Line Cook - Amara | RNO HOSPITALITY

Job Description:

Amara, located at 670 N Midvale Blvd in Madison, WI, is seeking exceptional Line Cooks to join our team.

Amara is our take on contemporary coastal Italian cuisine featuring sharable small plates and bites, hand-crafted pastas, and entrées showcasing the bounty of Madison Wisconsin. Our wine list will feature cutting edge Italian and Italian-inspired artisan wines farmed by hand and made with classical methods. Our bar will showcase the art of Italian drinking including aperitifs, negronis, cocktails and espresso. Amara will open its doors in the late summer of 2022.

The name Amara derives from the Ancient Greek ‘Amáranthos’, which means ‘everlasting flower’. Amore in Italian, Amará in Spanish, and Amara in Arabic all refer to love. Yet, Amara in Italian means bitter, conjuring some of the hallmarks of Italian cooking and drinking, where herbs, bitter greens, and digestivi are celebrated for their health benefits and healing botanical qualities. Bitter and sweet are often found together, and at the same time, and couldn't be more relevant to us now as we move forward with purpose and intention seeking balance, healing, health, sustainability, and love.

Line Cook - Amara - Madison, WI

RESPONSIBILITIES

Food Production

Knowledgeable about every product, recipe, sub-recipe, and menu item served including what it should taste like, what it is made from, what ingredients it contains and where it comes from.
Able to prep and prepare mise en place in an effective, efficient, and consistent manner with impeccable knife and safety skills. Prep is consistent according to Amara’s standard recipes and methods.
Able to fire dishes consistent within Amara’s standard recipes and methods. Must construct each dish for maximum consistency in appearance and taste with correct plateware and plating technique.
Every dish needs to demonstrate the skills of the chef with a keen awareness to improve speed and efficiency without compromising the quality of the product.
Communicate with teammates and FOH in a professional manner and keeping food flowing up to the pass as fast in a timed fashion per the chef expediting service
Keep stations clean, floors swept and surfaces wiped down periodically throughout the duration of their shift and service
Work with FOH staff to deliver proper timing of meal progression
Purposefully follow all opening, closing and cleaning checklists as needed throughout the duration of the shift and service
Ability to work as a team and assist other cooks with any necessary production when time allows to ensure the overall efficacy of the kitchen

Operations

Knowledge of all tools, equipment and systems in the kitchen maintaining safety and quality standards
Remain constantly aware of all allergens on the menu as outlined in the allergy sheets and dish cards provided by management
Manage your schedule responsibly by handling all on-call shifts, time-off requests, getting shifts covered, and manager communications as needed. This includes arriving for all shifts on time or prior to your scheduled start time. It is asked that if you shall be more than 5 minutes late to your shift that you effectively communicate this to your direct supervisor on that shift be it the Executive or Sous Chef.
Protect establishment and patrons by adhering to sanitation, safety and alcohol beverage control policies outlined by Amara and the Health Department

Culinary and Industry Knowledge

The Amara line cook is expected to work with the Executive Chef and Sous Chefs to learn the mechanics of producing balanced dishes in line with our menu. Every dish at Amara has a reason and an inherent provenance that brings meaning to the menu and an experience to the guest. Understanding menu assortment, taste profiles, construction of dishes, and most importantly, how they play into Amara’s brand is the difference between a cook and a chef.
Be aware of the profit motivation of restaurants, minimizing and documenting waste, aware of relationships with suppliers, and contributing to the bottom line by thinking of specials or promotions, or helping to implement cost-saving initiatives.
Have an understanding of the palate in relation to taste categories and the mechanics of tasting in order to produce balanced drinks and how ingredients affect taste.
We are in the midst of a food revolution in America. The Amara cook is expected to work with ownership, and the management team, to understand that eating habits, the industry, and drinking culture have evolved and are evolving in order to serve it properly to the guest.
Work with the Executive Chef and management to extend your knowledge of the industry using Amara’s reading lists, recipe books, etc.

Professionalism & Demeanor

Calm, confident, and focused
Able to thrive in a team environment as a reliable and trustworthy player.
Awareness and communication are key. Be vocal and communicative, communicating to managers and the kitchen team.
Be impeccably clean, neat and tidy in their personal appearance and also in their working habits. Must adhere to the uniform policy outlined upon hire
Also maintain the highest standards of hygiene in their workplace. Sanitation is a vital aspect of working in the kitchen, equal to the ability to cook.
Self motivated and respectful. Respect across the kitchen team, FOH and bar, with caring for not only the employees but also the food and the process. Promote the role of the cook as a Trade and a career and help spread professionalism throughout the industry.
Embody the organizational mission and caring, inclusive, and authentic values in terms of who we are and what we believe (outlined below).

REPORTING

The role will report to the Executive Chef of Amara.

Benefits:

Competitive wages
A flexible and predictable schedule that is posted two weeks in advance
50% dining discount for your friends and family
Free and healthy GF Vegetarian or Regular staff meal
Access to Amara's online classroom with training materials, recipes, and checklists. After full orientation, we offer weekly paid training opportunities to taste wine, spirits and food with industry experts
Our mission is centered around treating each other and ourselves well through our love of food, drink, and community.
Sustainability must be possible and attainable in our industry!
All employees are offered health, dental and vision insurance
Paid time off
401k contribution
The chance to work in a brand new clean facility with state of the art new equipment
The chance to contribute to one of the most dynamic restaurant groups in the region

Our ideal Line Cook has:

1+ years experience. Casual fine dining experience is a plus.
The ideal Line Cook has excellent personal qualities, is polite, confident, a great sense of humor and above all, enjoys dealing with people.
Able to thrive in a team environment as a reliable and trustworthy player on the floor.
Line Cooks need to be able to multitask and remain organized in a fast-paced environment. Staying calm and collected is key.
The Line Cook, along with all staff members, is expected to be clean, neat and tidy in their personal appearance and also in their working habits; they shall also maintain the highest standards of hygiene in their workplace.
The Line Cook, along with all staff members, is expected to embody the organizational mission and caring, inclusive, and authentic values in terms of who we are and what we believe.

RNO is a mission-driven lifestyle company dedicated to creating spaces for celebrating and treating each other and ourselves well. We seek to provide warm, fun and an endlessly interesting mix of inspired programming that challenges, invigorates and delights our guests by celebrating our craft, who we are, what we do and what we believe. As a community-driven hospitality management organization, we are active in social causes supporting women, Black, LGBTQ+, and Indigenous communities everywhere. Cook It Forward is a non-profit advocacy arm of Rule No One Hospitality, Inc. with a mission to address ongoing inequities in our food systems. We are all working collectively on social entrepreneurship, social equity, and social justice-- one meal at a time.

Our Values:

Inclusivity. We will establish a culturally diverse and inclusive environment, one that specifically supports minorities, all genders, and those historically underrepresented in our industry.
Humility. We are modest about capabilities, admit mistakes, and create the space for others to contribute.
Effective Collaboration. We are a team centered around positivity, that stands for one message which involves empowering others, empathizing with each other, and uplifting others as a collective.
Respect and Justice / Health and Well-Being. All team members need to be treated respectfully and fairly. This pertains to equity in pay, and specific attention to physical/mental health, well-being and safety.
Positivity and Love of Food and Community. Cooking and serving others is a powerful act of caring and love for one another. Let us work together to bring our community together through the power of food and drink

Projected Pay Rate:

$20-$25/hr total compensation, $11/hr base rate + tips

Amara is an equal opportunity employer, with a mission to support women, Black, LGBTQ+ applicants. As an organization, we support a minimum wage of $16/hour.

Application For: