Development Chef

Salary: £55,000-£60,000
Location: London
Focus: 70% Food Development & R&D | 30% Events

Love creating food as much as cooking it?

I'm recruiting a Food Development Chef for a premium London events business, taking the lead on new dishes, menus and culinary concepts across the operation.

This is a genuinely creative role, but it's not development for development's sake. You'll take ideas from initial concept and tasting through to costing, specification, training and live delivery – creating food that looks incredible, tastes brilliant and actually works at event scale.

Salary & Benefits

£55,000-£60,000 salary70% development and R&D focusedAround 30% live events and deliveryCompany pensionHoliday allowanceStaff mealsTraining and developmentExcellent long-term progression

The Operation

Premium London events and catering.Luxury private and corporate events.Canapés, bowl food and sharing menus.Fine dining, buffets and bespoke menus.Client tastings and venue-specific concepts.High-volume production alongside premium presentation.

The Role

Lead food development and R&D across the business.Create new dishes, menus and event concepts.Respond creatively to client briefs and seasonal trends.Run tastings and develop ideas around client feedback.Test, cost and document new recipes.Develop plating and production specifications.Ensure dishes are commercially viable and scalable.Train chefs to deliver new menus consistently.Stay hands-on with live events around 30% of the time.

About You

Development Chef, Innovation Chef, Executive Chef or senior events chef.Premium events, luxury hospitality, banqueting or food development background.Strong menu and recipe development experience.Confident with food costing, GP and ingredient sourcing.Understands high-volume production without compromising quality.Creative, curious and genuinely excited by food.Commercially minded and highly organised.

We're looking for someone who can create an incredible canapé for 10 people - and understand exactly how to make it work just as brilliantly when you need 1,000 of them.

If you want a role where food development genuinely is the job, rather than something squeezed in around running service, this is a fantastic opportunity.

Apply today or send your CV to yasmin AT corecruitment DOT com