Executive Chef

Pacific Hospitality Group provides a unique value proposition to investors and team members through our owner/operator approach. We are a family focused company committed to long term holds that enable us to grow our business and our team members. Our vision is to enrich people’s lives by offering memorable experiences, giving back to our communities and honoring God in all that we do. We are focused on long-term value creation and sustainable growth.

Our Guiding Principles

Integrity, Compliance, Value Creation, Principled Entrepreneurship, Customer Focus, Knowledge, Change, Humility, Respect, & Fulfillment

Executive Chef

Meritage Resort & Spa

The salary for this position is $155k-165k

At Meritage Resort & Spa, our culinary team creates memorable dining experiences across luxury restaurants, banquet and catering events, weddings, conferences, resort celebrations, and special activations. Every culinary experience is an opportunity to showcase exceptional food, thoughtful presentation, and the gracious hospitality of Napa Valley.

We’re looking for our next Executive Chef to lead a resort-wide culinary operation and a team of approximately 100 culinary professionals. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, strategic, and hands-on culinary leader who thrives in a dynamic resort environment and understands how to deliver exceptional quality and consistency across restaurants and large-scale events.

Reporting directly to the resort’s Director of Food & Beverage, the Executive Chef will oversee all culinary operations at Meritage Resort & Spa. This position is responsible for culinary direction, menu development, team leadership, financial performance, food quality, food safety, and production planning

Who You Are

You are an accomplished culinary leader who understands that successful resort operations are built through vision, preparation, organization, communication, and teamwork. You can see the big picture while remaining engaged in the details that make each guest experience exceptional.

You lead with presence, professionalism, and accountability. You are comfortable moving between restaurant kitchens, banquet operations, event spaces, and administrative responsibilities while maintaining a consistent focus on quality, hospitality, and financial performance.

You understand how to balance creativity with execution. You can develop distinctive culinary concepts and menus while ensuring that recipes, systems, staffing, purchasing, and production plans support a profitable and sustainable operation.

You enjoy developing people and building strong teams. You communicate expectations clearly, recognize great performance, address challenges promptly, and create an environment where employees feel supported, valued, and motivated to succeed.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the overall culinary operation for all resort restaurants, banquet and stewarding.

• Direct, coach, schedule, and develop a culinary team of approximately 100 employees, including banquet chef, chef de cuisines, director of steawrding, cooks, stewards, and culinary support positions.

• Establish and execute the resort’s culinary vision, standards, operating procedures, and strategic priorities.

• Provide leadership and direction across multiple restaurant kitchens, banquet kitchens, production areas, event spaces, and specialty culinary operations.

• Partner with Food & Beverage Director to develop annual operating plans, business strategies, revenue goals, and culinary priorities.

• Maintain a visible presence throughout the culinary operation, including restaurant service, banquet preparation, event execution, tastings, and high-volume production periods.

• Oversee the quality, consistency, presentation, timing, and execution of all food served throughout the resort.

• Develop and maintain culinary concepts that reflect the Meritage Resort & Spa brand, Napa Valley, seasonal ingredients, and the expectations of resort guests and local clientele.

• Lead menu development for restaurants, banquets, seasonal activations, holiday programming, special events, VIP experiences, and culinary promotions.

• Review and approve menus, recipes, plating standards, photographs, production procedures, and portion-control guidelines.

• Ensure that restaurant and banquet menus are creative, operationally executable, financially responsible, and aligned with guest expectations.

• Collaborate with restaurant leaders and culinary teams to maintain consistency across all outlets and service periods.

• Partner with the Events, Banquets, and Conference Services teams to review event requirements, group resumes, banquet event orders, timelines, guarantees, menus, and special requests.

• Lead culinary planning for weddings, conferences, executive meetings, galas, wine dinners, social events, and large-scale resort celebrations.

• Ensure that all culinary requirements for events are properly planned, communicated, staffed, and executed.

• Oversee wedding and event tastings while ensuring that menu selections can be executed successfully at the contracted guest count and service level.

• Coordinate production across multiple kitchens, restaurant outlets, event venues, outdoor spaces, and specialty locations.

• Manage food cost through accurate forecasting, purchasing, recipe costing, production planning, portion control, inventory management, and waste reduction.

• Manage culinary labor through effective scheduling, productivity planning, overtime control, cross-utilization, and staffing adjustments based on business volume.

• Establish appropriate staffing models and labor standards for restaurants, banquet operations, catering, special events, and seasonal activations.

• Ensure accurate ordering, receiving, labeling, storage, rotation, and organization of all culinary products using FIFO and food safety best practices.

• Establish and maintain appropriate inventory and par levels based on forecasts, menus, occupancy, event volume, and operational needs.

• Review sales forecasts, event guarantees, production quantities, and business levels to minimize waste while ensuring sufficient product is available for successful execution.

• Assist with annual budgeting, forecasting, capital planning, expense management, and financial performance reviews for the culinary department.

• Review financial results and operating reports, identify variances, and develop action plans to improve revenue, profitability, productivity, and guest satisfaction.

• Recruit, interview, hire, onboard, train, coach, evaluate, and retain a high-performing culinary team.

• Develop sous chefs, chefs de cuisine, supervisors, and cooks through ongoing feedback, cross-training, succession planning, and clearly defined performance expectations.

• Establish career-development opportunities and a leadership pipeline for the culinary department.

• Ensure employees receive proper training on recipes, cooking techniques, equipment, workplace safety, sanitation, allergens, food safety, and service standards.

• Foster a positive culinary culture built on accountability, respect, communication, collaboration, creativity, and continuous improvement.

• Address employee performance, attendance, conduct, and workplace concerns promptly and consistently in partnership with resort leadership and People & Culture.

• Ensure compliance with all company policies, health department regulations, food safety requirements, sanitation standards, allergen protocols, and HACCP procedures.

• Maintain clean, organized, efficient, and safe culinary environments throughout all kitchens, storage areas, preparation spaces, and event locations.

• Monitor kitchen equipment and facility conditions, reporting maintenance needs, capital requirements, and safety concerns promptly.

• Develop strong vendor and supplier relationships while ensuring purchasing decisions support quality, consistency, availability, and fi