Description
As a Seasonal Chef Instructor at Sur La Table, you are the in-store expert and advocate for the culinary arts, with a specialty in savory cooking, pastry and baking, or both.
Key Responsibilities:
- Customer Experience & Brand Representation: Represent Sur La Table’s brand and culture by creating memorable, educational experiences that inspire repeat visits and customer loyalty.
- Deliver exceptional in-store culinary experiences through savory, pastry, and baking classes that reflect Sur La Table’s passion for food, teaching, and high standards.
- Communicate technical cooking concepts, savory techniques, and pastry skills in a clear, encouraging, and approachable manner.
- Maintain expertise by staying current on products, actively engaging in available training, and independently seeking out additional resources.
- Sales & Business Performance: Drive sales by upholding kitchen standards, encouraging second class sign-ups through strong customer engagement, and promoting retail items used or featured in class.
- Deliver class revenue goals by ensuring high enrollment, positive reviews, and guest return rates.
- Consistently meet or exceed culinary program goals by delivering exceptional classes that drive customer engagement and sales.
- Team Engagement & Store Support: Assist in setting up and breakdown of classes including organizing mise en place, prepping ingredients, and cleaning workstations.
- Clean and sanitize dishes and equipment promptly to ensure smooth kitchen operations.
- Assist with restocking, organizing, and maintaining kitchen supplies and tools to support overall store readiness.
- Operations & Compliance: Ensure compliance with food safety standards, local health codes, and sanitation regulations.
- Properly handle all tools, ingredients, and kitchen equipment to maintain a safe and efficient work environment.
- Maintain accurate inventory levels, minimize shrink, and control supply and culinary expenses.
Physical Requirements:
- Ability to communicate verbally and work cooperatively with associates and customers.
- Ability to remain standing for up to 4 hours at a time.
- Ability to move about the store directing class participants while selling to customers and retrieving merchandise from stockroom or sales floor.
- The capability to accurately perceive and differentiate variations in intensity or quality of flavors or odors, or to identify specific tastes or scents using the tongue or nose.
- Ability to grab, reach, push, pull, bend, stoop, kneel and crouch to demonstrate, retrieve and/or replenish merchandise and/or cooking equipment.
- Ability to use hands to seize, hold, grasp, turn, or otherwise to chop, whisk, slice, stir, juice and/or demonstrate other techniques.
- Ability to lift and/or move merchandise weighing up to 50 lbs.
- Ability to ascend/descend ladders to retrieve and/or move merchandise.
- Ability to operate a computer, POS system, keyboards, merchandise scanners and mouse to accomplish work.
- Available to work between 12 and 16 hours per week, with a flexible schedule, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
Qualifications & Experience:
- Must be 21 years of age or older at the time of employment.
- A degree in culinary arts is preferred; however, candidates with extensive culinary experience and demonstrated technical proficiency will be considered in lieu of formal education.
- Demonstrated proficiency in savory cooking, pastry and baking, or both.
- 1-2 years of kitchen operations experience.
- Valid Food Manager Certification.
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
- Passion for community engagement and providing exceptional customer experiences.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
Associate Perks:
- 401K after 90 days; must be 21 years of age
- Employee Discount