Culinary Director

DeVita & Hancock Hospitality•Hempstead, NY

14d•Onsite

About The Position

We are leading a confidential search for a Culinary Director for a growing fast-casual restaurant group based on Long Island. This is a highly important culinary leadership role for someone who understands how to protect food quality, build scalable recipes, develop new menu items, and support a growing restaurant brand through both culinary creativity and operational discipline. This person will work alongside ownership. The ideal candidate must have a strong culinary background with deep knowledge of Italian cuisine and a strong understanding of taqueria-style food, Italian & Mexican inspired flavors, and fast-casual execution. This person must also be fluent in Spanish and Italian, as they will work closely with kitchen teams, vendors, ownership, and culinary leadership across multiple levels of the business. This role is not just about creating great food. It is about building food and beverage systems that can scale. Position Overview The Culinary Director will lead culinary strategy, food and beverage R&D, menu development, recipe standardization, product testing, training support, and BOH execution standards across current and future locations. This person must be able to balance creativity with consistency. The goal is to create exciting, craveable food and beverage offerings while making sure every item can be executed consistently in a high-volume, fast-paced restaurant environment. The right candidate will understand flavor, speed, prep systems, kitchen flow, training, vendor partnerships, and cost control.

Requirements

Culinary leadership experience in a multi-unit restaurant, fast-casual, QSR, or high-volume hospitality environment
Strong knowledge of Italian cuisine and Italian flavor profiles
Strong knowledge of taqueria-style food, Mexican-inspired cuisine, and bold fast-casual menu development
Fluent Spanish required
Fluent Italian required
Proven food and beverage R&D experience
Experience developing recipes, prep systems, and menu rollouts
Strong understanding of food cost, portion control, waste, yield, and vendor sourcing
Ability to train, coach, and support BOH leaders and kitchen teams
Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally with operations, training, vendors, and ownership

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting New Store Openings preferred
Creative but operationally grounded
Strong in food and beverage development
Comfortable in kitchens, not just behind a desk
Deeply knowledgeable in Italian cuisine
Comfortable working with taqueria-style and Mexican-inspired food
Strong in recipe standardization and execution
Able to train kitchen teams clearly and effectively
Focused on consistency, quality, and scalability
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, growing restaurant company
Able to protect the food while supporting growth

Responsibilities

Lead food and beverage R&D for current and future menu items
Develop new recipes, LTO's, seasonal items, and beverage programs
Build scalable recipes that can be executed consistently across multiple locations
Standardize recipe cards, prep procedures, portioning, plating, and build guides
Partner with operations leadership to ensure menu items work in real restaurant conditions
Train and support kitchen leaders on food quality, consistency, execution, and standards
Evaluate kitchen flow, prep systems, equipment needs, and product execution
Support New Store Openings from a culinary and BOH readiness standpoint
Work with vendors on product sourcing, testing, quality, availability, and cost
Monitor food quality, waste, yield, and theoretical food cost
Protect brand standards across taste, presentation, speed, cleanliness, and consistency
Help build a culinary system that supports long-term growth
Menu ideation
Recipe testing
Beverage development
Seasonal product development
LTO creation
Costing and yield testing
Product sourcing
Prep testing
Shelf-life testing
Operational execution testing
Training rollout support