Executive Chef

Pacific Hospitality Group•Napa, CA

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Chef leads all culinary operations at Meritage Resort & Spa, including restaurants, banquet and stewarding operations, catering, events, production areas, and specialty culinary operations. Reporting directly to the resort’s Director of Food & Beverage, this senior culinary leader establishes the resort’s culinary vision and standards while overseeing a team of approximately 100 culinary professionals. The role balances creative menu development and exceptional guest experiences with operational execution, food safety, team development, and financial performance. The Executive Chef oversees food quality, consistency, presentation, timing, and production across the resort. The role develops menus and culinary concepts suited to the Meritage Resort & Spa brand, Napa Valley, seasonal ingredients, resort guests, and local clientele. It also coordinates culinary planning and execution for weddings, conferences, meetings, galas, wine dinners, social events, tastings, and other large-scale resort programs. The position manages food and labor costs, purchasing, inventory, forecasting, production planning, budgeting, and departmental performance. It recruits and develops culinary employees and leaders, maintains safe and compliant kitchens, builds vendor relationships, and collaborates with restaurant, banquet, events, conference services, and resort leadership teams. The role requires a flexible schedule, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and extended hours according to operational and event demands. The position involves extended standing and walking, lifting up to 50 pounds, and work around commercial kitchen equipment, hot surfaces, sharp tools, chemicals, and other operational conditions.

