JOB DESCRIPTIONHead Chef – Menu Development & Kitchen Operations

Company: Tastory Cafe
Location: Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra
Employment Type: Full time
Salary: depending on experience and practical skills
Experience Required: 4–7 years preferred
Joining: Immediate joiners preferred

About Tastory Cafe

Tastory Cafe is a modern cafe focused on delivering quality food, refreshing beverages and a memorable customer experience in a comfortable ambience.

We are looking for an experienced, creative and hands-on Head Chef who can help us establish a distinctive food identity, improve our existing menu and build a consistent, efficient kitchen operation.

This role is ideal for a chef who enjoys creating new dishes, experimenting with flavours, developing standardised recipes and building a strong kitchen team.

Role Overview

The Head Chef will take ownership of menu development, recipe standardisation, food quality, kitchen operations, costing and staff training.

The selected candidate must be capable of transforming food ideas into commercially viable menu items that are delicious, consistent, easy to execute and profitable.

We are looking for someone who can contribute both creatively and operationally—not just prepare food according to existing recipes.

Key Responsibilities

1. Menu Development and Innovation

- Develop a distinctive and commercially viable cafe menu.
- Create signature dishes that differentiate Tastory Cafe from competing cafes.
- Develop innovative snacks, loaded fries, grilled sandwiches, burgers, comfort foods and other suitable cafe products.
- Improve existing dishes based on customer feedback.
- Research current food trends and identify products suited to our target customers.
- Conduct product trials, tastings and recipe refinement.
- Recommend menu additions and removals based on demand, preparation complexity and profitability.

2. Recipe Development and Standardisation

- Create detailed standardised recipes for all approved menu items.
- Specify exact ingredient quantities in grams and millilitres.
- Standardise portion sizes, yields, cooking methods and preparation times.
- Define plating, garnishing, serving temperature and presentation standards.
- Prepare recipe cards and a kitchen recipe manual.
- Ensure every team member can reproduce the approved recipe consistently.
- Establish standard recipes for sauces, seasonings, marinades, fillings and other commonly used preparations.

3. Food Costing and Profitability

- Calculate the ingredient cost of every menu item.
- Prepare recipe-costing sheets and portion-cost calculations.
- Recommend selling prices based on ingredient cost, competition and customer expectations.
- Identify opportunities to improve margins without compromising quality.
- Monitor food wastage, portion control and ingredient consumption.
- Track changes in supplier prices and update recipe costing accordingly.
- Recommend profitable food and beverage combinations.

4. Kitchen Operations and Production Planning

- Organise daily kitchen operations and allocate responsibilities to team members.
- Establish preparation schedules for breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner.




- Plan ingredient preparation and batch production according to expected demand.
- Create daily mise en place and kitchen opening and closing checklists.
- Improve order turnaround time during peak hours.
- Coordinate with the service and billing teams to ensure smooth order execution.
- Maintain appropriate stock levels and reduce unnecessary inventory.
- Establish standard operating procedures for routine kitchen activities.

5. Staff Training and Team Management

- Train existing chefs, cooks and kitchen helpers in approved recipes and procedures.
- Conduct practical demonstrations and recipe assessments.
- Assign clear responsibilities to each kitchen team member.
- Monitor productivity, discipline and adherence to standards.
- Develop a cross-training plan so operations do not depend on one individual.
- Identify training requirements and recommend improvements.
- Build a professional, hygienic and accountable kitchen culture.

6. Food Quality and Customer Satisfaction

- Ensure consistency in taste, texture, portion size and presentation.
- Taste and inspect dishes before service where appropriate.
- Investigate customer complaints and implement corrective actions.
- Collect feedback from service staff and management.
- Maintain quality standards for dine-in, takeaway and online delivery orders.
- Ensure packaging protects food quality during delivery.

7. Hygiene, Safety and Compliance

- Maintain personal hygiene and kitchen cleanliness.
- Follow applicable food safety and FSSAI requirements.
- Ensure proper storage, labelling and stock rotation.
- Follow safe food handling, temperature control and allergen-management practices.
- Monitor cleaning schedules for equipment, utensils, refrigerators and preparation areas.
- Minimise cross-contamination and food spoilage.
- Maintain basic food safety and kitchen hygiene records.

8. Inventory and Vendor Coordination

- Prepare daily and periodic ingredient requirements.
- Monitor inventory, consumption and wastage.
- Coordinate with management on purchasing and supplier requirements.
- Check the quality and quantity of incoming ingredients.
- Recommend suitable ingredient specifications and alternative suppliers where appropriate.
- Prevent unnecessary purchases and excessive stock accumulation.

Required Skills and Qualifications

- Minimum 4 years of professional kitchen experience preferred.
- Previous experience in a cafe, QSR, casual dining restaurant or similar food business.
- Demonstrated experience in developing or improving menu items.
- Strong knowledge of Indian cafe food, snacks and suitable fusion preparations.
- Practical knowledge of recipe standardisation and food costing.
- Experience training and supervising kitchen staff.
- Good understanding of kitchen hygiene,



food safety and inventory management.
- Ability to work independently and make practical decisions.
- Creative approach to food development with strong attention to detail.
- Ability to work efficiently during busy service periods.

A culinary qualification or hotel-management background is desirable but not mandatory for a candidate who can demonstrate strong practical skills.

First 30-Day Objectives

The selected candidate will be expected to work towards the following deliverables:

Week 1: Kitchen and Menu Assessment

- Review the current menu and identify best-selling and underperforming items.
- Assess existing recipes, ingredients, equipment and kitchen workflow.
- Identify immediate food-quality and consistency improvements.

Week 2: Recipe Development

- Develop and test priority signature products.
- Improve selected existing dishes.
- Document approved recipes, portion sizes and preparation procedures.

Week 3: Costing and Team Training

- Complete recipe-costing sheets for approved menu items.
- Train existing staff on the standardised recipes.
- Introduce preparation schedules and quality-control checklists.

Week 4: Implementation and Review

- Ensure the kitchen team can independently reproduce approved dishes.
- Review food quality, preparation time, wastage and customer feedback.
- Submit recommendations for menu improvements and kitchen efficiency.

The exact number of recipes and deliverables will be agreed upon during onboarding based on the existing menu and kitchen capacity.

Performance Evaluation

Performance will be assessed on:

- Consistency of taste and presentation.
- Quality and commercial viability of newly developed products.
- Completion and accuracy of standardised recipe cards.
- Accuracy of food costing and portion control.
- Successful training of the existing kitchen team.
- Reduction in avoidable wastage.
- Kitchen organisation, hygiene and service efficiency.
- Customer feedback and sales performance of approved new products.

Working Conditions

- Full-time, on-site position at Tastory Cafe, Hadapsar, Pune.
- Working hours and weekly off will be agreed upon during hiring in line with cafe operating requirements and applicable labour regulations.
- The candidate must be comfortable with practical cooking, recipe trials and hands-on kitchen supervision.
- Compensation will depend on experience, demonstrated skills and agreed responsibilities.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should share:

- Updated CV.
- Total years of kitchen experience.
- Current and expected monthly salary.
- Notice period and earliest joining date.
- Previous experience in menu development and recipe costing.
- Examples of dishes or menus they have developed, where available.
- Current location and willingness to work in Hadapsar, Pune.

Tastory Cafe is looking for a chef who can do more than cook. We want someone who can help us build a distinctive menu, create repeat customers and establish a kitchen that consistently delivers excellent food.

Pay: ₹20,000.00 - ₹30,000.00 per month

Benefits:

- Food provided

Work Location: In person

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