Dining Room Manager & Chef

Dining Room Manager & Chef

Function:

Directly responsible for all dining room functions at the River Dance Lodge dining room (formerly the Syringa Café). Supervises support staff as needed when performing kitchen/ dining room related duties. .

Description:

The River Dance Lodge is a small log cabin resort located in central Idaho along the banks of the Clearwater River and next to US Highway 12, roughly half way between Missoula, Montana and Lewiston, Idaho. The resort is owned by the owners of ROW Adventures, Idaho’s largest rafting and adventure travel company. There are 8 log cabins that sleep from 4-10 people and on-site restaurant, the Syringa (with a "hard g") Café that seats 70. The restaurant was opened between 2004-2009 daily from late April to mid-October serving cabin guests, locals and highway travelers. Starting in 2010 it will be open only for breakfast and dinner for cabin guests and will be served either family style (if fewer than 12 are expected for dinner) or buffet style when we have larger numbers coming. We will also welcome local residents and others who make reservations for dinner at least one day in advance.

We are seeking a talented cook who would work closely with our lodge manager to provide excellent food to our guests. Our emphasis is on Northwest Regional and Mediterranean cooking. Applicants should be guest and service-oriented, positive, energetic, ambitious, motivated, hard working, and have excellent supervisory and communications skills. Our aim is to serve healthy food with some local sourcing where possible within a defined budget.

The kitchen manager is capable of developing menus and menu costing, inventory control, supervising other kitchen staff, have good cooking skills and strong communication skills. The kitchen manager will fully cooperate with and aid as needed the General Manager for any duties related to the Lodge, whether kitchen related or not. This means there are times of years when this position may be doing housekeeping, grounds keeping, etc.

During the Lochsa whitewater season (mid-May to early July) the restaurant prepares lunch for all rafting clients going on trips with ROW. This can be 10-30 people per day during the week and 60 per day on weekends. During this time breakfast is served buffet style since the rafters have to be out the door quite early. After Lochsa season, ROW continues to conduct rafting trips, but they are generally smaller and the hectic pace of weekends slows down some. Lunches are still prepared for the July/August trips but group size is typically 6-20 people.

This position is also responsible for local marketing to our local clients who dine at the restaurant. 2010 will be a transition year as our local guests are used to having us be open daily for lunch and dinner. This year they may reserve a day in advance for a place for dinner. Dinners will be served family style if we have small numbers, or else buffet style if larger numbers are expected. We are seeking someone who can organize special events that may draw in additional business, as well as market to local business groups or other groups looking for dining/meeting space.

We are seeking people looking for a long term seasonal position. We offer competitive pay, housing during the season, a 401K retirement plan, and FSA. We are a family-run business and offer a healthy, supportive work environment. The owners live four hours away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho but visit on a regular basis. Reservations, and national sales and marketing take place from our Coeur d’Alene office.

The resort is open from mid- or latter-April to mid-October and this position would start in mid- April and end in mid-October.

The resort was built from 2004-2005 and has a proven track record and loyal guests. The area is an outdoor paradise with rivers for canoeing, rafting and kayaking, wilderness areas for hiking, fishing and hunting and wide-open spaces to explore.

What to Expect? The season starts gradually when we open in April. It picks up dramatically once ROW Adventures begins whitewater rafting trips on the Lochsa in mid-May. It then remains quite busy (particularly on weekends) with the peak whitewater season running until late June. Late June to early July is a transition as the rafting season slows down but the general traveler season picks up. The cabins are generally booked to near full occupancy from roughly June 20 through Labor Day weekend. Things slow down some in September and then quite a lot in latter September and early October with only a few cabins occupied on weekday nights but weekends still booked pretty full.

This is a “hands on” position that requires a person willing to sometimes operate with a lean staff and do dishes, closing clean up and such when business is slow.

Recreation Opportunities: Syringa is a hamlet of about 20 full time residents. There is a roadside café six miles east and a small town 16 miles west. It is quite isolated. The setting is on the highway and the Clearwater River. For someone who likes to hike, boat and fish this is paradise. We provide access to gear such as kayaks, tubes, and accessories as a benefit. Also you have the ability to go on some of ROW Adventures whitewater rafting trips on days off on a space available basis.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Human Resources:

• Provide orientation of company and department rules, policies and procedures and oversee training of support staff as it relates to dining room duties..
• Be knowledgeable of company policies regarding personnel
• Dining Room Operations:
• Responsible for all items detailed in the Restaurant Manager Job Description.
• Ensure that restaurant service meets or exceeds quality standards and provides consistently great food, service and presentation.

Marketing & Sales:

• Assist the GM to organize and host special events such as music in the restaurant, wine-maker dinners and such to increase local business and guest satisfaction.
• Train all kitchen staff to be familiar with the scope of ROW’s operations and be able to converse about these with lodge and restaurant guests.

General & Administrative:

• Fill in where needed to ensure guest service standards and efficient operations as explained above about the need to be “hands on.”
• Responsible for overall cost control. Expense comparisons from previous years will be provided as guidelines.
• Responsible for operating the restaurant in a way that minimizes energy consumption including electricity and propane and monitoring monthly usage carefully.
• Must embrace our “responsible business” ethics and run the resort in as environmentally responsible a manner as possible including reducing, reusing and recycling.
• Maintain excellent relationship with Lodge suppliers and outside maintenance personnel.
• Improve and expand the Resort’s standing and visibility in the local market area.
• Schedule labor as required by anticipated business activity while ensuring that all positions are staffed when and as needed and labor cost objectives are met.
• Understand and permeate the place with a sense of the Resort’s Mission and Values.

Qualifications:

• A minimum of three years of experience in the restaurant business, ideally in a management position.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Familiar with POS systems. We have (Maitre D’).
• Must be able to communicate clearly with managers, staff and guests.
• Be able to reach, bend, stoop and frequently lift up to 50 pounds.
• Be able to work in a standing position for long periods of time (up to 9 hours).

Salary & Benefits

• Retirement Plan: After seven months of employment, within a 24-month period, eligible for the company 401k Plan.
• Flexible Spending Account: To complement the health insurance coverage, after 30 days employment, eligible to participate in ROW’s FSA (Flexible Spending Account) that allows pre-tax wages to be withheld to pay for medical expenses not covered by health insurance or health insurance deductibles, or other dental, optical or other medically related expenses as defined by Federal Laws governing these plans.
• Salary DOE.

Applying For A Position:

• Study everything carefully at our website, including this job description.
• Make sure your goals and ours match.
• Send a resume and any other documentation that you might have to jobs@RiverDanceLodge.com or the address below.
• After reviewing your resume if we are interested we will ask you to fill out an application. If you do not have a resume prepared you can skip that step and just fill out the application.
• Fill out our application or call us a (208) 765-0841 to request a guide application packet.
• Mail all documentation to our office at PO Box 579, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816.
• Get Letter of Reference completed and submitted as requested.
• Depending on the position, various starting and ending dates may be accommodated.
• Pets are not allowed.
• Most positions are physically demanding and require lifting, bending, standing and kneeling.
• We usually try to wrap up our hiring by early March, but feel free to check with us if you discover the Rriver Dance Lodge after that date. Also, please use the Letters of Recommendation forms and have these returned by this deadline.
• Once your application has been received, you will be notified if you have been selected for a telephone interview. Generally interviews are conducted from January through March.

Application:

To download an application that you can print off, and fill out HERE