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ASAP looking for a Head Chef to manage and run the kitchen for the month of August. The kitchen is responsible for preparing 3 simple meals everyday for all volunteers & guests. In high season (August) we can be up to 30 people per meal! Our kitchen is vegan/vegetarian, and incorporates lots of foraging. With your team you will manage cooking, food prep, cleaning, shopping, meal plans, and guest satisfaction.
32 hours of help per week
Cooking: Choose the menu, pick ingredients and cook delicious dishes.
Kitchen Hand: Help prepare, finish and serve meals.
2 days off per week
Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.
Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.
Team Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other people.
Tent: You will sleep in a tent at a camping site.
Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.
Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.
Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.
Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.
Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely
Fluent English
Over 20 years old
Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers
Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa
The kitchen is the heart of any home, and in Bognago this is no different. Being responsible for creating the meals that we all share and eat together is absolutely essential; no one is happy when hungry. This position is probably the most challenging one we offer because it requires you to show up, and consistently do your job well, every day.
Head Chef is a seasonal, long term, leadership role. It is a managerial position which will require you to not just be a cook, but be the manager of the entire kitchen, ensuring everything runs smoothly. You will manage the kitchen team for the entire season. This includes yourself, the Sous Chef, and two kitchen hands.
As Head Chef you will need to have excellent organisation, delegation, communication and collaboration skills. Although the entire kitchen team will work collaboratively and share all tasks, what separates you from your team members is your differing levels of responsibilities. All kitchen team members will share all tasks of cleaning, prepping, and cooking. Your physical areas of responsibility include the kitchen, the food storage, indoor and outdoor dining areas, and our kiosk. Each area comes with its own set of tasks/rules, which you will have to manage together with your team every week. Good hygiene is essential.
This role requires you to be efficient, creative, flexible, and a fast learner to be able to learn all the ins and outs of this special place and its way of life. Being part of the managerial circle of Alpe Bognago as a whole means you are stepping into a job where you play a massive role and hold a huge responsibility for the smooth running and success of the entire Organisation; understanding and respecting this is crucial to understanding this entire project.
Everyday working hours for all volunteers are from 8am to 13pm. Breakfast is between 7:15-8am, lunch is at 13pm, and dinner is at 19pm. A typical kitchen day will start by preparing the volunteer breakfast. After 8am the guest breakfast is prepared (8-10am), followed by the breakfast cleanup, refills of coffee/tea for work breaks, and preparations for lunch/dinner. In-between prepping for meals there is a schedule of cleaning tasks to be followed. Everyday closes with a routine cleanup of the kitchen after dinner, supported by other volunteers.
Daily shifts can be divided between the team as preferred. The Head Chef/ Sous Chef are both required to work 8hrs/day, while the kitchen hands work 5hrs/day. All hours exceeding the standard 5hr/day volunteer hours in exchange for room/board are considered extra working hours and will thus be monetarily compensated with a monthly stipend. Although the bulk of the tasks should be completed during the standard volunteer work hours (8am-13pm) as long as all required hours for each role are met the team can organise themselves as they wish.
As Head Chef, apart from being in the literal kitchen space, a large quantity of your time will be used to organise your work. Being able to build a detailed overview of your work place is essential. It is likely that during work hours you will delegate tasks to team members while you plan for the week ahead, make checks, and communicate with other team managers. As Head Chef you will be in close communication with the Guesthouse Manager. The kitchen team will often be in close communication with the Guesthouse Manager. If times are not busy the kitchen team will also collaborate with the groundskeeping team to forage for wild plants to incorporate into our meals!
Working in Bognago also means understanding and adapting to the challenges of its remote off-grid location, especially as Head Chef! Being a 45 min. hike away from civilisation, and another 45 min. drive to the closest supermarket, means a lot of consideration and planning when it comes to food shopping and meal planning. We only go food shopping every 2-3 weeks. This means you will have to be incredibly sensitive to the lack of convenience of the lifestyle here, as well as our financial situation and very strict budget. Alpe Bognago is a very young volunteer project; our funds are therefore extremely limited. The biggest expense we have every month is food, but it's also the area where we can save the most. Food waste is also a big no go up here.
Apart from location, the kitchen itself also has certain limitations that you need to be able to adapt to. The limited space, resources, and lack of appliances (i.e. tiny fridge) are challenging. This means, more than anything, that you have to be creative, solution oriented, and proactive when things aren't easy or straightforward.
Being one of the department managers in Bognago means we will hold you to a higher standard than short term volunteers. We will ask you to learn the ways of life here faster and better, and we will constantly wish for your initiative and input to make this place and your experience here the best it can be. We need you to have the attitude that you are coming here to work together with us, not wait until you are given instructions. Bognago is built on the values of community, honesty, and respect; respect for each other, your work, your environment. We ask you to take your role here both seriously and joyously, and are ready to share a wonderful summer if we are on the same page.
