Laszlo Watson
Cannonvale
Summary
Adept Chef with a proven track record at multiple busy restaurants enhancing meal preparation and presentation while ensuring food safety and sanitation. Excelled in staff coordination and grilling techniques, significantly improving kitchen efficiency. Skilled in creating made-to-order meals that cater to diverse dietary needs, demonstrating both culinary expertise and strong team leadership, as well as excellent time management skills and ability to complete multiple tasks at the same time.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Chef
KC's Bar & Grill
Airlie Beach, QLD
06.2023 - Current
- Responded to dietary concerns and food allergies, creating dishes to meet customer needs and palates
- Prepared meals from scratch using authentic, popular recipes to generate repeat business
- Prepared menu items including sauces and sides from scratch
- Maintained well-organized mise en place to keep work consistent
- Collaborated with staff members to create meals for large banquets
- Oversaw grill, stove, and oven, and cleaned equipment after every shift
- Prevented cross-contamination from utensils, surfaces, and pans when cooking and plating meals for food allergy sufferers
- Coordinated with team members to prepare orders on time
- Disciplined and dedicated to meeting high-quality standards
- Set up and broke down kitchen for service
- Prepared daily menu items to ensure that there was adequate stock for service
- Carried out defrosting of items daily to ensure that adequate ingredients for menu were ready to be prepared
Chef
Garden Bar Bistro
Airlie Beach, QLD
09.2024 - 12.2024
- Coordinated with team members to prepare orders on time.
- Oversaw grill, stove, and oven, and cleaned equipment after every shift.
- Evaluated food products to verify freshness and quality.
- Checked freezer and refrigerator prior to each shift to verify correct temperatures.
- Assisted with menu development and planning. Used experience from previous employers to help tweak and improve menu.
- Set up and broke down kitchen for service. ensuring that food safety guidelines where adhered too.
- Ran a busy busy pass coordinating with front of house team members to ensure that food was delivered to a high standard and on time ensuring excellent customer service.
- Handled and stored food to eliminate illness and prevent cross-contamination.
- Prevented cross contamination from utensils and other kitchen equipment ensuring dishes where created to meet customers needs and dietary concerns, this including but was not limited to modifying dishes and offering alternatives to customers.
- Encouraged Front of House staff to relay feedback on dishes back to the kitchen allowing dishes to be changed and tweaked for constant improvement.
- Created, cooked and plated large sharing platters for pre booked functions whilst also sending orders from the main restaurant, enabling a perfect combination of restaurant cooking and function cooking.
- Efficiently used time to ensure all prep was completed before service commenced ensuring a seamless service whilst also ensuring that all menu items were available.
Chef
Boatys
Airlie Beach, QLD
06.2023 - 12.2023
- Handled and stored food to eliminate illness and prevent cross-contamination
- Checked freezer and refrigerator prior to each shift to verify correct temperatures
- Coordinated with team members to prepare orders on time
- Disciplined and dedicated to meeting high-quality standards
- Set up and broke down kitchen for service
- Monitored food production to verify quality and consistency
- Used experience within faster paced restaurants to help improve efficiency of the current kitchen staff
- Worked closely with front-of-house staff to ensure fast and excellent quality of food within in a fast-paced kitchen
- Worked with other chefs to discuss and create specials for the menu
Chef
Pizza Express
Bishops Stortford, United Kingdom
09.2022 - 03.2023
- Monitored line processes to maintain consistency in quality, quantity, and presentation
- Responded to dietary concerns and food allergies, creating dishes to meet customer needs and palates
- Inventoried food, ingredient, and supply stock to prepare and plan vendor orders
- Handled and stored food to eliminate illness and prevent cross-contamination
- Operated pizza oven and other kitchen equipment safely to protect team members from harm and equipment from damage
- Prepared starters, sides and pasta dishes in accordance to company guidelines
- Organized and regulated food stock levels and deliveries ensuring that all deliveries were kept within safe temperatures and new stock was rotated
- Monitored and maintained clean working areas and cooking surfaces
- Maintained pizza-making and kitchen equipment to keep items in good working condition and kitchen operating smoothly
- Followed food safety and sanitation guidelines to prevent foodborne illnesses and promote customer health and safety
- Topped pizzas with right ingredients based on orders utilizing recipe-directed amounts and distribution methods
- Followed company recipes and production standards to satisfy customers
- Suggested actionable improvements to streamline training procedures
- Planned, prepared and suggested changes to menu that would complement the current menu and implemented these changes to the menu
Chef Apprentice
Miller and Carter
Hereford, United Kingdom
09.2018 - 03.2021
- Observed different kitchen chefs' preparation of sauces, breads, and other items to gain knowledge in diverse cooking and baking techniques
- Maintained well-organized mise en place to keep work consistent
- Modernized work processes to reduce guest wait times and boost daily output
- Measured high demand spices and commonly used ingredients to prevent overages and waste
- Worked as chef de partie to learn storage locations of fresh ingredients for daily use by station staff
- Rotated through all prep stations and sections to learn different techniques
- Trained kitchen staff to perform various preparation tasks under pressure
- Signed for deliveries, checked items into inventory and stocked goods into proper locations
- Prepped daily menu items to quickly deliver upon request
- Maintained food safety and sanitation standards
- Observed stock take and ordering of ingredients
- Worked closely within the kitchen team to meet high demand with delicious, on-recipe foods
- Kept kitchen clean and organized by performing daily maintenance tasks
- Was trained and confident in multiple different sections within the kitchen, this included starters, plating chef, grill chef and dessert chef
- Monitored and recorded wastage of items and implemented processes to reduce wastage
- Carried out defrosting of items daily to ensure that adequate stock levels of menu items were achieved for service
- Prepared dishes for customers with allergies in line with food safety guidelines ensuring that no cross contamination occurred and meal was allergen free
- Qualified - 23/01/2020
Education
Lifetime Training -
Miller And Carter Steak House
01.2020
High School Diploma -
Hereford Sixth Form Collage
09.2018
High School Diploma -
St Mary’s Roman Catholic High School
05.2017
Skills
- Regulatory Compliance
- Staff Coordination
- Meal Preparation
- Equipment Maintenance
- Made-to-order meals
- Food spoilage prevention
- Food presentation
- Grilling Techniques
- Food safety and sanitation
- Knife Skills
- Sauce preparation
- Effective communications
- Allergen awareness
Certification
- Level 2 in Australian Food Safety
- Level 2 Certificate in food safety and preparation (UK)
Languages
English
Timeline
Chef
Garden Bar Bistro
09.2024 - 12.2024
Chef
KC's Bar & Grill
06.2023 - Current
Chef
Boatys
06.2023 - 12.2023
Chef
Pizza Express
09.2022 - 03.2023
Chef Apprentice
Miller and Carter
09.2018 - 03.2021
High School Diploma -
Hereford Sixth Form Collage
High School Diploma -
St Mary’s Roman Catholic High School
Lifetime Training -
Miller And Carter Steak House