Coordinate jurisdiction-specific employment review for wage and hour, classification, tips, leave, accommodations, EEO, discipline, and separation.
Culinary Leadership
U.S.-based · Global reach
Chef Placement
A chef must fit the food, financial model, service volume, leadership culture, and stage of the business—not simply cook well in an interview. Cole defines the mandate, evaluates technical and leadership capability, checks operating judgment, assesses menu and cost discipline, and supports onboarding so the placement begins with aligned expectations and measurable priorities.
What this work is designed to deliverCulinary leadership matched to the concept, team, economics, and operating demands.
Discuss this capability How we help
Senior expertise.
Practical execution.
We translate the business plan into a scorecard covering food, leadership, systems, cost control, pace, and cultural fit. Candidates are evaluated through structured interviews, practical evidence, references, and scenario discussion, followed by an onboarding plan with early priorities and review points.
Our operating approachNo seagull management. We can enter at the diagnostic, planning, implementation, stabilization, or ongoing-advisory stage—and remain accountable through execution, adoption, and a sustainable handoff.
Define the culinary mandate across concept, menu, volume, quality, team, systems, cost, safety, opening, growth, and owner expectations.
Build the role profile, compensation range, schedule realities, authority, reporting line, scorecard, and first-year success measures.
Source and assess candidates through structured interviews, work evidence, tasting or practical exercises, scenarios, and reference checks.
Verify required manager food-safety credentials, employment eligibility, background conditions, policy acknowledgments, and any site-specific approvals.
Evaluate leadership, training, purchasing, sanitation, allergens, HACCP, labor, inventory, recipe, waste, maintenance, and financial discipline.
Create onboarding, 30/60/90-day priorities, team communication, knowledge transfer, performance reviews, and retention checkpoints.
Details that protect the work
What clients cannot afford to discover too late.
Requirements vary by jurisdiction and operating model. We identify the dependencies early, assign ownership, maintain the evidence, and coordinate licensed specialists wherever professional authority is required.
Maintain I-9s, notices, acknowledgments, training, certifications, investigations, personnel records, retention, and confidentiality correctly.
Address workers’ compensation, unemployment, benefits, payroll tax, background checks, workplace safety, harassment, violence, and emergency response.
For represented teams, protect bargaining obligations, past practice, grievance timelines, supervisor consistency, and counsel coordination.
When to bring us in
Before a decision.
During a transition.
When performance slips.
Build or launch
Get the structure, economics, people, systems, and controls right before opening or expansion.
Fix or stabilize
Step into an urgent gap, stop leakage, restore accountability, and protect the business.
Improve or grow
Strengthen the operating platform before scaling, transacting, refinancing, or adding leadership.
Flexible engagement
Focused project
A defined issue, deliverable, timeline, and implementation plan.
Fractional leadership
Hands-on senior ownership without adding a permanent full-time executive.
Ongoing advisory
Regular operating review, decision support, accountability, and governance.
Step in where it matters