Executive Chef

# CHEF / COOK

### Full-Time Position

*Holy Cross Monastery West Park, New York*

Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, is seeking a dependable, skilled, and motivated **Chef / Cook** to join our guest house staff team. This position is ideal for someone who enjoys preparing wholesome meals in a peaceful and respectful environment. Unlike typical high-stress restaurant work, our kitchen serves a monastic community and retreat guests, offering a predictable schedule, a supportive atmosphere, and a strong focus on hospitality.

## POSITION DETAILS

* **Status:** Full-Time

* **Compensation:** $60,000 – $75,000 / year

* **Benefits:** Stable and friendly work environment, meals provided while on duty, and distinct opportunities for long-term stable employment.

## PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

### Culinary & Menu Planning

* **Meal Preparation:** Efficiently prepare and serve wholesome, high-quality lunches, dinners, and suppers for both the resident monastic community and scheduled retreat guests.

* **Menu Engineering:** Design well-balanced, appealing menus consisting of satisfying, standard comforting food, while adjusting scale dynamically to shifting guest tallies.

* **Dietary Accommodations:** Confidently handle and prepare nutritional alternative options for vegetarians, vegans, and individuals possessing specific medical, health, or lifestyle restrictions.

### Baking & Special Events

* **Daily Baking:** Produce fresh scratch bread, rolls, soups, salads, and foundational baked elements as components of standard daily service.

* **Holiday & Event Desserts:** Plan, bake, and craft excellent custom cakes, pastries, and holiday desserts tailored for special religious feasts, Saints' days, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and exceptional monastery celebrations.

### Kitchen Operations & Sanitation

* **Purchasing & Inventory:** Oversee prompt vendor ordering, check incoming freight deliveries, and track meticulous stock inventory counts to eliminate waste and optimize costs.

* **Food Safety Compliance:** Strict enforcement of all local health department protocols, safe holding temperatures, sanitary food handling, and accurate storage tracking.

* **Cleaning & Maintenance:** Maintain a hands-on approach to absolute kitchen cleanliness. Responsibilities include washing operational pots/pans, deep sanitizing work surfaces, cleaning commercial equipment, and maintaining a strictly ordered station.

## QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS

* **Professional History:** Proven foundational track record in professional culinary lines or commercial kitchen setups. Formal culinary certificates or degrees are strongly preferred.

* **Technical Depth:** Comprehensive capabilities in scratch production, baking routines, large batch soup/salad formulation, and independent menu execution.

* **Operational Values:** Highly reliable, deeply punctual, organized, and structurally equipped to work completely independently to direct daily kitchen flows.

* **Environmental Fit:** Must feel fully comfortable, respectful, and at ease operating inside a quiet, contemplative religious monastic environment, showing an accommodating, hospitable posture to all guests.

* **Physical Competence:** Able to stand for extended durations and safely lift/maneuver standard heavy kitchen ingredients or dry stock items.

* **Screening Mandates:** Candidates must provide verifiable professional references from prior employment.

> ### HOW TO APPLY

> Please submit your professional resume, a brief overview of your background, and contact information for your references to:

> **guestmaster@hcmnet.org**

>

Pay: $50,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person