Chef Placed

Director of Culinary Operations, Grey Oaks Country Club, Naples, FL

Director of Culinary Operations, Grey Oaks Country Club, Naples, FL

Grey Oaks is a meticulously planned and highly acclaimed residential gated community, home to Grey Oaks Country Club, the premier club in Naples. The club’s impressive facilities include two clubhouses and three championship golf courses.  It is an inviting blend of elegance, congeniality, and superb service provided by a personable caring staff. The Club is the ideal centerpiece to the membership experience at Grey Oaks providing professional service, warm hospitality, social opportunities, and recreational amenities.

Grey Oaks opened in 1993 and encompasses the Grey Oaks and Estuary communities, along with 54 holes of championship golf. The Club’s facilities include a 63,000-square-foot east clubhouse, 12,000-square-foot golf pro shop, golf performance center, 30,000-square-foot wellness center, sports center, and the pool café, a 22,000-square-foot complex with indoor and outdoor dining overlooking an expansive resort-style pool with a wading entrance, waterfall, and lap lanes. Additionally, The Estuary offers a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse with indoor and outdoor dining overlooking the golf course, as well as his-and-her lockers and a fitness area.

MISSION STATEMENT –  “To enrich the lives of our members by providing outstanding facilities, amenities and experiences in a welcoming, beautiful community that provides a rich culture of friendship and service.”

Position Specific: The Director of Culinary Operations (DCO) is the overall leader of all culinary operations at Grey Oaks, which includes multiple dining venues and numerous special events in a year-round environment. Working in coordination with the Director of Food & Beverage and Catering Director, the DCO is the creator for all culinary staffing, finances, and goal requests. The DCO leads the Executive Chef at our East Campus and the Chef de Cuisine for the Estuary Clubhouse as well as all their staffs.

This position requires high level culinary skills and the proven ability to recruit, develop, lead, and train top talent. The DCO is responsible for delivering consistent, exceptional cuisine while ensuring an efficient and profitable operation. The DCO is the leader of the Grey Oaks Culinary Apprenticeship Program.

The objective for the new DCO is to progressively and with greater frequency, rotate menus incorporating seasonal and coastal offerings while honoring the local traditions of ‘club’ cuisine. The club has a well-regarded foodservice reputation and anticipates with the right leader in place has the opportunity to grow an already respected program.

Initial Priorities:

The DCO must “Learn and Understand the Club’s culture first.” Then put processes in place to ensure success.  The role of the Director of Culinary Operations is complete responsibility for the culinary program and to make adjustments/improvements in response to everchanging culinary trends and member desires.  Other keys include:

  1. Menu Innovation – Be passionate about food and will keep up with the latest food trends which should be reflective in an ever-changing menu.
  2. Ensuring Highest Quality Standards – Build and motivate a strong culinary team; provide training, mentoring & coaching and professional development opportunities for kitchen staff.
  3. Consistency – Evaluate and improve current operations for enhanced systems and consistency in product, and services in all areas.
  4. Professionalism – Set the example “striving for excellence” in all areas of the operation and with member interaction.

Additionally

  • The DCO serves as a role model and sets the standard for culinary employees to maintain high-quality services and product in a consistent manner.
  • The DCO is a Team Builder; a dedicated mentor and has a goal to build a dynasty of culinarians (future chefs).
  • He/she maintains composure, is precise, meticulous, dependable, fair, imaginative and gregarious, who enjoys people, is fun to be with and has a positive personality.
  • The DCO is directly responsible for the entire culinary operating budget and submitting annual capital budget equipment requests.
  • He/she is competent in organizational and time management skills and has the ability to demonstrate good judgment, problem solving ability and sound decision-making skills.
  • The DCO is expected to maintain visibility in dining areas and at events during peak times and who provides newsletter articles and cooking classes for the members.

Operational Information and Business Factors:

  • Annual food sales $3.8MM; Total F&B Sales $5.9MM.
  • The Club currently maintains a 41% food cost; the budgeted goal is 42%. Sales are a mix of 85% a la carte and 15% banquet.
  • There is a total of 40 kitchen employees supported by a $1.65MM labor budget.
  • The Club has multiple Sous Chefs, a Banquet Chef, and is supported by a Purchasing Manager.
  • The Club maintains three (3) kitchens, i.e., Pool Cafe, Estuary, and East Clubhouse. Management rates the kitchens a (5) out of (5). There is a Capital replacement plan in place.
  • There are two (2) Clubhouses totaling 200,000 square feet with 1,225 members whose average age is 65.
  • The Club operates 12 months annually. (Closed Christmas Day) The busy months are November through April.
  • The Director of Culinary Operations reports to the General Manager and works with the Director of Food & Beverage, Catering Director and CFO.

A la Carte Dining and Event Spaces:

East Clubhouse Grill – Formal with 125 seats, serving Dinner only as needed.

Pool Café – Casual with 450 seats serving Lunch & Dinner – seven days per week in season.

The Estuary – Casual and Formal at times with 125 seats, serving Lunch seven days per week in season and Dinner three (3) days.

Private Parties/Member Events – The Club has six (6) Private Rooms with seating from 30 to 525.

A compensation package will include a generous base salary and performance bonus, excellent benefits consisting of medical & life insurance, 401K, vacation and ACF dues and conference.  Interested individuals should send resumes, a well-conceived cover letter, and supporting information (a digital portfolio is encouraged).   Click Here to upload your information:

Work with DMA, a team of proven culinary professionals to help advance your career.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.