Most kitchens ask you to cook one thing well. This one won't.
Robatary is Wakefield's Asia x The Americas bar and grill. At the centre of the kitchen is a robata charcoal grill, the Japanese fire pit that most chefs in Yorkshire have read about and never actually cooked on.
Around it, we run a menu that has no business working as well as it does. Katsu curry and Peruvian tacos on the same table. Korean fried chicken next to a 50oz tomahawk. Massaman curry, nasi goreng, gyoza, miso-glazed salmon, smash burgers, and on Sundays, proper Yorkshire puddings the size of side plates.
If you have ever felt boxed in by a menu, this is the opposite problem. We are looking for the chef who finds that exciting rather than terrifying.
What you will actually be doing
- Running the kitchen: sections, prep, ordering, stock, rotas and standards
- Cooking across three disciplines: Asian wok and fryer, American BBQ and smoke, and a proper steak section on charcoal
- Owning the numbers. Food GP, portion control, waste and supplier pricing. You will be given the costings and paid a bonus for protecting them
- Leading a sous chef and kitchen porter, and building the brigade out as we grow
- Writing the specials. Genuinely. If you want a dish on, put it on
- Working alongside an owner who is investing in this site and wants a chef with opinions, not an order taker
- Holding our 5 star Food Hygiene rating and keeping allergen management watertight
76 to 100 covers. Central Wakefield, two minutes from the Cathedral and walking distance from Westgate station.
The shifts, honestly
We are not going to pretend this is a nine to five, and we are not going to hide the rota until your first week either. This is the pattern:
- Monday: off, the restaurant is closed
- Tuesday: 3pm to 10pm, Steak Night
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: 2pm to 10.15pm
- Friday: 12pm to 10.30pm
- Saturday: 12pm to 10.30pm
- Sunday: 9am to 6.30pm
45 hours across five days. Two full days off every single week. Your sous chef covers weekday lunches and all of Wednesday.
Food service finishes at 9pm midweek and 9.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and the kitchen is cleaned down and shut by 10.30pm at the very latest. Sundays we take our last food orders at 6pm and you are out by 7pm. No 1am finishes. No split shifts. No being told your day off will happen when it quietens down.
What we need from you
Essential
- Head Chef, or a strong Sous Chef ready to step up
- Real experience across Asian cooking (wok, fryer, curry, rice and noodle work) or grill and BBQ. If you have both, we want to talk today
- You can cost a dish, read a GP sheet and tell us why a plate is losing money
- Calm on a Saturday night. Consistent on a Tuesday lunch
- Level 2 Food Safety as a minimum, Level 3 preferred
- Right to work in the UK
Nice to have
- Charcoal or robata experience
- Japanese, Korean, Thai or Malaysian background
- Butchery and fish skills
- You have opened or relaunched a menu before
The deal
- Salary of £36,000 to £40,000 depending on experience
- Bonus of up to £4,000 a year, paid quarterly on food gross profit. Full scheme shared at offer stage, no small print
- 45 hours across five days
- Mondays and Wednesdays off, every week
- 28 days holiday including bank holidays
- Meals on duty
- Workplace pension
- Staff discount across the restaurant and bar
We are part of WOWVI Group, an independent Wakefield business. You will not be reporting into a regional structure three counties away. You will be talking to the owner.
How to apply
Send a CV and a short note to [email protected].
Tell us one dish you would put on a menu that marries charcoal, Asia and the Americas. That is the whole application. We will read the dish before we read the CV.
Paid trial shift for every serious candidate. We are hiring now.
Robatary, 25 to 27 Northgate, Wakefield WF1 3BJ. robatary.co.uk
Pay: £36,000.00-£40,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
Work Location: In person
