Head Chef - Fine Dining

Harvest in the Gardens (HITG) — Nassau, Bahamas

Where Culinary Craft Meets Exceptional Hospitality

Harvest in the Gardens (HITG) is a multi-concept destination where exceptional dining, entertainment, retail, community, and genuine hospitality come together to create memorable experiences.

At the heart of our fine-dining experience is a commitment to exceptional food, disciplined execution, thoughtful presentation, and service that makes every guest feel genuinely cared for.

We’re seeking an experienced and highly skilled Head Chef - Fine Dining to lead the culinary execution of our fine-dining operation and build a kitchen culture grounded in excellence, consistency, accountability, and development.

Reporting directly to the Culinary & Supply Chain Director, the Head Chef - Fine Dining is responsible for translating culinary strategy into exceptional daily execution while protecting food quality, guest satisfaction, food cost, kitchen productivity, and team performance.

About the Role

The Head Chef - Fine Dining provides hands-on leadership for HITG’s fine-dining culinary operation.

This role is responsible for kitchen execution, preparation, service standards, culinary team leadership, recipe compliance, plating consistency, ticket times, food safety, inventory stewardship, waste reduction, and financial performance.

The Head Chef - Fine Dining is expected to maintain a strong presence on the kitchen floor, particularly during service, and to ensure every plate leaving the kitchen consistently meets Harvest standards.

Key Responsibilities

Fine Dining Culinary Execution

• Lead daily culinary operations for HITG’s fine-dining restaurant.

• Ensure the kitchen is fully prepared, staffed, stocked, and organized before each service.

• Lead preparation and execution during lunch, dinner, private dining, and special service periods as applicable.

• Maintain strong leadership presence on the line during active service.

• Coordinate kitchen workflow to ensure efficient and accurate execution.

• Maintain consistency regardless of service volume.

• Address operational challenges quickly and decisively.

• Ensure opening, shift-transition, and closing standards are followed.

Food Quality & Presentation

• Ensure all food is prepared, cooked, portioned, plated, and presented according to approved recipes and standards.

• Maintain exceptional consistency in flavour, temperature, portioning, presentation, and freshness.

• Conduct regular quality checks before and during service.

• Protect the culinary identity and standards of IronWood Steakhouse.

• Reinforce proper culinary techniques throughout the kitchen brigade.

• Address quality concerns immediately.

• Support menu testing, refinement, seasonal changes, and culinary development in partnership with the Culinary & Supply Chain Director.

Ticket Times & Service Execution

• Monitor kitchen ticket times throughout service.

• Ensure food is prepared and delivered within established service-time standards.

• Identify bottlenecks affecting kitchen flow and implement corrective action.

• Coordinate timing across kitchen stations to ensure complete tables are delivered consistently.

• Work closely with the Full Service Restaurant Manager to maintain seamless front- and back-of-house execution.

• Review recurring delays and develop practical solutions to improve service efficiency.

Food Cost & COGS Management

• Actively monitor Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and food-cost performance.

• Maintain food cost within established targets.

• Monitor recipe adherence, portion control, product yields, and ingredient usage.

• Identify over-portioning, excessive production, spoilage, waste, and other cost variances.

• Implement corrective action when food cost exceeds expectations.

• Maintain strong controls over premium and high-value ingredients.

• Partner with the Culinary & Supply Chain Director and Finance to review cost performance and significant variances.

• Protect profitability without compromising culinary quality.

Inventory, Waste & Product Stewardship

• Maintain accurate kitchen inventory controls.

• Participate in and oversee scheduled inventory counts.

• Investigate material inventory variances.

• Monitor stock levels and communicate replenishment needs.

• Ensure proper receiving, storage, labeling, dating, and rotation.

• Enforce FIFO and established inventory-control procedures.

• Track food waste, spoilage, trim loss, and unusable product.

• Identify recurring waste trends and implement corrective action.

• Protect high-value proteins, seafood, specialty products, and other premium ingredients.

Kitchen Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, develop, and hold the fine-dining culinary team accountable.

• Conduct daily pre-shift culinary briefings.

• Communicate menu changes, reservations, specials, VIP requirements, service expectations, and operational priorities.

• Coach team members during active service.

• Develop technical culinary skills throughout the kitchen brigade.

• Reinforce teamwork, discipline, professionalism, cleanliness, and accountability.

• Support onboarding and training of new culinary team members.

• Identify high-potential team members and support succession development.

