Head Chef

Head Chef

About us:

Head Chef The Canonbury

The Canonbury is a beautiful much-loved pub located in the leafy neighbourhood of Canonbury. Following an outstanding year of growth across all food revenue we are now entering an exciting new chapter. Our focus for 2026/27 is simple: not to do more but to do better.

We are looking for a Head Chef who is innovative creative and ambitious someone who wants to take The Canonbury to the next level and help shape the future of our food offering.

The Vision

After the success of the past financial year our strategy moving forward is centred on premium dining experiences exceptional ingredients and inspired menus.

Our Seafood Shack has recently been elevated with indulgent additions and luxury enhancements including half lobster caviar and refined premium extras creating a vibrant summer destination. Alongside this we are looking to draw inspiration from global cuisines infusing world flavours and techniques into our menus while staying true to our identity and commitment to quality.

Our Seasonal Supper Clubs have become hugely popular and will continue to evolve growing in creativity exclusivity and demand. These events are a platform for experimentation storytelling through food and creating memorable guest experiences.

While our summer strategy is firmly in place our next key focus is driving dining room trade throughout the week. We will introduce carefully curated food-led theme nights designed to attract guests earlier in the week and establish The Canonbury as a destination for exceptional dining at any time.

What We Stand For

Everything we do is underpinned by:

• High-quality premium ingredients

• Thoughtfully crafted globally inspired menus

• Impeccable execution

• Restaurant-level service standards

• A consistent elevated guest experience

The Kitchen

At the heart of everything we do is our beautiful open kitchen fully equipped with everything you need to deliver exceptional food. Just as importantly you will be joining a fantastic kitchen team who work hard support one another and consistently deliver to high expectations.

The Canonbury prides itself on being more than just a workplacewe are a big family unit. The collaboration between the kitchen and front of house is a huge part of our success and we work together to create a positive energetic environment where everyone takes pride in the guest experience.

The Role

As Head Chef you will lead the kitchen with creativity precision and passion. You will work closely with the management team to develop menus lead a talented brigade and ensure that every dish leaving the kitchen reflects the quality and ambition of The Canonbury.

You will be responsible for:

• Creating innovative seasonally driven menus

• Elevating our premium seafood offering and developing the Seafood Shack concept

• Leading the development of themed dining events and Seasonal Supper Clubs

• Maintaining exceptional standards of food quality consistency and presentation

• Managing kitchen operations food cost and supplier relationships

• Training mentoring and inspiring the kitchen team

• Ensuring a seamless collaboration between kitchen and front of house

Who Were Looking For

The ideal candidate will be:

• A creative and forward-thinking chef

• Passionate about premium ingredients and global flavours

• Experienced in leading high-performing kitchen teams

• Driven to deliver exceptional guest experiences

• Excited by the opportunity to shape and grow a food destination

The Opportunity

This is a rare opportunity for a talented Head Chef to take ownership of an already successful food offering and push it further - creatively commercially and reputationally.

At The Canonbury 2026/27 is about pushing boundaries refining our craft and delivering something truly special.

Being a Head Chef at Youngs:

We believe every pub should be different. This means that youll be writing your own recipes that match the food vision of your business using fresh seasonal ingredients. The food vision could be all about showcasing local produce country pub classics seafood small plates and sharers dry-aged meat - each pub is different and its up to you as head chef to put your own creative stamp on that vision. We work with fresh seasonal produce so the menu should constantly evolve to showcase these fantastic ingredients when they are at their best. Premium fresh food crafted by skilled chefs in Premium Pubs .

What we offer ourHead Chefs:

• Head Chefs get to have full autonomy to createyour own menus and specials
• Access to our Apprenticeship Scheme and Development Programmes
• Access to regular culinary masterclasses covering topics such as Game Butchery and Shellfish
• Access to inspirational food trips with our top quality suppliers
• Regular Chef Forums with other Head Chefs to inspire and develop
• Free meals
• 20% discount in all Youngs Pubs and 30% discount on overnight stays in our Pubs with Rooms
• Share save Scheme
• Enhanced Company Pension Scheme
• 28 Days Holiday per year

What we look for in aHead Chef:

This rolerequires someone that can inspire a team to bring out the potential and leadby example whilst being able to develop cost and produce fresh seasonal menusfor the variety of revenue streams within the business.

• Have experience championing excellent servicethrough quality food either as a Head Chef or in the position of Sous Chef
• Demonstrate a passion for leading and developinga team
• Be an active hands-on team player withexcellent communication skills
• Be responsible and able to manage the kitchenstaff rota training and all health and safety effectively at all times
• Be able to demonstrate your creativity andability to design and deliver new dishes for our menus and daily specials
• Demonstrate great planning and organisationalskills necessary to maintain effective controls with regard to both GP andlabour
• Have a pro-active approach to driving salesand delivering growth through engagement with both kitchen and front of houseteams