Chef - Pakistani Restaurant

About Night Diner

Night Diner is a Richmond restaurant specialising in authentic Pakistani and South Asian cuisine, including curries, karahi dishes, rice, naan and vegetarian favourites. As part of its planned expansion, Night Diner intends to extend its operating hours and introduce new dishes to broaden the menu and meet growing customer demand. Serving dine-in, takeaway and delivery customers, the kitchen must maintain consistent flavour, freshness and presentation throughout busy service periods.

About the role

We are looking for an experienced and dependable Chef to lead Night Diner's day-to-day kitchen operations. The successful candidate will prepare and cook our core dishes, contribute to menu development, coordinate service, guide junior kitchen staff and maintain strong food-safety and cost-control practices.

Key duties and responsibilities

• Plan and refine menus in consultation with management, including seasonal dishes, daily offerings and options suitable for customers' dietary requirements.

• Prepare and cook Pakistani and South Asian dishes to Night Diner's recipes and standards, with close attention to spice balance, texture, portion size and presentation.

• Monitor food quality at each stage of preparation and service, and ensure dine-in, takeaway and delivery orders leave the kitchen consistently and on time.

• Estimate food, ingredient and labour requirements; assist with pricing, portion control and measures that reduce waste while protecting quality.

• Order ingredients and kitchen supplies, check deliveries, rotate stock and maintain appropriate storage levels for fresh produce, meat, dry goods and prepared foods.

• Prepare dishes for special dietary requests and communicate clearly with front-of-house staff about ingredients, allergens and availability.

• Explain, implement and monitor food-safety, hygiene and WHS procedures, including temperature control, safe storage, cleaning and sanitising of work areas and equipment.

• Coordinate kitchen workflow during evening and late-night service, allocate duties and support the team to meet customer demand during peak periods.

• Train and mentor cooks and kitchen assistants in recipes, preparation methods, safe work practices and Night Diner's quality expectations.

• Contribute to the selection of kitchen staff and assess performance, skill development and training needs in consultation with management.

• Where required, apply safe chilling, freezing and other food-preservation methods to maintain quality and minimise spoilage.

Qualifications and experience

• Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery and a Diploma or Advanced Diploma in Commercial Cookery are essential.

• At least 1 year of relevant experience in a similar environment.

• At least three years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualification requirement.

• Demonstrated experience preparing Pakistani, Indian or closely related South Asian cuisine, including curry and karahi-style dishes.

• Practical experience with menu planning, stock control, ordering, food-cost management and portion control.

• Sound knowledge of food hygiene, allergen awareness, safe food handling and workplace health and safety requirements.

• Strong communication, organisation and team-leadership skills, with the ability to remain calm during high-volume service.

• Availability to work rostered evenings, weekends and late-night shifts.

What we are looking for

You will be reliable, self-motivated and genuinely interested in producing flavourful, well-presented food. You will lead by example, communicate respectfully with colleagues and take ownership of kitchen standards from preparation through to close-down.

Salary

You will receive a competitive annual salary ranging from $78,000 to $82,000, plus superannuation.