• Address performance concerns promptly and constructively.

• Partner with People & Talent on performance, employee relations, training, and development matters as required.

Labour & Productivity

• Deploy culinary team members effectively based on reservations and projected demand.

• Monitor kitchen labour productivity.

• Ensure schedules and staffing levels support operational requirements.

• Manage breaks and station coverage effectively.

• Identify productivity gaps and improve kitchen workflow.

• Support achievement of established culinary labour targets.

Food Safety & Sanitation

• Maintain rigorous food-safety and sanitation standards.

• Ensure proper food temperatures, storage, labeling, handling, and allergen practices.

• Maintain clean and organized refrigerators, freezers, dry storage, preparation areas, and cooking stations.

• Conduct regular kitchen inspections.

• Maintain required food-safety records and documentation.

• Address food-safety concerns immediately.

• Ensure culinary team members consistently comply with established sanitation procedures.

Guest Experience

• Recognize that culinary execution is a critical part of the overall Harvest guest experience.

• Respond quickly to food-quality concerns or special requests.

• Partner with restaurant leadership to understand guest feedback.

• Support dietary and allergy accommodations according to established procedures.

• Use guest feedback and operational data to continuously improve culinary execution.

Key Deliverables & Performance Indicators

Performance will be measured through key culinary, financial, operational, guest, and people results, including:

• Food quality and plating consistency

• Guest satisfaction relating to food

• Kitchen ticket times

• Order accuracy

• Food Cost %

• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

• Recipe and portion-control compliance

• Product yields

• Inventory accuracy

• Inventory variances

• Waste and spoilage

• Premium-product controls

• Menu availability

• Kitchen readiness

• Food-safety and sanitation compliance

• Culinary labour productivity

• Team training and development

• Operational audit results

The Head Chef - Fine Dining is expected to understand these results, identify trends and significant variances, and take timely corrective action in partnership with the Culinary & Supply Chain Director.

Reporting Structure

Reports To

Culinary & Supply Chain Director

Works Closely With

• Full Service Restaurant Manager

• Food Experience Manager

• Head Chef - Banquet & Central Kitchen

• Café & Retail Team Lead

• Outdoor Food Experience Team Lead

• Events & Experiences Team

• Venue Services

• People & Talent

• Finance

• IT & Systems

Provides Culinary Leadership To

• Sous Chefs

• Line Cooks

• Prep Cooks

• Kitchen Assistants

• Other assigned culinary team members

Required Qualifications

• Formal culinary education, professional culinary certification, or equivalent professional training preferred.

• Minimum of five (5) years of progressive culinary experience.

• Previous experience in a Head Chef, Executive Sous Chef, Senior Sous Chef, or comparable culinary leadership role.

• Demonstrated experience in fine-dining or premium restaurant operations.

• Strong knowledge of culinary techniques, kitchen systems, food safety, and service execution.

• Demonstrated understanding of food cost, COGS, inventory, waste, portion control, and kitchen productivity.

• Strong leadership, coaching, communication, and organizational skills.

• Ability to maintain exceptional standards during high-volume service.

• Ability to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and special events as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous steakhouse or premium dining experience.

• Experience working with premium proteins and high-value ingredients.

• Food Safety Manager certification or equivalent.

• Experience with recipe-costing and inventory-management systems.

• Experience developing culinary team members and kitchen leaders.

• Experience opening or supporting the opening of a new restaurant.

What Success Looks Like

Success means:

• Every plate consistently reflects Harvest’s culinary standards.

• Ticket times support a polished and seamless guest experience.

• Food cost and COGS remain within established expectations.

• Premium ingredients are carefully controlled and responsibly utilized.

• Inventory is accurate and waste is minimized.

• The kitchen remains prepared, organized, clean, and service ready.

• Food-safety standards are maintained consistently.

• Culinary team members demonstrate skill, professionalism, teamwork, and accountability.

• Guest feedback reflects strong satisfaction with food quality and consistency.

• Operational concerns are identified and corrected before they negatively affect the guest experience.

Join the Team

If you are an accomplished culinary leader who thrives in a fine-dining environment, takes pride in developing talented kitchen teams, and understands the balance between culinary creativity and disciplined execution, we’d love to hear from you.

Join Harvest in the Gardens as our Head Chef - Fine Dining and help create a dining experience where exceptional ingredients, disciplined execution, and genuine hospitality come together on every plate.