everything unnecessarily complicated

Ambitious without bringing ego into the kitchen

Comfortable working closely with an owner

Excited by community, collaboration and inclusive hospitality

Interested in building something rather than simply filling a vacancy

Experience in busy breakfast, brunch, café, bistro, Sunday lunch or high-volume fresh-food service would be valuable.

A Level 3 Food Safety qualification is preferred, although we can support the right candidate in completing this before opening.

ABOUT DANNY

You’ll work directly with chef and founder Danny Edwards, who has more than 23 years of hospitality experience.

Danny has cooked for Gordon Ramsay, the England football team and Chelsea FC, opened and led multiple restaurant and hotel kitchens, and built The Larder Table and Say Cheese Toasties.

Wonky brings that experience together in a completely new café and bistro concept: ambitious about its food, relaxed about everything else and committed to looking after people properly.

HOW TO APPLY

Send your CV and a short message explaining:

Why this role interests you

The kind of kitchen culture you believe in

What excites you about helping build a completely new concept

Email [email protected] with the subject:

HEAD CHEF — WONKY KETTLE

Formal qualifications and polished cover letters matter less to us than ability, attitude, leadership and shared values.

If you’re a brilliant chef who wants to help build a kitchen where the food matters and people matter just as much, we’d love to hear from you.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £35,000.00-£43,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• On-site parking

Application question(s):

• Understand that this role involves cooking fresh quality food, creating exciting specials and controlling costs and wastage.
• Are you able to commute or relocate to the DE6 Area for this role?

Experience:

• Cooking fresh quality food from scratch.: 5 years (required)

Language:

• English (required)

Licence/Certification:

• Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate (preferred)

Work authorisation:

• Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο (required)

Work Location: In person