Full-Time Single Origin Chocolate & Coffee Barista
Job Description
The Chocolate Lab, located within the newly opened J House hotel, will be THE special destination for Artisanal Chocolate, Dessert, Coffee, and Tea in Greenwich. We are looking for Baristas with personal interest and passion for “transparency to source” coffee, tea, and chocolate.
The environment requires a special person who can balance the ability to multi-task efficiently, work clean and fast, and provide an appropriate service experience for each customer, based on their needs. You will need to be both knowledgeable and down to earth in your explanation to customers of our Chocolate, Coffee, and Tea origins and preparation methods. Treating customers with respect shares the same level of importance as the quality of the products.
The job requires both initial and ongoing intensive technical training regarding preparation techniques, products served and their origins and preparation. This is a skilled craft position.
Duties and Responsibilities
Greet and interact with all customers. Prepare beverages and sell chocolate, coffee, tea, and other store merchandise.
Maintain coffee, chocolate, and dessert knowledge on current offerings and confidently and accurately communicate product information to customers. Respond to questions, orders, and concerns.
Taste espresso, coffee, tea, chocolate each shift worked to improve product knowledge and troubleshoot/correct any product problems.
Contribute to store profitability by following cash handling and cash register policies and procedures and maintaining efficiency in handling inventory.
Be able to educate customers on all chocolate, espresso, coffee, teas, and retail products carried and also these subjects:
“Bean to bar” production of Omanhene chocolate and other purveyors we use
“Bean to cup” production of single origin coffee and espresso
“Leaf to cup” production of single origin, orthodox loose leaf tea
– Basic science behind espresso as well as various coffee and tea brew methods
Assist in the training and development of new employees.
Offer relevant, well-thought out ideas and suggestions for improving store operations.
Attend all individual and company scheduled training sessions to constantly advance education on coffee, tea, merchandise, and espresso bar skills.
Collaborate with other team members on bar as well as Executive Chef, Sous Chef, Pastry Chef and all other areas of the hotel professionally, respectfully and with integrity.
This is a unique and ground-breaking opportunity to work in a large hospitality environment where the Executive Chef is fully committed the principles and techniques for making specialty coffee and tea. More on Chef Francois Kwaku-Dongo here:
FRANÇOIS KWAKU-DONGO
Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Services
Chef François oversees the culinary operations of Omanhene with primary responsibility for new product development, restaurant development and formulating strategic partnerships within the hospitality and broadcasting/multi-media industries. Born in Côte d’Ivoire, Kwaku-Dongo grew up working on his grandmother’s cocoa farm. He came to the US in his twenties to work at the United Nations and began cleaning restaurants at night to make extra money. He quickly worked his way up the restaurant hierarchy.
Wolfgang Puck chose François to take responsibility for all prep work on Puck’s “Good Morning, America” appearances; Kwaku-Dongo then moved to Los Angeles to work as a line cook for Puck at Spago West Hollywood. In 1991, Kwaku-Dongo became Executive Chef at Spago. In 1992, François was voted one of the best upcoming young chefs in Los Angeles. Food critic Ruth Reichl of the Los Angeles Times credits François with introducing artisan pasta to California Cuisine.
Puck elevated Kwaku-Dongo to Partner and chose him to serve as Executive Chef of Spago in Chicago. From his Chicago base, Chef François significantly expanded Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events — the private catering division of the Wolfgang Puck enterprise providing catering services for events such as The Academy Awards, cultural institutions such as The Museum of Contemporary Art and corporate clients such as investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Chef François is a 2008 James Beard Award Nominee and was featured in a recent Forbes magazine article as one of ten up-and-coming celebrity chefs. He was invited to be a guest challenger on the hit TV show Iron Chef America. Chef François has been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Magazine, Wine Spectator and was profiled in Gourmet Magazine.
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