Household Dietary Cook

Carolina Meadows•Chapel Hill, NC

About The Position

The Household Dietary Cook prepares, cooks, and finishes meals; cleans the satellite kitchen; and delivers meals to Health Center residents daily. The role supports residents in selecting food, maintains inventory, and follows applicable state and federal regulations and Dining Services policies and procedures. Other reasonably related department duties may be assigned by management. The position maintains household and satellite kitchens, including stocking supplies, organizing snacks and checking expiration dates, completing sanitation and cleaning tasks, and documenting required cleaning and food-service records. It assists with meal counts, production sheets, inventory, and receiving and stocking supplies, and may train new staff. The cook prepares meals and snacks according to standardized recipes, production sheets, and residents’ nutritional needs. Duties include checking tray accuracy, maintaining food temperatures and sanitary conditions, portioning food and beverages, addressing shortages with nutritionally equivalent or better substitutions, storing and labeling leftovers, preparing the kitchen for subsequent meal periods, and assisting with special-party setup in the Health Center.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
One to three years of dietary experience in service and nutrition, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Ability to apply common-sense understanding to carry out written and oral instructions.
High-quality verbal and written communication skills.
Strong customer service skills.
Knowledge of state and federal regulations.

Responsibilities

Prepare, cook, and finish meals for Health Center residents, including breakfast and selected lunch and dinner items, following standardized recipes and production sheets.
Ensure trays are accurate and meet residents’ nutritional needs; prepare garnishes and portion food and beverages according to dietary requirements.
Maintain proper food temperatures and sanitary conditions while preparing and serving food.
Prepare supplemental snacks for the nurse’s station according to residents’ dietary needs.
Correct meal shortages with substitutions of equal or greater nutritional value and report substitutions to the Dietary Supervisor.
Complete kitchen prep work and restock coolers, freezers, and carts for the next meal period.
Store leftovers in appropriate containers, label them with the correct date, time, and intended use or meal period, and refrigerate or freeze them.
Clean the steam table after each meal and maintain sanitation in work areas and the satellite kitchen.
Stock, clean, and check household kitchens; keep snacks organized and verify they are within expiration dates.
Complete cleaning and sanitation of place settings, silverware, floors, and equipment according to the cleaning checklist, and sign off on completed cleaning.
Ensure dietary operations meet Dining Services standards and applicable state and federal health regulations; report problems to the Dietary Supervisor, Dining Services Director, or Nutrition Care Manager as needed.
Assist the Nutritional Manager with meal counts and production sheets by tallying and entering data into the meal tracking system.
Maintain daily records and reports, including meal tallies, tray temperature reports, test trays, and refrigerator temperature reports.
Complete daily inventory of satellite kitchen supplies, notify the Nutritional Care Manager of needs, and receive and stock inventory as appropriate.
Act as a trainer for new staff.
Assist with setup of special parties in the Health Center.
Perform other reasonably related department functions as assigned by management.