Mash'd Hospitality Recruitment Agency
Head Chef
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Head Chef – Refined Italian Cuisine – New Opening - South Carmarthen - Coastal Location
5-Star Coastal Hotel Resort Estate & Spa – RELOCATION OPPORTUNITY - South Wales
Circa £53,000 DOE + Fully Expensed High-Quality Off-Site Accommodation
Rosette Experience Essential
Looking to create something of your own without having to open your own restaurant?
For the right Italian Head Chef, this is a rare opportunity: a new opening, genuine creative autonomy, serious backing, Rosette ambition and an extraordinary coastal lifestyle. If you have a partner that is happy to join you - suitable work can be found for them on the resort.
We are recruiting a Head Chef to lead an exciting new refined Italian restaurant opening within an established, high-end 5-star coastal resort estate in rural South Wales.
I visited the property recently and it is genuinely stunning. The setting and coastal views are exceptional, and for somebody looking to combine a serious career opportunity with a completely different quality of life, this is a very unusual proposition.
But this isn't simply a lifestyle move.
The Directors have significant ambitions for the restaurant and want to appoint a Head Chef capable of creating an Italian food offering that can operate comfortably above 1 Rosette level and develop considerably beyond that.
They aren't looking for somebody to inherit a corporate menu and execute somebody else's ideas.
They want a proven, creative Italian Head Chef who can help shape the identity of the restaurant: developing the menus, establishing standards, building and developing the brigade, working with excellent suppliers and creating food that gives guests a genuine reason to return.
The Opportunity
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This is a new opening, but it sits within a highly successful, established and well-financed multi million pound resort business.
You'll be working closely with a group of successful entrepreneurs who bring calm, consistent decision-making and proven commercial experience to the business. Their intention is to give the right Head Chef the backing, autonomy and resources to build something exceptional.
This will be a hands-on Head Chef appointment.
You'll lead from the front, but you'll also take ownership of the wider kitchen operation: suppliers - both UK & Italian, food quality, menu development, GP, purchasing, wastage, labour, recruitment, training, standards and consistency.
The F&B numbers are already significant and there is considerably more potential to unlock, so we're looking for somebody comfortable operating in a busy environment with multiple moving parts.
Who We're Looking For
We are looking for an accomplished Head Chef with a genuine background in high-quality Italian cuisine.
You could currently be working within a luxury hotel, destination restaurant, premium independent restaurant or high-quality Italian restaurant group.
What matters is the level at which you have operated and what you have personally delivered.
You should have:
- At least 3 years' proven experience operating at Head Chef level.
- Strong experience within refined Italian cuisine.
- Experience of operating at 1–2 Rosette level or a genuinely comparable standard.
- A strong understanding of ingredients, seasonality, provenance and menu development.
- Experience building, leading and developing high-performing kitchen teams.
- Strong commercial kitchen management skills, including GP, labour, purchasing and cost control.
- The ability to maintain quality and consistency within a substantial-volume operation.
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A stable career history demonstrating that you have stayed long enough to build teams, develop standards and make a measurable impact.
Above all, we're looking for somebody who still has fire in their belly. Perhaps you've reached the point where another corporate Head Chef role, another set of centrally dictated menus and another year of tick-box exercises simply isn't particularly exciting. Perhaps the next obvious step is a larger site or a group role – but neither is really what you want. Or perhaps you've considered opening your own restaurant because what you really want is the freedom to create something you're proud of.
This role offers another option.
The backing and security of an established, well-financed business, but with the autonomy and creative space to put your own stamp on a restaurant and build something for the long term.
The Package
Salary is negotiable around £53,000 + Bonus, depending on experience.
In addition, the successful Head Chef will receive high-quality long-term off-site accommodation which is fully expensed by the company, including household bills. We estimate the accommodation alone to have a rental value of approximately £1,500 per month / £18,000 per annum, making the overall package considerably more valuable than the headline salary suggests.
The Directors aren't looking for somebody for 12 months.
They want to make an appointment who can become central to the food strategy of the resort and remain part of the business for the long term.
If that sounds like the move you've been waiting for, send your CV across and we'll take a look.
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