Being a chef doesn't have to mean giving up your evenings.
There are plenty of things people love about working in kitchens.
Creating food from scratch.
Planning menus.
Seeing empty plates come back.
There are also the late finishes, weekends, unpredictable covers and someone ordering just as you've started cleaning down.
A nursery kitchen is a very different world.
Tiny Tots Recruitment is looking for a Nursery Chef / Cook in Oundle to take responsibility for preparing nutritious meals and snacks for young children within a well-established early years setting.
The nursery itself operates Monday to Friday, so your customers are considerably smaller than the ones you might be used to and none of them will be booking a table for Saturday night.
This isn't reheating trays of pre-made food
Food is a genuine part of the nursery's approach.
Meals are prepared from raw and basic ingredients, with produce sourced locally wherever possible.
The nursery has invested in Thermomix equipment to give its kitchen team greater flexibility in preparing fresh food, and menus include everything from homemade pizza with dough prepared that morning to pasta dishes, fish, fresh snacks and desserts.
Children even get involved in menu tasting sessions, giving their opinions on new dishes before they become part of the regular menu.
So there is room here for somebody who actually likes food.
Not just somebody who can get lunch onto plates by 11:45.
Your diners range from babies to preschoolers
Which brings a different kind of challenge.
You'll need to think carefully about:
Age-appropriate meals and portion sizes Nutritional balance Allergies and dietary requirements Safe preparation for babies and young children Texture and presentation Food hygiene Cross-contamination Meal and snack timings across different nursery rooms
The setting is a completely nut-free environment and states that it can cater for individual dietary requirements and allergies.
Its current Chef recruitment specifically includes responsibility for preparing nutritious meals and snacks, following dietary guidance and menu plans, coordinating meal times with the nursery team, monitoring portions and maintaining high food-safety standards.
You'll run the kitchen, not just cook in it
This role goes beyond standing at the stove.
You'll also be involved in:
Preparing fresh meals and snacks Managing day-to-day kitchen operations Maintaining excellent cleanliness and hygiene Managing stock and ingredients Supporting menu planning Monitoring food storage Catering for allergies and individual dietary requirements Controlling portion sizes Coordinating food service with practitioners Making sure meals reach rooms at the right time Maintaining accurate food-safety procedures Working closely with the nursery team
Experience with menu planning, inventory management and food-service operations within childcare or a similar environment is particularly useful.
And you're feeding quite a few people
The Oundle nursery is registered for up to 72 children.
Its latest Ofsted information recorded 72 children on roll and a team of 21 childcare staff, so this is a proper working nursery kitchen rather than preparing lunch for twelve children in a tiny preschool.
You'll need to be organised.
Anyone can make one perfect plate.
The skill here is making nutritious food safely, consistently and on time for an entire nursery.
The environment is a little different from hospitality too
The setting combines:
Nursery Preschool Forest School
and operates for 51 weeks of the year, Monday to Friday.
So this isn't a school cook role that disappears during every half-term, but equally you're not dealing with the evening and weekend pattern found in restaurants and hotels.
For someone coming from hospitality who wants to keep cooking while moving towards a more family-friendly working environment, that's probably the biggest selling point of the whole vacancy.
What comes with the role?
Current recruitment for this exact Oundle Chef position includes:
£12.71 to £14.00 per hour Part-time opportunity Monday to Friday nursery environment Company pension Childcare benefit Employee discount Referral programme Cycle to work scheme Free parking On-site parking Fresh food prepared in-house Opportunity to contribute to menus Established 72-place nursery Forest School setting
If you're looking for a Nursery Chef job in Oundle, Nursery Cook role near Peterborough or a weekday catering job in PE8 working with fresh food, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply today through Tiny Tots Recruitment for a confidential conversation about the opportunity.