Chef de Cuisine and Maître d’Hôtel

We are planning to open a small “Village Bistro” in West County and we are seeking a talented team of professionals for both front of the house as well as the culinary team. The 24-30 seat Bistro will be open Thursday through Sunday evening for dinner and Saturday and Sunday for lunch. The menu will be a weekly prix fixe with up to eight courses for dinner and four courses for lunch. There will be a small wine list and a wine pairing to accompany the menu. We plan on using 10-12 small producers from the Russian River AVA. The restaurant is undergoing minor renovations and is slated to be complete by March 16.

The following two positions are paramount to our mission. These two positions will determine the direction of our restaurant. The Chef de Cuisine and Maître d’Hôtel will be partners in the restaurant, starting with a small ownership percentage that will increase over time. A thorough understanding of restaurant profit and loss statements is beneficial but not essential. We will teach you how to manage expenses and achieve profitability. We encourage current sous chefs, lead line cooks, servers, banquet managers and captains to apply. We look forward to meeting you.

Chef de Cuisine
Our Chef de Cuisine will be responsible for creating and executing the weekly changing menu. The focus will be on the abundance of West County and all it has to offer. The vision is high quality seasonal ingredients, skillfully prepared and respected using traditional cooking methods. There will be an emphasis on preparing dishes in wood burning ovens already in place on the property. Our Chef de Cuisine will determine the direction of the menu.

Our Chef de Cuisine will work with a small team to create a memorable experience for our guests. This position requires the chef to be present daily to ensure we are “en place” for service. This is a working chef’s position, not a figurehead position. This individual must be able to lead a small team of professionals and motivate them to achieve the restaurant’s goals and objectives. Our Chef de Cuisine must be an excellent communicator with a clear vision of the menu. Creative, passionate, dedicated and professional will be the adjectives used to describe this person.

Our Chef de Cuisine will need to be able to talk to our guests and make the rounds in the dining room. Our restaurant will be very intimate and a connection with the chef is extremely important to the experience. This position will require a people-person. If you are shy and do not like to interact with your audience, this is not the right spot for you.

Maître d’Hôtel
Our Maître d’Hôtel will be the person in charge of every aspect of running the front of the house operation. It will be their job to oversee the service on a daily basis including the weekly changing wine pairings, creating a small wine list focused on no more than 12 producers from the Russian River, maintaining the standards of service for the entire team, ensuring we anticipate even the unexpressed wishes of our guests, train and motivate a small staff of professionals to rise to the restaurant’s standards to meet our goals and objectives.

Our Maître d’Hôtel will be a presence on the floor for every service. They will be the face of the restaurant and the primary contact for our guests. Their attention to detail will be crucial to our team’s success. They will oversee every detail of the dining room, from the initial contact with the guest to last goodbye. This is a working position with the expectation that our Maître d’Hôtel will be the conductor on the floor and play a critical role in the experience.

Our Maître d’Hôtel will be able to communicate effectively with our customers, the Chef de Cuisine and all co-workers in pursuit of our common goal. Our Maître d’Hôtel will need to be passionate about the wines of the Russian River and our chosen wine producers. Organized, knowledgeable, committed and dedicated will be the adjectives used to describe this person.

Our Chef de Cuisine and Maître d’Hôtel should be knowledgable about our west county community, so we would prefer you live locally. We would like to see you develop relationships with farmers, cheesemakers, fishermen, winemakers and the many artisans who call west county their home. Work / Life balance is extremely important to everyone’s well being. Remember, it takes a village.