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