The Nest at Calesa is an open-air community gathering place where dining, live entertainment, family experiences, and memorable hospitality come together. Located across from FAST in Calesa Township, it serves residents, visitors, athletes, families, and event guests with a distinctly local sense of welcome and energy.
Our purpose is simple: create a place where good times take flight through quality food, genuine hospitality, thoughtful programming, and teams that take pride in caring for people.
At the core of our service culture is the disciplined belief that extraordinary hospitality is achieved through consistent execution of the fundamentals, attention to detail, and genuine care for people.
We are seeking a Chef de Cuisine who embodies this philosophy while building a culinary team and operating culture that is disciplined, distinctive, practical, and rooted in care for guests and team members.
About the Culinary Experience
The Nest is an open-air hospitality destination anchored by Cow Bird Kitchen, supported by Faregrounds, and energized by a major event lawn and amphitheater. The culinary program will include:
- Cow Bird Kitchen - a smoke-forward, family-friendly restaurant serving burgers, tacos, sandwiches, and seasonal features
- Faregrounds: Perch Coffee & Creamery, The Roost Bar, Cowbird Express, The Yard Pizza Bar, and Lucky Sparrow Asian Cuisine
- Concerts, community events, private celebrations, catered experiences, and high-volume festival-style activations
- Menu programming that connects food, events, residents, visitors, and the broader Calesa community
- Culinary execution will define The Nest’s identity - approachable, memorable, and consistently well-executed at every guest touchpoint.
This opening culinary leadership role will build a culture-led kitchen team, establish multi-concept systems, and deliver operational excellence as The Nest grows into a regional destination.
Position Overview
The Opening Chef de Cuisine is responsible for culinary leadership, food quality, financial performance, and operational execution across The Nest’s food operations.
This role reports directly to the Director of Restaurants and partners closely with the Nest General Manager, Director of Special Events, Faregrounds Manager, and restaurant leadership to ensure a cohesive guest and team experience.
The Chef de Cuisine will directly oversee the culinary teams supporting Cow Bird Kitchen, Faregrounds food concepts, catering and private events, and special culinary activations across The Nest.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Culture
- Build and develop a high-performing culinary leadership team across Cow Bird Kitchen, Faregrounds, event catering, and stewarding operations through recruitment, training, coaching, and retention.
- Establish a kitchen culture of accountability, respect, creativity, collaboration, urgency, and pride in execution.
- Model through preparation, cleanliness, consistency, service precision, communication, and operational discipline.
- Coach, recognize, and retain team members by setting clear expectations, providing meaningful development opportunities, and building a bench of future leaders.
- Lead with composure, humility, and a genuine commitment to the well-being, success, and safety of the team.
Culinary Concept & Guest Experience
- Lead the culinary identity and execution of Cow Bird Kitchen as a smoke-forward, family-friendly neighborhood restaurant, with a strong command of burgers, tacos, sandwiches, smoked proteins, seasonal features, and approachable restaurant presentation.
- Develop and maintain recipes, plating standards, prep systems, production guides, packaging specifications, and menu standards for Cow Bird Kitchen, Faregrounds, catering, and event service.
- Ensure each Faregrounds food concept delivers clear, distinctive, fast, and consistently high-quality guest experiences while supporting cross-utilized products, efficient production, and practical execution.
- Partner with the Director of Restaurants and Director of Special Events on menu engineering, promotions, tastings, special events, concerts, themed activations, and culinary programming that strengthen traffic, guest loyalty, and The Nest’s destination appeal.
- Champion guest feedback, service recovery, and continuous improvement in food quality, presentation, timing, value, and consistency.
Financial, Procurement & Labor Management
- Own food-cost performance through accurate recipe costing, menu engineering, portion control, yield management, waste reduction, inventory discipline, and corrective action when results fall outside plan.
- Develop, manage, and monitor culinary budgets, forecasts, food-cost targets, purchasing plans, and financial performance in partnership with the Director of Restaurants.
- Lead procurement and vendor relationships for food, culinary supplies, smallwares, and related operating needs; maintain clear product specifications, approved substitutions, quality standards, and competitive pricing.
- Oversee receiving, storage, rotation, requisitioning, and inventory processes to protect food quality, minimize loss, and maintain accurate cost-of-sales reporting.
- Build labor schedules around business volume, FAST demand, concerts, private events, and community programming; manage productivity, overtime, cross-training, and labor cost.
Operational Excellence
- Oversee daily culinary operations across Cow Bird Kitchen, Faregrounds food concepts, catering, and special events, ensuring disciplined execution from preparation through service and post-service close. Maintain rigorous food safety, sanitation, allergen, temperature-control, labeling, workplace-safety, and quality-assurance standards.
- Lead culinary planning for concerts, catering, private events, festivals, and community programming, including menus, event orders, production plans, staffing, timing, mobile service, and post-event review.
- Maintain kitchen, stewarding, equipment, and smallwares readiness; coordinate preventive maintenance and resolve operational issues promptly.
- Lead opening milestones including hiring, training, menus, sourcing, vendor setup, kitchen readiness, OS&E and smallwares, operating systems, and service standards.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of progressive culinary leadership experience.
- Prior Chef de Cuisine, Executive Sous Chef, Executive Chef, or comparable leadership experience in a full-service restaurant, multi-unit, event venue, resort, or catered-event environment required.
- Barbecue, smoke-forward cooking, live-fire, or broad multi-cuisine restaurant experience is a meaningful strength; the ability to translate concepts into approachable, repeatable guest experiences strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated multi-outlet experience across restaurant service, quick-service concepts, catering, and high-volume special events.
- Proven food-cost, procurement, labor-management, purchasing, inventory, and P&L acumen.
- Experience leading and developing culinary teams across multiple venues, service styles, or dayparts.
- Opening experience strongly preferred.
- ServSafe Manager certification or equivalent required; degree in Culinary Arts, Hospitality, Business, or related field preferred.
Leadership Profile
The ideal candidate is:
- Culture-driven and people-focused.
- Culinarily grounded, concept-aware, and practical in execution.
- Financially disciplined and data-informed.
- Operationally rigorous with elevated standards.
- Calm and decisive in high-volume service, outdoor events, and complex event environments.
- Committed to developing people and building long-term teams.
- Able to work a flexible schedule as necessary, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
This role offers the opportunity to establish the culinary identity of one of Ocala’s most distinctive new gathering places and build a food and beverage legacy at The Nest at Calesa.
Pay: $75,000.00 - $82,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
