Chef with 11 years in seasonal American and Mediterranean kitchens, leading a 14-person brigade at a 120-seat restaurant. Brought food cost from 34% to 28% while earning a local best-new-restaurant award. Brings menu development, supplier relationships with regional farms and steady kitchen leadership.
Experience
Chef, Saltgrass & Fig (Portland, OR)
Sep 2021 – Present
Lead a 14-person kitchen for a 120-seat restaurant doing $3.8M a year in food sales
Write 4 seasonal menus a year sourced from 12 regional farms and fisheries
Cut food cost from 34% to 28% with whole-animal butchery, yield testing and tighter ordering pars
Named best new restaurant of 2022 by a regional dining guide
Hire, train and schedule the kitchen team, keeping BOH labor at 13% of sales
Sous Chef, Willamette Bistro (Portland, OR)
Apr 2017 – Aug 2021
Ran daily service and the prep schedule for a 9-person line
Built a fermentation program that added 6 house-made condiments to the menu
Built the prep schedule and order guide for a 9-cook line
Line Cook, Columbia Gorge Lodge (Hood River, OR)
May 2015 – Mar 2017
Worked sauté and grill stations for 250 covers a night in peak season
Trained 6 seasonal cooks on station setup
Education
A.O.S. in Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute of America (Jan 2013 – Oct 2014)
Skills
Culinary: Menu development, seasonal cooking, butchery, fermentation, plating
Kitchen Management: Food cost, ordering, prep systems, staff training
Sourcing: Farm and fishery partnerships, product specs, invoice review
A strong Chef resume shows the customer experience you delivered, the sales you drove, and the teams you ran. Put your most relevant recent role first and make every bullet show a result, not a duty.
Sections, in order
Summary
Experience
Skills
Education
Length: One page for most candidates; move to two only if every line is relevant.
Summary: Write two or three lines: your role, your strongest skills, and one result that proves them.
Skills to feature
Customer service
Sales and upselling
Inventory and merchandising
Point-of-sale systems
Team leadership
Scheduling
Cash handling
Food safety
Conflict resolution
Visual merchandising
Example bullet points
Grew store sales 18% year over year by coaching a team of 12 on add-on selling
Raised the hotel guest satisfaction score from 8.1 to 9.0 by redesigning the check-in process
Cut inventory shrink by 30% through weekly cycle counts and better receiving checks
Tips from recruiters
Show the size of the operation: store revenue, covers, rooms or team size.
List certifications such as ServSafe or responsible-service training.
Keep it to one page and lead with the most recent, most senior role.
Recommended templates
Modern (ATS-friendly): Clean single column with accent headings and rules
Compact (ATS-friendly): Dense single column that fits long histories
Classic (ATS-friendly): Jake's-style LaTeX classic: small caps and hairline rules
Chef resume FAQ
What should a Chef resume include?
A Chef resume should show the customer experience you delivered, the sales you drove, and the teams you ran. Use these sections in this order: Summary, Experience, Skills and Education. Put your most relevant recent role first and make every bullet show a result, not a duty.
What is the best resume template for a Chef?
Modern, Compact and Classic work well for Chef roles. They are single-column with standard headings, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) parse them reliably.
How long should a Chef resume be?
One page for most candidates; move to two only if every line is relevant.
Which skills should a Chef put on a resume?
Prioritize the skills named in the job posting. Common ones for Chef roles are Customer service, Sales and upselling, Inventory and merchandising, Point-of-sale systems, Team leadership and Scheduling.
How do I write strong Chef resume bullet points?
Start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a measurable result such as sales growth, average transaction value and guest satisfaction. For example: "Grew store sales 18% year over year by coaching a team of 12 on add-on selling."