Requirements

At least eight years of progressive culinary leadership experience in a luxury hotel, resort, convention center, or comparable high-volume culinary operation.
Previous experience as an Executive Chef or senior culinary leader overseeing multiple outlets or a large resort operation.
Demonstrated experience leading a culinary team of 75 or more employees, preferably across restaurants, banquet, and catering operations.
Experience managing multiple culinary outlets with different concepts, service styles, menus, and operational demands.
Demonstrated experience executing large-scale banquets, weddings, conferences, plated dinners, buffets, receptions, restaurant service, and special events.
Strong knowledge of restaurant operations, banquet production, catering, large-volume cooking, event timelines, kitchen logistics, and plated-meal execution.
Proven ability to create and implement culinary concepts, menus, recipes, standards, and operating systems.
Ability to lead a complex culinary operation while maintaining quality, consistency, presentation, and service timing.
Experience managing labor, scheduling, food costs, purchasing, inventory, waste, capital expenses, and departmental budgets.
Strong understanding of menu development, recipe costing, production planning, portion control, profitability, and operational execution.
Excellent leadership, organizational, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to prioritize multiple outlets, events, and changing demands while remaining calm and decisive under pressure.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build effective partnerships across culinary, restaurant, banquet, events, and resort leadership teams.
Experience recruiting, coaching, developing, and managing the performance of culinary employees and leaders.
Advanced knowledge of food safety, sanitation, workplace safety, allergens, and HACCP principles.
California Food Handler Card and ServSafe Manager Certification, or ability to obtain required certifications within the designated timeframe.
Availability to work a flexible schedule, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and extended hours based on operational and event demands.
Ability to stand and walk for extended periods; lift up to 50 pounds; and perform frequent bending, reaching, pushing, pulling, and repetitive movements.
Ability to work around hot cooking equipment, open flames, ovens, refrigerated storage areas, sharp tools, heavy equipment, loading areas, outdoor event spaces, and cleaning chemicals, and to wear required personal protective equipment.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of Napa Valley cuisine, seasonal ingredients, wine-focused dining, and contemporary hospitality trends.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, scheduling systems, purchasing platforms, point-of-sale systems, event management systems, and culinary costing tools.
Culinary degree or formal culinary education; preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Lead the overall culinary operation for all resort restaurants, banquet, and stewarding.
Direct, coach, schedule, and develop a culinary team of approximately 100 employees.
Establish and execute the resort’s culinary vision, standards, operating procedures, and strategic priorities.
Provide leadership across multiple restaurant kitchens, banquet kitchens, production areas, event spaces, and specialty culinary operations.
Partner with the Food & Beverage Director on annual operating plans, business strategies, revenue goals, and culinary priorities.
Maintain a visible leadership presence during restaurant service, banquet preparation, event execution, tastings, and high-volume production.
Oversee the quality, consistency, presentation, timing, and execution of food served throughout the resort.
Develop culinary concepts and menus reflecting the resort brand, Napa Valley, seasonal ingredients, and guest expectations.
Lead menu development for restaurants, banquets, seasonal activations, holiday programming, special events, VIP experiences, and promotions.
Review and approve menus, recipes, plating standards, photographs, production procedures, and portion-control guidelines.
Ensure menus are creative, operationally executable, financially responsible, and aligned with guest expectations.
Collaborate with restaurant leaders and culinary teams to maintain consistency across outlets and service periods.
Partner with Events, Banquets, and Conference Services to review event requirements, group resumes, banquet event orders, timelines, guarantees, menus, and special requests.
Lead culinary planning for weddings, conferences, executive meetings, galas, wine dinners, social events, and large-scale resort celebrations.
Plan, communicate, staff, and execute culinary requirements for events; oversee wedding and event tastings and ensure selections can be delivered at contracted guest counts and service levels.
Coordinate production across kitchens, restaurant outlets, event venues, outdoor spaces, and specialty locations.
Manage food cost through forecasting, purchasing, recipe costing, production planning, portion control, inventory management, and waste reduction.
Manage culinary labor through scheduling, productivity planning, overtime control, cross-utilization, and staffing adjustments based on business volume.
Establish staffing models and labor standards for restaurants, banquets, catering, special events, and seasonal activations.
Ensure proper ordering, receiving, labeling, storage, rotation, and organization of culinary products, using FIFO and food safety practices.
Establish and maintain inventory and par levels based on forecasts, menus, occupancy, event volume, and operational needs.
Review forecasts, event guarantees, production quantities, and business levels to reduce waste while ensuring adequate product availability.
Assist with annual budgeting, forecasting, capital planning, expense management, and financial performance reviews.
Review financial results and operating reports, identify variances, and develop plans to improve revenue, profitability, productivity, and guest satisfaction.
Recruit, interview, hire, onboard, train, coach, evaluate, and retain a high-performing culinary team.
Develop sous chefs, chefs de cuisine, supervisors, and cooks through feedback, cross-training, succession planning, and clear performance expectations.
Create career-development opportunities and a leadership pipeline for the culinary department.
Ensure employees are trained in recipes, cooking techniques, equipment, workplace safety, sanitation, allergens, food safety, and service standards.
Foster a culinary culture of accountability, respect, communication, collaboration, creativity, and continuous improvement.
Address employee performance, attendance, conduct, and workplace concerns promptly and consistently with resort leadership and People & Culture.
Ensure compliance with company policies, health department regulations, food safety requirements, sanitation standards, allergen protocols, and HACCP procedures.
Maintain clean, organized, efficient, and safe kitchens, storage areas, preparation spaces, and event locations.
Monitor kitchen equipment and facility conditions and promptly report maintenance needs, capital requirements, and safety concerns.
Develop vendor and supplier relationships and ensure purchasing supports quality, consistency, availability, and financial goals.
Participate in resort leadership meetings, menu reviews, tastings, event planning meetings, financial reviews, and strategic planning sessions.
Review guest feedback, restaurant reviews, planner comments, event scores, employee feedback, and operational results to identify improvement opportunities.
Support resort-wide culinary initiatives, holiday programming, community partnerships, high-profile events, and special projects.
Represent the culinary department and resort professionally with guests, clients, vendors, community partners, and industry contacts.
Serve as the resort’s senior culinary leader and provide direction and support when other culinary leaders are absent.
Perform additional leadership responsibilities as assigned to support the culinary department and resort.