Chef - Full time

ABOUT HONEY'S HOUSE

Honey's House is a boutique, private-pay residential community on the 290 corridor between Austin and Dripping Springs. We serve 22 residents with a 1:7 caregiver ratio, an open-door family philosophy, and a Hill Country aesthetic built around comfort, dignity, and genuinely good food. Meals here aren't an afterthought. They're one of the ways we show residents they are cared for, every single day.

WHO YOU ARE

You're a trained chef who's genuinely curious about nutrition, not just someone who follows a recipe card. You know the difference between a therapeutic diet on paper and a therapeutic diet a resident will actually enjoy eating, and you find a way to deliver both. You care about where ingredients come from and what they do in the body.

You're organized enough to run a compliant kitchen and warm enough that residents look forward to seeing you. You want your name attached to food people remember.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

This is a rare kind of chef role. You won't be cooking for volume or turning tables, you'll be cooking for the same 22 people, day after day, and getting to know exactly how they like their eggs.

We're looking for a Chef with a Certified Dietary Manager (CDM) credential or equivalent certified dietary specialist background, someone who treats food as part of a resident's overall wellness, not just a meal on a schedule.

You'll build scratch-made, organic, whole-food menus, plan therapeutic diets with clinical accuracy, and bring a holistic point of view: food as nourishment, food as comfort, food that supports healing and quality of life.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Menu Planning & Nutrition

• Design scratch-made, organic-forward menus rooted in whole foods and holistic nutrition principles
• Plan, calculate, and prepare therapeutic and modified diets as ordered by residents' physicians or care team
• Build a rotating menu that is balanced, varied, and palatable, and post it in advance
• Document any variation from the posted menu
• Partner with the Wellness Director on residents' individual dietary needs, allergies, and preferences
• Bring a holistic lens to food as part of resident wellbeing: flavor, comfort, and nourishment together

Kitchen Operations

• Serve as the designated person responsible for food service for Honey's House
• Oversee three daily meals served at regular times
• Maintain a four-day supply of staple foods and a one-day supply of perishable foods at all times
• Source food only from approved, compliant suppliers; label, date, and properly store any food removed from its original container
• Maintain required food temperatures at every stage: cold food at 45°F or below, hot food at 140°F or above, reheated food to at least 165°F
• Keep freezer temperatures at 0°F or below and refrigerator temperatures at 41°F or below, verified with thermometers
• Maintain a clean, sanitary kitchen: proper handwashing, hair restraints, no tobacco in food areas, and sanitized dishwashing procedures
• Manage kitchen inventory, ordering, and vendor relationships alongside ownership and the GPO food program

Team & Culture

• Hire, train, and lead any part-time chef or kitchen staff
• Model food safety practices for all kitchen staff and caregivers who assist with meal service
• Bring the same warmth to the kitchen that Honey's House brings to resident care
• Build relationships with residents and families around food: birthdays, favorite dishes, and small moments that make Honey's House feel like home

WHAT YOU BRING

• Certified Dietary Manager (CDM/CFPP) credential, or equivalent certified dietary specialist certification, strongly preferred
• Current Texas Food Manager Certification (or ability to obtain prior to start)
• Culinary training or equivalent professional cooking experience, ideally in senior living, healthcare, or scratch-kitchen hospitality settings
• Working knowledge of therapeutic diets (renal, diabetic, cardiac, dysphagia/texture-modified, and similar)
• Genuine interest in holistic nutrition and food as part of a wellness-centered approach to care
• Comfortable with organic, scratch-made cooking and sourcing whole-food ingredients
• Understanding of, or willingness to learn, Texas ALF dietary and food safety standards (26 TAC §553)
• Clean criminal history; not listed on the Employee Misconduct Registry or Nurse Aide Registry
• Current or willing to complete TB screening prior to start, per facility policy

WHY HONEY'S HOUSE

You'll have real creative ownership over the menu, a private-pay kitchen budget that supports organic and scratch-made ingredients, and a small enough resident count that your food actually gets known and loved. This is a ground-floor role at a facility built to grow, with room for you to grow right alongside it.

⚖ Texas Compliance Note — 26 TAC §553.267(e)

Honey's House must designate, in writing, a person responsible for food service. This role fulfills that designation. Dietary services must include three meals daily with no more than a 16-hour span between meals, posted and retained menus for 30 days, correctly calculated and prepared therapeutic diets, a four-day supply of staple foods, and compliant food sourcing and storage.

Food service staff must follow safe temperature standards, sanitary handling and dishwashing procedures, hair restraints, and a tobacco-free food area.

⚖ Texas Compliance Note — 26 TAC §553.267(f) & Chapter 228 (Retail Food)

Kitchen staff must follow written infection control policies, including TB screening within two weeks of employment and annually, universal precautions, and proper handling of soiled items. Because Honey's House will house more than 17 residents, food service must also comply with 25 TAC Chapter 228 (Retail Food Establishments) and applicable local health ordinances, in addition to ALF-specific dietary rules.

⚖ Texas Compliance Note — Travis County Code Ch. 247 & 25 TAC Ch. 228 (TFER)

Honey's House is located in unincorporated Travis County, which is regulated by Austin Public Health's Environmental Health Services Division rather than a separate county health department. The kitchen must hold a Fixed Food Establishment Permit through Austin Public Health, pass a Pre-Opening Inspection prior to serving residents, and renew its Operational Permit annually.

A Certified Food Manager must be on staff and all food employees must hold current Food Handler certification, consistent with the Texas Food Establishment Rules (25 TAC Chapter 228).

Pay: $65,000.00 per year

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Experience

• Cooking: 2 years (Preferred)
• Food preparation: 2 years (Preferred)

Work Location: In person