Line Cook

Havana Restaurant & Parilla

Looking to try something new and also be able to work in a positive and fun kitchen while doing so?

Come to Maine for the summer and fall! Enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors while you work alongside seasoned professionals passionate about food and wine. 

Looking for adventure and professional development?

We're hiring curious and hard-working individuals to come work in our kitchen(s) for the summer and fall seasons. Our restaurant has two sides - an indoor white table cloth experience on one side and an outdoor parrilla (or grill) on the other side! Both have their own personality and loyal clientele! 

Don't think you have "enough experience"?

Even if you don't have a ton of experience, we're always happy to train and give staff professional development experiences! From weekly wine school every Thursday to working a variety of different stations to working with a diverse group of people who have varying experiences and backgrounds themselves - you'll learn a lot and have a great time along the way! 

The Job

The Line Cook is to cook delicious dishes in the kitchen. They will perform routine kitchen tasks such as setting up workstations and ingredients, and then prepare dishes according to recipes.

They will report to the head chef and ensure that all dishes are made in a timely manner and in accordance with the standards set in the kitchen.

Responsibilities

• Set up and stocking stations with all necessary supplies
• Prepare food for service (e.g. chopping vegetables, butchering meat, or preparing sauces)
• Cook menu items in cooperation with the rest of the kitchen staff
• Answer, report and follow chef or sous chef’s instructions
• Clean up station and take care of leftover food
• Stock inventory appropriately
• Ensure that food comes out simultaneously, in high quality and in a timely fashion
• Comply with nutrition and sanitation regulations and safety standards
• Maintain a positive and professional approach with coworkers and customers

Requirements

• Knowledge of health and safety rules in a kitchen
• Manual dexterity able to operate cutting tools and kitchen utensils
• A team player with good communication skills
• Patient with an ability to stay positive under pressure

About Us

Havana Restaurant is located in Bar Harbor, Maine surrounded by the Atlantic ocean on one side and Acadia National Park on the other. Our restaurant is locally owned by a couple who met as restaurant workers, fell in love and then traveled together to Latin America in the off-season. Eventually, this led them down the path of starting their own restaurant, inspired by the Latin culture they loved. 24 years later, Havana is still a local staple for great food with an even better ambiance. We have live music 2-3 times a week, our bar makes the best mojito in town and our wine list is the most comprehensive north of Boston, winning the Wine Spectator award 20 years in a row. The restaurant is operational almost the entirety of the year except for 6 weeks in the winter when the owners inevitably head back to Latin America to load up on their favorites before another season begins. 

The Employee Experience

Havana has two sides - the inside and the Parilla. The "inside" is white tablecloths, bluesy music from the Spanish guitar, Paella and Moqueca grace the menu, and the pace is one of leisurely enjoyment - in the dining room at least. The Parilla side, translated to "grill" in Spanish, has a much more lively pace, the menu features tapas style boards (similar to charcuterie but make it grilled), our bar has a selection of over 10 tequilas and 10 more mezcals and the music is sassy, sometimes Latin inspired and sometimes bartender's choice. There's an indoor kitchen which separates the two halves of the restaurant and there's of course an outdoor grill. In total, FOH & BOH staff is less than 40 people in our peak season. We eat staff meal together every day, we have weekly "wine" school to learn about the 60 + pages of wine from our Sommelier and we make good money. Plus, the restaurant itself doesn't open until 4pm, so there's no early breakfast/dinner shifts. We're open 7 days a week in the season because the reservations demand it. Those who work here are dedicated, hard working, fun and they learn a lot. There's always a new special - whether food, drink or otherwise - and always something to learn. Oh and by the way, we get a pretty great discount on both the food and the drink - it’s not uncommon for employees to come in to eat on their days off!  

Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate is someone cool, hard working and (preferably) experienced. They take their job seriously, they take their food seriously, but they definitely don’t take themselves seriously. They know when to work hard and when to play hard. When they win, we celebrate it all together. When they make a mistake, they own it and they try again next time. Our ideal candidate is fast to learn and slow to complain. Most importantly, we want staff who are willing to do their job well - because we believe that’s the only way to really do a job. 

Room and Board

We offer housing in the surrounding and downtown Bar Harbor areas. If you're downtown, you don't need a car much as everything is within walking distance (max 20 minutes). Those housed in the surrounding Bar Harbor area will likely need a car as the commute could be up to 15 minutes from our farthest housing property. Almost all our housing is single room occupancy, shared housing, most of which is a house, a few are apartments. They're not luxurious but they're centrally located and if you come to Bar Harbor, you likely won't want to spend much of your time in your room anyways. Each housing unit will also have a shared kitchen and bathroom. Most have laundry facilities though not all. Unfortunately, our places are not pet friendly. If you want to source your own housing, I wish you luck but also recommend you utilize Facebook groups for the little you may find. 

Employee Perks

Outside of great money to be made, you will have access to Acadia National Park and a free bus system to get around the island. Also, within Bar Harbor, so long as you have a pay stub a lot of the local tour companies will give you 50% off their services so you can ideally try them out to then rave about them to your customers. We also own 5-6 other restaurants around the island which employees receive a discount at all of them. Lastly, if you like food and wine, there’s a weekly farmers market, our weekly wine school and also lots of outdoor centric activities that involve food (search MOFGA Common Ground Fair).

Getting Here and Getting Around

We definitely recommend bringing your own wheels if it's an option. If you don’t have that option though, Bar Harbor is super walk-able and there’s a free bus (search island explorer) that goes to all sides of the island between the months of June - September.

For Fun

If we haven’t made it sound fun enough already please note that for lovers of food, the outdoors and especially the ocean this is your place. Maine has great people and those who come here rarely want to leave - at least until the winter months arrive.