Chef cover letter example

Dear Ms Pemberton,

The Head Chef role at The Old Granary caught my eye because you describe the same challenge I took on at The Bramble Rooms in 2022: a well-loved restaurant with a menu that had grown too long and margins that had slipped.

At The Bramble Rooms I costed every dish, cut the menu from 22 plates to 14 and rebuilt it around 11 local farms and fishers. Gross profit went from 64% to 71% in the first year, and our covers held steady at 900 to 1,100 a week across lunch, dinner and weekend brunch with a brigade of nine. We have kept a food hygiene rating of 5 at both inspections.

I care just as much about the team. Kitchens lose good people when rotas are chaotic and nobody teaches them. I plan rotas four weeks ahead and give every junior chef a section to own. Last year our turnover was 18%, and two of my commis chefs are now chefs de partie.

Your advert also mentions weddings in the barn. I ran the sauce and fish sections for weddings of up to 200 guests at The Clifton Arms Hotel, and as sous chef at Harbourside Kitchen I rewrote the allergen matrix after Natasha's Law and kept a three-year record without an allergen incident. Large events are where that discipline matters most.

I have 13 years in Bristol kitchens, from a 2 Rosette hotel to a busy harbourside restaurant. I would be glad to cook a trial service for you whenever suits.

Yours sincerely,

Tomasz Nowak