Cook(COOK)

University of California - Davis, CA

Part-time - Entry Level

Davis, CA

10,001+ employees

Educational Services

About the position

The Cook position at the University of California Davis involves preparing a variety of food items to high standards of taste, quality, and appearance. The role requires working independently to create meals from scratch, maintaining cleanliness and safety in the kitchen, and ensuring excellent customer service. The Cook will also be responsible for menu preparation for special events and will interact with both internal and external customers, demonstrating professionalism and enthusiasm.

Responsibilities

• Cook all food assigned to standards of excellent taste, quality & appearance.
• Prepare food from scratch including entrees, starches, vegetables, gravies & sauces, soups, breads, desserts, etc.
• Work independently preparing entrees & following recipes & menus & batch cooking guidelines without direction.
• Maintain unit standards for product quality, service, cleanliness, communication, training & work order flow.
• Prepare menus for special events or meals.
• Continuously monitor & receive customer orders, read tickets, monitor ticket times, communicate when assistance is needed for timely completion of orders.
• Receive & review incoming shipments, & confirm quality & safety of product entering the facility, as well as accurate product delivery & invoicing.
• Interact with internal & external customers by demonstrating professionalism, enthusiasm & integrity.
• Guide, delegate, & collaborate a wide range of tasks to student assistants.
• Keep work area clean & debris free.
• Identify & correct hazards.
• Ensure compliance with State & Federal Sanitation Guidelines.
• Perform full range of kitchen cleaning.
• Maintain security of Unit equipment and supplies.

Requirements

• Three years of experience in food preparation and general maintenance of a kitchen area; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience providing excellent customer service in a fast-paced food environment.
• Culinary experience and/or equivalent training in a high-volume, fast-paced food production environment.
• Experience with culinary techniques, including but not limited to: sauteing, grilling, frying, steaming, and preparing sauces and stocks.
• Experience to maintain a sanitary, safe and organized personal work area.
• Skill to prepare complex recipes and perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Knowledge of cuisines from varying customer bases, including Regional American, Asian, Italian and Mexican, Vegetarian, Vegan.
• Skills to communicate in English, both orally and in written form to understand and carry out oral and written instructions and interact effectively with co-workers, supervisors and guests.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience to taste and discern product quality, read and interpret recipes and menus, estimate ingredient requirements, check production and keep records to accurately plan production requirements and request supplies and equipment.
• Experience reading, interpreting and delivering food product based on customer orders.
• Arithmetic skills to increase or decrease recipe yields and to convert standard culinary measurements.
• Skill to check recipes, recognize problems and make corrections as needed.
• Knowledge of UC policies and procedures.
• Interpersonal skills to work effectively with and provide excellent customer service to a diverse campus community; communication skills to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships.
• Problem solving skills to troubleshoot problems as they arise, find alternate solutions, and implement solutions in a professional and efficient manner.
• Knowledge of proper procedures for lifting, handling broken glass and skill to use wet floor signs when mopping floors or cleaning up spills.
• Skill to verify proper concentration of sanitized solution using test strips.