Mr. Watson

Join the rhythm of

Fungi & Fire.

Work at Mr. Watson.

Head Chef

Are you a chef who understands mushrooms as an ingredient category of their own, and sees fire as a collaborator rather than a tool?

For our Botanical Roast Room, we are looking for a Head Chef with vision, authority, and deep respect for ingredients. Someone who knows how fermentation, fungi, and fire interact, and how time, smoke, and heat transform flavor. This is a kitchen where mushrooms lead, fermentation adds depth, and vegetables find their most expressive form over wood and charcoal. Plant-based is our framework, not our message.

Our Philosophy

  • Cooking over open fire: wood, charcoal, smoke, and temperature control
  • Mushrooms as the backbone of the kitchen
  • Lion's Mane, shiitake, oyster mushrooms, and local, seasonal varieties
  • Fermentation as a core technique:
  • For depth, umami, preservation, and texture
  • Ingredient-driven cooking with minimal manipulation
  • Plant-based by nature, focused on flavor, structure, and craft
  • A kitchen that delivers 75–100 covers per evening with consistency and precision
  • Food as edible art: bold, grounded, and uncompromising

Your Profile

  • Proven experience as a Head Chef or in a senior Sous Chef role
  • Deep knowledge of, or strong fascination with, mushrooms and fermentation
  • Comfortable working in a plant-based kitchen without seeing it as restrictive
  • Strong affinity with fire cooking
  • Experience with Green Egg, Josper, or braai is a strong plus
  • A grounded, confident leader:
  • Calm under pressure
  • Clear in expectations
  • Approachable, but decisive
  • You cook from understanding, not from trends

What we offer

  • The opportunity to lead a distinctive, ingredient-driven fire kitchen
  • Working hours:
  • Full-time
  • A fair, market-based salary aligned with responsibility and experience
  • Space to deepen, refine, and evolve the concept within clear boundaries