The Opportunity
Platz Beer Garden is a one-of-a-kind gathering place in the heart of downtown Keene, NH, built inside a beautifully restored 150-year-old High Victorian Gothic church steps from Central Square. With roughly 20 rotating taps, curated wines, German-inspired fare, live music, and a restored sanctuary that seats up to 150, Platz is something Keene has never seen before.
We operate as a cashless and tipless establishment, paying our team fair living wages and creating a transparent, respectful workplace. We believe hospitality done right starts from the inside out.
As our Kitchen Lead, you own everything that leaves the kitchen: the food, the standards, the systems, and the people. Before you read anything else, read the next section. It is the most important part of this posting.
Our Kitchen Is Not a Normal Kitchen
We have no fryers, no hoods, no stoves, no grills, and no open flame. What we have instead is an Alto-Shaam Vector ventless multi-cook oven, commercial sous vide equipment, food warmers, and a cold prep station.
Most of our menu arrives prepared or precooked. Chili, mac and cheese, and beer cheese get brought up to temperature in the sous vide, and hold in warmers. Brats, dogs, tenders, tots, pretzels, and pretzel bites finish in the Vector. Salads and charcuterie are built cold and ahead of service.
So to be direct: this is a heat, hold, assemble, and plate kitchen. There is no line and there is little to no scratch cooking.
If you want a chef role where you break down proteins, build sauces, and write menus from raw ingredients, this is not that job.
If you are the kind of person who gets real satisfaction from a kitchen that runs like a machine, tickets that fly, temperatures that are always right, plates that look identical every single time, and a station clean enough to eat off of, you will love it here.
What You’ll Do
Own the food
- Run daily kitchen operations alongside the General Manager and hold the standard on food safety, portioning, and presentation.
- Keep ticket times fast without letting quality slip.
- Manage Vector oven chambers, sous vide batches, and holding so the right product is ready at the right moment for the volume you expect.
- Jump on any station and run the full menu yourself when the room is full.
Run the systems
- Write and maintain the build sheets, hold times, portion specs, and oven presets that make every plate repeatable.
- Keep temperature and holding logs honest and current.
- Recommend menu ideas that work inside a ventless system, then help test, cost, and standardize them.
Lead the team
- Delegate daily tasks, then verify that opening, service, closing, and cleaning got done right.
- Train new team members on the equipment, the specs, and the standards.
- Build the weekly kitchen schedule to cover the business while keeping labor on budget.
- Set the tone of a positive, productive, and genuinely enjoyable place to work. Small teams feel their leader’s energy immediately, and we want people to want to be here.
Control the costs
- Order, receive, and count inventory. We have reach-in refrigeration and no walk-in, so accurate pars matter.
- Apply FIFO, rotate product, and keep waste low.
- Track food cost and flag variances early.
Who You Are
- You have two or more years in a fast-paced food operation, and you have led a shift or a small team, formally or informally.
- You are calm, organized, and decisive when it gets busy.
- You care about consistency and cleanliness more than about showing off technique.
- You are comfortable with technology, including touchscreen equipment, POS, scheduling, and inventory tools.
- You hold a current ServSafe Manager Certification, or you are willing to get one within 30 days.
- You are excited by a non-traditional, ventless kitchen.
- You are comfortable being seen and talking to guests.
Especially strong fits often come from quick service and fast casual, concessions or arena food service, catering and banquet kitchens, hotel banquet, ghost kitchens, corporate dining programs. Experience with Alto-Shaam Vector units, speed ovens, combi ovens, cook-chill, or sous vide holding translates directly. Toast POS experience is a plus. Line cooks who are done with grease, burns, and hood cleaning tend to be very happy here.
Compensation and Benefits
- Pay. $22 to $26 per hour depending on experience, overtime eligible.
- Time off. 2 weeks paid time off.
- Discounts. Staff discounts on food, beverages, and merchandise.
- Training. ServSafe certification and ongoing training provided by Platz.
- A real voice. Small, collaborative team with direct access to ownership, and genuine input on how the kitchen runs and what goes on the menu.
- A schedule that works. Evenings and weekends come with the business, but we build schedules like we expect people to have lives.
About Platz Beer Garden
34 Court Street in Keene, NH has stood for more than 150 years. Built in 1869 as a High Victorian Gothic church, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was named one of New Hampshire’s “Seven to Save” in 2009.
After a careful, years-long restoration, including the reclamation of original pews into bar tops, altar wood into the stage, and historic woodwork repurposed throughout the space, this building is now Platz Beer Garden.
We are a gathering place. Community first, always.
https://platz.beer
Platz Beer Garden is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive team that reflects the community we serve.
Pay: $22.00 - $26.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Employee discount
- Paid time off
- Paid training
Work Location: In person
