An Executive Chef holds a position at the very top of the kitchen management structure. Executive chefs are often responsible for the operation of multiple outlets of food service. Usually larger establishments have an executive chef, and it is primarily for a management role rather than manual cooking.
Overview Executive Chef — Porch+Vine Luray, Virginia | Full-Time Porch+Vine is seeking an experienced, hospitality-minded Executive Chef to lead our culinary program in beautiful Luray, Virginia, in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Now entering our second year, Porch+Vine has quickly established itself as one of the area's standout dining destinations. We are an intimate, approximately 36-seat restaurant with a scratch kitchen, an experienced hospitality team and a simple philosophy: exceptional food and exceptional hospitality should strengthen one another. There is something unusual about being a chef here: you get the intimacy of a small restaurant with the audience of a destination restaurant. Our guests include discerning locals, devoted regulars and diners who routinely travel an hour or more specifically to experience Porch+Vine. At the same time, the Luray and Shenandoah Valley area welcomes upwards of one million visitors annually. On any given weekend, our dining room may include guests visiting from New York, Washington, Florida, California and communities throughout the country. They come to the Shenandoah Valley for the mountains, farms, national park and natural beauty. We want Porch+Vine to become one of the experiences they remember when they leave. The opportunity We are looking for a talented culinary leader who takes tremendous pride in quality, consistency and presentation while also genuinely loving hospitality. Our Executive Chef will have meaningful creative influence over seasonal menus while assuming responsibility for the leadership, staffing, organization and financial performance of the kitchen. We want a chef who is confident without being rigid, creative while remaining operationally disciplined, and capable of protecting culinary standards while looking for thoughtful ways to create extraordinary experiences for guests. This is not simply a position for someone who wants to cook. It is an opportunity for someone who wants to lead, develop a team and help shape the next chapter of a growing hospitality company.
The Executive Chef will:
Lead all back-of-house culinary operations and develop thoughtful, seasonal, scratch-made menus Maintain exceptional standards for food quality, consistency, presentation, sanitation and food safety Recruit, train, schedule, mentor and develop a strong culinary team Create a kitchen structure that supports sustainable working hours and continued business growth Manage food cost, labor, purchasing, inventory, waste and other key kitchen financials Develop recipes, systems and training standards that allow excellent food to be executed consistently Collaborate closely with ownership, operations and front-of-house leadership Develop menus and execution plans for private dining, weddings, special events and unique culinary experiences Approach reasonable guest requests and new business opportunities with creativity and a solutions-oriented mindset Foster a professional, respectful, collaborative and positive kitchen culture Help identify and develop culinary opportunities throughout our growing collection of hospitality businesses More than a restaurant Porch+Vine is part of a growing collection of independently owned hospitality businesses in Luray. Our company includes two successful destination farm stays, Madeline Farms and Carriage Stone Farm, where guests travel to the Shenandoah Valley for immersive stays surrounded by the Virginia countryside. The Garden at Porch+Vine provides a beautiful outdoor setting for weddings, celebrations and private events with a capacity of approximately 130 guests. And next door to Porch+Vine, we are preparing to open Dolce, our new Italian-inspired bakery, café and gelateria, in approximately one month. Together, these businesses create opportunities for an Executive Chef that extend far beyond the traditional four walls of a restaurant: special dinners, private events, weddings, farm experiences, seasonal programming, catering and collaboration across an expanding culinary and hospitality company. Who we're looking for Our ideal candidate may already be an Executive Chef or may be an accomplished Chef de Cuisine or senior culinary leader ready to take ownership of a kitchen. Strong scratch-cooking fundamentals and kitchen leadership experience are essential. Candidates should understand food and labor cost management, team development, organization, scheduling, purchasing and the operational disciplines required to run a successful professional kitchen. Just as importantly, we are looking for someone who genuinely enjoys hospitality. We believe culinary excellence and great hospitality are not competing priorities. The right chef understands that protecting the quality of the food and taking extraordinary care of the guest can—and should—happen together. Our instinct when presented with a reasonable request or opportunity is to ask, "How can we make this work?" Life in Luray For candidates considering relocation, Luray offers something increasingly difficult to find: the opportunity to do serious culinary work while enjoying an extraordinary quality of life. We are surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, minutes from Shenandoah National Park and Luray Caverns, with farms, rivers, hiking and some of Virginia's most beautiful countryside just outside the door. At the same time, our tourism economy brings a remarkably diverse audience to this small Virginia town. For someone currently working in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, Richmond, Baltimore or another major restaurant market, this may be an opportunity to continue ambitious culinary work while building a very different kind of life outside the kitchen. Get to know us Before applying, we encourage you to get to know Porch+Vine and what we are building. Explore our website and Instagram, visit our social media channels and read our guest reviews. You will quickly get a sense of the experience we are creating and the importance we place on food, design, warmth, hospitality and memorable moments. We are proud of what Porch+Vine has accomplished in its first year. We are even more excited about what comes next. Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience. To apply, please submit your résumé along with a brief introduction telling us about your culinary background, your leadership philosophy and what hospitality means to you as a chef.
