Director of Culinary

Belle & Grey is a luxury restaurant located at the center of the action, at The Hotel Landing just steps from the shores of Lake Minnetonka in beautiful Wayzata, MN. Belle & Grey is a lakeside dining room where generations gather, meals linger, and good stories get better. We strive to create a place where everyone—families, friends, and first-time guests alike—feels at home. With seasonal, locally inspired menus and thoughtfully curated beverages, Belle & Grey delivers an elevated dining experience with signature Midwestern hospitality. As much a community gathering place as a restaurant, there’s always something happening here—from private dining and curated events to specialty menus and seasonal celebrations.

Belle & Grey is part of Sage Restaurant Concepts, a family of seasoned restaurateurs committed to consistently crafting exceptional experiences that forge a bond with our guests, enrich our communities, and empower our people. We create industry-leading restaurant and bar concepts with soul for the people who live, work, and play in the communities we serve.

Throughout our portfolio, it rings true that we believe in the power of impacting lives through hospitality and work daily to fulfill that endeavor. We seek the best hospitality professionals—achievers and leaders; passionate, highly competitive, and exceptional people. In return, we provide every team member with unparalleled opportunities to exercise their responsibility and integrity while growing themselves and building a valuable and rewarding career!

The Director of Culinary at Hotel Landing leads a kitchen where culinary craft and local inspiration come together, creating menus that reflect both the seasons of the lake and the refined tastes of the Wayzata community. This role provides strategic leadership, financial oversight, and vision for the organization’s overall culinary operations. Responsible for setting brand standards, driving menu innovation, optimizing profitability, and scaling kitchen systems across all concepts.

• →Position is responsible for long- and short-term planning and day-to-day operations of the kitchen and related areas.
• →Recommend menu and procedural changes.
• →Recommend the budget and manage food and labor costs within approved budget constraints. Perform all essential functions while adhering to all SOP's and future food programs to ensure a consistent, quality product.
• →Manage associates and managers in the kitchen in order to attract, retain and motivate the employees while providing a safe environment; hire, train, develop, empower, coach and counsel, conduct performance and salary reviews, resolve problems, provide open communication vehicles and discipline and terminate as appropriate.
• →Mentor, coach, and empower the Executive Chef in leadership development, team management, kitchen P&L mastery, and operational problem-solving.
• →Partner closely with the Executive Chef to translate brand vision, market research, and financial goals into executable daily kitchen strategies and seasonal menus.
• →Plan and manage the procurement, production, preparation and presentation of all food in the hotel in a safe, sanitary, cost-effective manner.
• →Monitor and control the maintenance/sanitation of kitchen, equipment and related areas to ensure a healthy, safe work environment which meets/exceeds federal, state, corporate and franchise standards and regulations.
• →Develop, recommend, implement and manage the department's budget; continually analyze, forecast, monitor and control the labor and food costs through various methods to meet/exceed management/budget objectives.
• →Develop and implement menus and back-up (use records, production lists, pars, training, etc.) within corporate guidelines to continually improve revenues and profit margins while maintaining quality.
• →Execute and promote the Accident Prevention Program to minimize liabilities and related expenses.

More than two years of post-high school education, but less than a degree from a four-year college.

Experience required by position is five to ten years of employment in a related position with this company or other organization(s).

• Requires advanced knowledge of the principles and practices within the food profession. This includes experiential knowledge required for management of people and/or complex problems and food and beverage management.
• Requires oral and written communication skills.
• Must have moderate hearing to communicate with employees and to hear machinery, for safety reasons.
• Must have excellent vision, for safety reasons.
• Must have moderate speech communications skills to communicate with other employees.
• Must have excellent comprehension and literacy to read and write, as well as analyze to fulfill budget.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Lifting objects, 30-35 pounds, 3 to 5 times during the course of the shift (i.e. top round, prime rib, frozen boxes).
• Carrying, (ranging from clipboard to food products to small equipment).
• Kneeling -during times of inspections for proper cleanliness and monitoring once a week, as well as during lifting.
• Full mobility is required in order to usually inspect and monitor the kitchen environment.
• Continuous standing -while expediting, or cooking or inspecting. Anywhere from brief periods (15 minutes) to longer periods (1 hour). At least 50% of the day.

Inside 100% of 8 hour shift. Going in the freezer temperatures can be -10 degrees. On the front line, temperatures can be over 100 degrees.