- Work with an Executive Chef who trained at Bray
- Join a team with genuine creative input, not slotting into something set
- Head Chef position with four-day weeks planned, no split shifts and above-market pay.
Overview
A new regional fine dining restaurant within an hour of Sydney is opening later this year with serious ambition and serious backing. The Executive Chef comes from two of the most respected kitchens in Australia and the UK. You would be one of two senior sous chefs building the kitchen from scratch, working directly alongside him, cooking over fire, and helping establish what aims to be the best regional restaurant in New South Wales.
About the Venue
This is a brand new luxury lodge and restaurant. The hotel is adults only, premium rate accommodation opening alongside a fine dining restaurant targeting two hats. The property is backed by significant private investment and has been years in the making.
The restaurant will seat around 40 guests for an intimate multi-course degustation experience. Alongside dinner service, there will be a separate bar, breakfast for hotel guests, room service, and the capacity to host future events and weddings.
The kitchen has been purpose-built from the ground up and is completely brand new. It features live fire cooking, a wood fire, combi ovens, spacious walk-in cool rooms and freezer, dedicated dry storage, a fully equipped pastry section with a laminator, and plans to install a wood-fired bread oven. An on-site kitchen garden will further support the produce-driven philosophy.
The design is refined without pretension. Marble, brass, timber, beautiful crockery combining old world elegance with handmade ceramics. The goal is to create an experience that could not simply be replicated in the CBD. Stylistically, the references are La Doyenne in France, Arpège, Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Not copies, but indicators of standard and approach.
The Role
You would be one of two Senior Chefs working directly under the Executive Chef as part of the founding kitchen team.
The restaurant operates seven days across multiple formats. Thursday to Sunday the restaurant opens to the general public with a seven-course tasting menu at around $250 to $270 per head. Sunday night through Wednesday it serves hotel guests only with a refined three-course daily changing menu.
You’ll be working with live fire, whole fish, seasonal vegetables, and produce harvested from the kitchen garden. Proteins arrive whole, with an emphasis on butchery, preparation, and presentation executed to the standard expected in a genuinely ambitious fine dining kitchen.
Who This Person Is
Someone who has worked in quality hatted or equivalent restaurants for at least three to four years and has genuine experience running a kitchen at this level independently. Someone who has cooked and organised at a level where refinement, precision, and plating actually matter.
You might be a Snr Sous or Head Chef looking for a launch opportunity with more creative input and a chance to help build something from the start. Either way, you know how to hold a section, train a junior, and keep the kitchen calm when things get busy.
The Executive Chef values curiosity, work ethic, character, and leadership.
The style of food draws on produce-first cooking, traditional techniques, whole fish, seasonal vegetables, and country-driven refinement without pretension. If you have worked with fire cooking before, that is a significant advantage. If not, you will learn. Very few kitchens in Australia or globally offer real training in cooking over fire.
Sponsorship is available after a probationary period. The business is set up for both 482 and 491 visas, and this is the first postcode outside Sydney with regional visa access. Transfer of sponsorship is open if you can explain why you are moving.
Benefits and Why You’ll Thrive
Salary range of $100,000 to $130,000 plus superannuation, negotiable for the right person.
Four day weeks are planned, though there may be some flexibility required during the opening period.
You will work directly alongside the Executive Chef, not in a distant reporting relationship, but as a genuine partner in building the kitchen. He wants to collaborate with the right people and is open to creative input from chefs who earn it.
• Roster: Four days per week planned, seven day operation split across two teams
• Hours: 38-hour contract, reasonable overtime to 42, paid overtime thereafter
• Start: Ideally September or October — flexible
• Sponsorship: 482 and 491 visas available after probationary period, transfer of sponsorship considered
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