Head Development Chef

About Lina Stores Lina Stores has been London's home of Italian food since 1944, starting as a deli on Brewer Street, Soho. Today it spans restaurants, delis and a growing retail and wholesale business, all built on fresh pasta made by hand at Lina Cucina, our Wimbledon food hub. The role A hands-on role, for a chef who is passionate about Italian food, developing Lina Stores pasta from the development bench to the restaurant plate. Your focus: ■ Menu changes developing and supporting seasonal and core menu changes across restaurants and delis ■ Innovation developing traditional handmade pasta shapes, ravioli and new dishes, sauces and products for restaurants, delis, retail and wholesale ■ Customer interaction Weekly daytime and evening pasta workshops in the Brewer Street Deli and Restaurants showcasing our handmade pasta Key responsibilities ■ Create, test and refine new dishes, menus, specials and deli products, and evolve existing ones for quality and margin ■ Present new dishes at regular tastings with the Culinary Director and senior team ■ Track trends, Italian regional cooking and new ingredients; test products with suppliers ■ Cost recipes to target GP and manage yields, waste and portion control ■ Keep recipes, specifications and allergen information accurate in our recipe system, including PPDS labelling for deli and retail products ■ In house training and upskilling of the Lina Stores Pasta Team ■ Prepare and style food for photoshoots and marketing launches About you: ■ Senior chef with real pasta making skill ■ Strong Italian cooking experience ■ Highly organised with close attention to detail ■ Familiar with recipe and stock management systems; comfortable with Excel and recipe costing ■ Confident presenting to guests; experience running demos, classes or customer-facing events a plus ■ Level 3 Food Safety (or willing to achieve it) and strong allergen knowledge What we offer ■ Work-life balanced hours: 5 days a week across Mon-Sat, every Sunday off ■ 28 days holiday and company pension ■ Staff meals and dining discount across Lina Stores restaurants and delis ■ Progression within a growing hospitality group ■ Up to 10% bonus of yearly salary, discretionary, subject to achieving KPIs.