Culinary Consultant:

Commissary Launch Contract

• About 24 hours a week
• 3-6 months
• Cambridge, MA About Triangle Coffee At Triangle Coffee, we're passionate about creating beautiful spaces that foster connection.

Since 2014, we've designed and run vibrant cafés across Boston and D.C. To us, our cafés are more than places for food and drinks. They're the heartbeats of our communities, and a home for exceptional coffee and real connection. We now operate 7 staffed cafés. Four are open to the public, and two opened this year. Next we're opening a central commissary kitchen at The Quad in Cambridge to make fresh food for our cafés in Cambridge, Somerville and Watertown. We've never run a commissary before, so we want an experienced culinary professional to help us build it right from day one. What we need We need a hands-on expert for a few months to: Design and launch our commissary at The Quad Refresh our food menu so every item can be made at scale Hand over a working operation to our team The café supervisor at The Quad will run the commissary day to day. You'll build it with her, then leave her and her team ready to run it without you. You'll work with our COO and our Quad supervisor. Scope of work 1. Design and launch the commissary (about 50% of your time) Plan the kitchen layout, equipment, storage and workflow, and recommend what we need to buy Build our production system: prep lists, batch recipes, par levels, labeling and dating, and delivery schedules to our cafés Set up ordering: weekly café order forms, prep sheets, inter-café invoicing and pre-delivery checklists Recommend vendors, and set up purchasing, receiving and inventory to control food cost and waste Put a food-safety program in place: a HACCP-style plan, temperature logs, allergen controls and cleaning schedules Lead the first production runs with our team until the system is working 2. Revamp the food menu (about 35% of your time) Review current food sales, margins, waste and guest feedback to decide what stays, what changes and what goes Develop a refreshed seasonal menu of pastries, grab-and-go, sandwiches, salads and bowls that suits a café and can be made at scale Cost every recipe and recommend target food cost and pricing Write standardized recipe cards, build guides and allergen information for every item Run tastings with our café teams and support the menu launch in every café 3. Train and hand over (about 15% of your time) Train our Quad supervisor and team to run production on their own Train café staff to handle, display and store commissary food Write a commissary playbook covering SOPs, the recipe book, allergen information, and ordering and production guides Recommend food-cost and waste targets, plus a simple monthly report for tracking them What we'll have at the end A running commissary that delivers complete, accurate orders to every café on schedule A new menu, launched in every café, with every recipe costed An inspection-ready kitchen with complete logs and allergen controls A playbook of documented SOPs and recipes our team can follow A trained team running production without outside help What you bring Must have: 5+ years in professional kitchens, including opening or building a commissary, central production kitchen or catering kitchen Experience building or scaling production: batch recipes, par levels, prep systems and delivery schedules Strong menu development skills, with a track record of recipes that are delicious, consistent and profitable Solid food cost control: recipe costing, inventory, ordering and vendor management ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification and Massachusetts Allergen Awareness training Patience as a teacher, and you enjoy building systems and training others to run them Comfort with spreadsheets and basic POS or inventory reporting Nice to have: Café, bakery or fast-casual experience, especially grab-and-go and pastry Experience consulting for food businesses, or running your own culinary business A valid driver's license and reliable transportation between sites How the engagement works Independent contract: this is a consulting engagement, not an employee position.

Project plan:

in your first two weeks, we'll agree on a project plan and milestones together. After that, we'll check in on progress monthly.

Your methods:

you decide how and when to do the work, around our production times and the agreed milestones.

Fee:

a flat $7,500 per month, invoiced monthly, for about 24 hours a week.

Term:

3-6 months, ending at handover. We can discuss an extension if the project needs it.

Other clients:

you're welcome to keep working with other clients during the engagement.

Start date:

as soon as possible. Working conditions This is a fast-paced kitchen. You'll need to stand for long periods and lift up to 50 lbs. Production usually starts early in the morning, and you'll travel regularly between the commissary and our cafés. How to apply Apply through Indeed with your resume. Include a short note about a commissary, kitchen or menu you've built. Sample menus, recipe costing or photos of your work are welcome. Triangle Coffee is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic.

Pay:

$7,500.00 per month

Work Location:

In person