Executive Sous Chef
Mohamed Naser Al-Hajery & Sons Company (MNH)
مجموع سنوات الخبرة :9 years, 2 أشهر
Accomplishments:
• Head-hunted to command the Central kitchen (Food Production-Catering) & Ala Carte restaurants:
o Solia Restaurant (Mediterranean Cuisine).
o Khaneen Restaurant (Kuwaiti Cuisine).
o Emirgan Sutis & Hatay Sofrasi (Turkish Cuisine),
o Mia Restaurant (Mediterranean cuisine)
o Danish Bakery (Central Kitchen Bakery, Pastry & Catering).
• Instrumental in leading a truly inspiring, overarching new vision and mission for the company.
• Under my leadership the Restaurants achieved all committed budgets.
• Recognized for top-notch culinary expertise- bringing in innovation, ideas, and USP recipes development as well as variations in dishes.
Key Responsibilities:
• Partnering with the Executive Chef for overall kitchen operation as a successful independent profit center, ensuring maximum guest satisfaction, planning, organizing, directing and controlling the kitchen operation and administration.
• Owning P&L accountability & big picture strategy that builds businesses, drives missions, generating positive ROI deliverables and measurable market leadership and growth.
• Subject Mater Expert (SME), planning and managing food production in a large central kitchen.Establishing and implementing SOPs for the production department.
• Analyzing & strategically designing menu with aim to increase restaurants’ bottom-line profit.
• Acted as a thought partner and strategist to the Executive Chef, assisted in establishing both strategic and operational goals and objectives for all Outlets. Tracking market needs and desires for each outlet and ensuring that the menus are developed to reflect those needs.
• Supporting and driving revenue growth and profitability through food cost analysis. Administering the short and long-term planning of the F&B controlling and pricing aspects.
• Ensuring that all recipes and product yields are accurately costed and reviewed regularly.
• Providing the Sous Chef with daily market list for her/his outlet and controls personally all goods received, in order to guarantee the quality and quantity. Maintaining sufficient stock to meet the volume of business with minimum wastage.
• Empowering staff through trainings. Building a high performing team by identifying areas of improvement & implementing measures to enhance performance level of multi-cultural team.
Designation Chronology:
• January 2016 - February 2017: Head Chef, Jabriyah_ Kosibasi Central Kitchen .
• July 2014 - January 2016: Kitchen Sous Chef (Ala Cart), Jabriyah _Tavern Mall .
• May 2014 - June 2014: Kitchen Sous Chef, Arabella Mall .
• September 2013 - April 2014: Kitchen Sous Chef, Avenues Mall, Kosebasi Restaurant (Turkish Restaurant) (Ala Carte).
Accomplishments:
• Hand-selected as Head Chef and entrusted with commanding 4 branches of Kosibasi restaurants -the first upscale Turkish steakhouse in Kuwait as well as the central kitchen.
• Successfully led opening of the new central kitchen of Kosebasi restaurants in Kuwait.
• F&B industry’s leading visionary, entrusted to handle opening new branch in Jabriyah Tavern mall 2.
• Significantly contributed to the innovative menus with current market trends in F&B arena.
• Offered game-changing insights for resolving challenges, enhancing bottom-line.
Key Responsibilities:
• Presided over day-to-day operations, including recipe development, food cost analysis and shouldering onus for P&L management.
• Orchestrating day to day operations of the culinary teams with active presence on the floor by leading the team to deliver service excellence.Controlled and directed the food preparation process. Organized/set up the kitchen as efficiently as possible to increase speed productivity.
• Led food cost management through smart menu design and portion control.
• Bought unrivalled analytic horsepower and strategic thinking to business- created new ideas, identified, and mitigated costs, resulting to increasing bottom line revenues.
• Proficient in building powerful and profitable menus, conducted an analysis of menu engineering and identified the fast- and slow-moving items and recommended alterations.
• Checked all orders from kitchen to ensure they are prepared to a consistently high standard.
• Liaised with the suppliers and followed up all the orders from the suppliers. Ensured availability of raw ingredients at all times, by proper planning, requisitioning and storage.
• Planned the orders of equipment or ingredients according to identified shortages. Ensured all the raw material received in the hotel for preparation is of high quality, as per organizational standards and product specifications.
• In charge of hiring, managing and training kitchen staff.Brainstormed, identified, and planned for the present and future training required by analyzing data from guest feedback, associate feedback, SOPs and brand standards not actioned.
• Enforced compliance with nutrition and sanitation regulations and safety standards.
• Directed all kitchen operations. Contributed to menu creation and managed training of the kitchen brigade to deliver an excellent Guest experience while managing food cost controls.
• Partnered with restaurant management team on supply ordering, budget, and kitchen efficiency and staffing.
• Superintended and guided a dynamic team of junior kitchen staff members, including, but not limited, to line cooking, food preparation, and dish plating.
• Oversaw/organized kitchen stock & ingredients. Ensured that a first-in, first-out food rotation system and verifies all food products are properly dated and organized for quality assurance.
• Ensured training programs geared towards ongoing development of superior workforce and cultivating managers with a strong emphasis on company culture and mission.
• Managing food and product ordering by keeping detailed records and minimizes waste, plus works with existing systems to improve waste reduction and manage budgetary concerns.
Previous Professional Experiences:
• October 2011 - January 2013: Sous-Chef, Aubergine restaurant Salmiya, Kuwait Lebanese Restaurant (Ala Cart)
• Holiday Inn Hotel Salmiya, Kuwait
• June 2011 - Sep 2011: Chef De Partie, AyamZaman (Ala Cart)/Lebanese Restaurant
• May 2010 - May 2011: Chef De Partie, Banquet & Buffet/ Cold Arabic kitchen
Technical Baccalaureate Degree in Culinary Arts-Food Production, Al-Nabatieh Technical Institute Nabatieh, Lebanon, 2008