Company Overview
A Lounge is a neighborhood café-bar combining elements of a restaurant, British pub and coffee shop culture, with a unique ‘home-from-home’ atmosphere. Featuring a diverse menu, Lounges are open all day, every day for long lazy breakfasts, brunch and lunch, or a relaxed dinner and drinks. We serve a wide range of food and drinks (including full kid’s, gluten-free and vegan menus), served in a relaxed, welcoming space. Each Lounge is driven by an independent culture and focus on their local communities. As of February 2024, there are over 200 Lounges nationwide, yet each represents something different to different people. For some it is somewhere to go for a coffee after the school run; for others it is a place to catch up with friends; a place for an informal meal, a celebration or a night out. 90 per cent. of Lounge customers visit for multiple occasions. Lounge was founded in 2002 by a trio of longstanding friends, Dave Reid, Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop – now, over 20 years on, our focus on hospitality, comfort and familiarity remains at the heart of our Lounges, and it’s our wonderful teams and customers that make what we do so special.
You love real cooking. We love real cooking. Customers love real cooking. It’s a no-brainer so you wonder why so many other places don’t do it. We do it, and you’ll be doing it with us – fresh, customer led, and with high-quality ingredients. As Sous Chef, you’ll be the Head Chefs’ go-to for support, leading and engaging the kitchen team to deliver 14 great shifts week in, week out.
You’ll be leading shifts, making sure the kitchen runs effectively and safely. You’re as relentless as us about the detail, so you’ll be all over things like stocks, Health & Safety and Hygiene, manning the pass to ensure our food goes out on-spec and on-time, and always upholding 5* kitchen standards. You’ll be on it. Like a chef’s bonnet
The Good Stuff
- Overtime pay for every hour worked over contracted hours!
- Staff food on every shift
- 50% off staff discount to enjoy outside working hours from day one
- Paid breaks
- 28 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays) pro rata
- Enhanced maternity and paternity pay after 2 years service
- The most talked-about staff party in hospitality – Loungefest!
- Competitions and incentives (like jetting off on an all expenses paid trip with one of our suppliers)
- Company pension scheme
- Long service awards
- Power over your pay with Wagestream
- Emotional and practical support via the Licenced Trade Charity
- Great opportunity for personal development and career progression in a fast growing business
- Achievable bonuses
- Tips shared equally across the team, based on hours worked
- Christmas and Boxing Day off!
What You’ll Bring
- You are probably an existing Sous Chef, or perhaps a Junior Sous Chef/Assistant Kitchen Manager that is looking to take the next step in their career.
- You will have experience of working with fresh ingredients and be able to demonstrate good chef/kitchen skills (food prep hot and cold, cleaning, knife skills, good hygiene practices)
- Your work ethic is rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in and leading from the front; playing an active role in delivering excellent kitchen and food standards as part of a high performing team.
- Extremely driven and relentless at deconstructing the can’t mentality.
- Familiar with KPIs and making decisions in the absence of the Head Chef considering labour; stock; food safety requirements plus others.
- Epic communication skills with the ability to manage stakeholders and build rapport and trust (that would be with our Ops Chefs and Ops Managers).
- Strong knowledge of best practice around rota scheduling, sales and labour forecasts, reporting, recruitment, HR etc.
- You will have demonstrated successful delivery of training and recruitment for kitchen teams including Apprentices, KPs, Chefs, Junior Sous Chefs and Sous Chefs.
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