# Working as a Garden Centre Chef with The Chef Tree

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Over recent years, gardening has become one of the most popular leisure activities in the United Kingdom, with widespread coverage on TV and radio and in magazines and newspapers. Traditionally the garden centre was used by people who owned large gardens but the rise of flat and apartment dwellings has seen an equal rise in people decorating any outdoor space they have with container-grown plants and pre-planted pots. It is now possible to make any balcony or small outdoor space a ‘green zone’. As the UK has become more aware of green issues so the demand for eco-friendly products such as composters and water butts has grown.

All of this means that the garden centre market has grown massively. With large numbers of people visiting throughout the week and especially at weekends, garden centres have been keen to offer their customers food and drink and so the garden centre restaurant has grown and grown (if you’ll excuse the pun!). Many garden centre restaurants have got such fantastic reputations that people come along just to eat and drink, with shopping now an after-thought.

## Types of venue

- Head Chef
- Chef De Partie
- Cook

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## What skills do you need to work in a garden centre kitchen?

### Kitchen skills

A chef needs to run a smooth-operating kitchen. Doing so requires the implementation and maintenance of sanitary practices to ensure that a kitchen remains hygienic and that the food patrons receive is safe to consume. In addition, chefs are responsible for maintaining the necessary health and safety standards and should know how to apply first aid in the case of burns, cuts or other accidents in the kitchen.

Kitchen staff work with a wide range of equipment and tools, such as meat slicers, mixers, food processors and deep fryers. A chef needs to know how to operate everything in a kitchen so that they can ensure that kitchen staff use all equipment and tools correctly and safely. It’s also their responsibility to ensure that all equipment is properly maintained.

### Food preparation skills

Whether a chef acquires this knowledge by attending a culinary school or through on-the-job training and experience, they need superior cooking and culinary skills. These include knowledge of the various cooking techniques applied in classic and modern cuisine, a refined palate to carefully balance flavours and seasoning and an understanding of wine and food pairing. A chef should also understand how to divide the duties in the kitchen and guide their execution.

### Business skills

Apart from creating an exciting menu and ensuring that kitchen staff produce high-quality dishes, it’s a chef’s responsibility to guarantee the profitability of a kitchen. This means that they need basic accounting skills, including the ability to plan and create budgets and control labour and food costs. An important aspect of staying within a budget is purchasing quality products at the right cost, which involves choosing the correct suppliers.

Running a cost-efficient operation also requires hiring competent kitchen staff and paying them at a fair rate while also ensuring that employee salaries don’t exceed budgetary requirements. In addition, a chef must ensure unnecessary food wastage in a kitchen and must enforce strict inventory control.

### Knowledge of nutrition

Working as a chef requires a solid understanding and an awareness of nutrition. Besides focusing on creating tasty and attractive dishes, a chef needs to consider the nutritional value of the food they present to customers. Factors to keep in mind when planning menu dishes, for instance, is the body’s ability to process various foods and whether certain products can cause an allergic reaction.

Quality chefs typically aim to serve healthy, fresh and nutritionally balanced food by sourcing their ingredients locally where possible and refraining from using artificial food colouring, MSG and GMO products in their dishes.

## What experience do you need to work in a garden centre kitchen?

To work in a garden centre kitchen you should have professional cooking experience and have;

- Experience with fresh food (from scratch cooking)

- Able to be part of a small team

- Positive can-do attitude

- Passionate about food

- Able to work to budgets and KPI’S

- Punctual & presentable

- Problem solver

You get to go to different venues, you’re not stuck in the same job endlessly, not boring. You don’t have to go back when you don’t like somewhere and there is a variety of jobs.

James Avery

Working for The Chef Tree is completely different from being a full-time chef. You choose the hours you want to do, fill in your portal, and everything is arranged around that.

Neil Roach

## What does The Chef Tree Pay for a garden centre Chef?

Our rates are dependent on your experience but a CDP can expect to earn £14 p.h, a sous chef, £16 p.h, a Head chef, £18 p.h and an Executive chef or weekend care home chef, £20 p.h.

## What are the benefits of working for TCT?

When you join The Chef Tree you will be entitled to the following amazing benefits;

Competitive rates of pay. Our current rate for a cook is £16ph.

Our Monthly Bonus Scheme - Complete 166 hours per month (just under 38.5 hours per week) and you will receive £100 bonus. This will be paid monthly.

Our Refer a Chef scheme – If you refer a chef to us you will receive £150 when the chef completes 5 shifts. The chef you refer will receive £75 on completion of 5 shifts.

Access to our online benefit partners, Pirkx - a benefit scheme for courses, health, wellbeing, shopping and more! For more information visit www.pirkx.com

Where can you work as a Garden Centre Chef?

Bristol
Weston-Super-Mare
Swindon
Chepstow

What our Chefs say!

I like working for The Chef Tree because of the freedom and the flexibility

Eva Kam

You get to go to different venues, you’re not stuck in the same job endlessly, not boring. You don’t have to go back when you don’t like somewhere and there is a variety of jobs.

James Avery

Working for The Chef Tree is completely different from being a full-time chef
You choose the hours you want to do, fill in your portal, and everything is
arranged around that

Neil Roach

Dont just take our word for it

Dont just take our word for it, This is what our chefs say about working for the chef tree

Apply Now!
Get a Quote!

Call us: 071 8604 611