Head Development Chef

About Lina Stores

Lina Stores has been London's home of Italian food since 1944, starting as a deli on Brewer Street, Soho. Today it spans restaurants, delis and a growing retail and wholesale business, all built on fresh pasta made by hand at Lina Cucina, our Wimbledon food hub.

The role

A hands-on role, for a chef who is passionate about Italian food, developing Lina Stores pasta from the development bench to the restaurant plate. Your focus:

• Menu changes developing and supporting seasonal and core menu changes across restaurants and delis

• Innovation developing traditional handmade pasta shapes, ravioli and new dishes, sauces and products for restaurants, delis, retail and wholesale

• Customer interaction Weekly daytime and evening pasta workshops in the Brewer Street Deli and Restaurants showcasing our handmade pasta

Key responsibilities

• Create, test and refine new dishes, menus, specials and deli products, and evolve existing ones for quality and margin

• Present new dishes at regular tastings with the Culinary Director and senior team

• Track trends, Italian regional cooking and new ingredients; test products with suppliers

• Cost recipes to target GP and manage yields, waste and portion control

• Keep recipes, specifications and allergen information accurate in our recipe system, including PPDS labelling for deli and retail products

• In house training and upskilling of the Lina Stores Pasta Team

• Prepare and style food for photoshoots and marketing launches

About you:

• Senior chef with real pasta making skill

• Strong Italian cooking experience

• Highly organised with close attention to detail

• Familiar with recipe and stock management systems; comfortable with Excel and recipe costing

• Confident presenting to guests; experience running demos, classes or customer-facing events a plus

• Level 3 Food Safety (or willing to achieve it) and strong allergen knowledge

What we offer

• Work-life balanced hours: 5 days a week across Mon–Sat, every Sunday off

• 28 days holiday and company pension

• Staff meals and dining discount across Lina Stores restaurants and delis

• Progression within a growing hospitality group

• Up to 10% bonus of yearly salary, discretionary, subject to achieving KPIs.