Associate Cook

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Job Summary

The Athenaeum is a private membership club on the beautiful campus of Caltech in Pasadena, California. Caltech, founded in 1891, is a world-renowned center of scientific study that ranks among the best universities in the world.

The club was founded in 1930 as a gathering place for Nobel Laureates, faculty, and scholars to stimulate friendship and the exchange of ideas about science, art, and literature. Today, 90 years later, The Athenaeum continues to serve faculty, staff, students, and select community members as they gather to dine, celebrate, and entertain. The Athenaeum serves approximately 3,900 members, offering dining, private and special events, and lodging. The club is recognized as a “Platinum Club of America” confirming its place among the top 50 private clubs in the country.

The Associate Cook works under general supervision on semi-routine assignments where a fair amount of judgment is required in identifying and resolving moderately complex problems, and in preparing and cooking standard or specialty food items. Sets-up and sanitizes cooking areas, assists in menu development, and conducts inventories and stocking of supplies and ingredients. Performs work in accordance with Institute and regulatory agencies safety standards and practices.

This is an Organizational Critical position. In the event of an emergency on campus, an employee designated as organizational critical is expected to report to Campus as soon as possible to assist in division/department response and recovery efforts.

Essential Job Duties

• Perform and complete a full range of cooking skills as required for main dishes and side orders.
• Prepare and cook meats, fish, vegetables, gravies, sauces, cereal, soups, fruits, bakery products and other foods according to recipes or member orders.
• Cook from scratch or makes substitutions as requested.
• Correct recipes by making substitutions as needed; may create recipes.
• Clean and sanitize work areas and equipment according to protocol; deep-cleans equipment and work areas per schedule.
• Assure ServSafe compliance in assigned work area and/or kitchen.
• Prepare list of ingredients/supplies/items needed for next day according to menu offerings; may participate in menu planning.
• Ensure culinary staff and cooking stations are ready for mealtimes and/or special events in a timely manner.
• Make sure that all equipment in workstation is functioning properly.
• May provide leadership to other staff to ensure that all food is prepared according to recipes and menu offerings.
• Perform other related duties and responsibilities as required or assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Must have a culinary certificate and a minimum two years’ experience in a busy a la carte restaurant or at least three years relevant experience in a dine-in a la carte dining facility.
• Must have a valid current Food Handlers Card/ServSAFE or willingness and ability to obtain one within 30 days of employment.
• Must have the ability to lift and carry a minimum of 50 pounds of cooking utensils, cooking pots, cooking supplies and cooking ingredients repetitively throughout the day.
• Must have effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Must have the ability to perform basic mathematics: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and percentage conversion to decimals and count, as related to calculating or converting units of measure for determining proper amounts of food ingredients for large food production.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in high-end dining facility.

Required Documents

• Resume.