La Jolla Groves

As Sous Chef at La Jolla Groves, a Southern Italian Americana fine dining restaurant, I help oversee the day-to-day kitchen operations, ensuring a seamless, high-quality dining experience. My role bridges culinary execution, team leadership, and operational efficiency, maintaining balance between the front and back of house while upholding the restaurant’s standards.

Key Responsibilities:

Culinary & Quality Control: Ensure all dishes meet presentation, plating, and quality standards, maintaining consistency and excellence in every service.

Staff Training & Leadership: Train and mentor kitchen staff, fostering a collaborative, high-performing team while ensuring adherence to recipes, techniques, and efficiency.

Cross-Department Coordination: Act as a liaison between front of house and back of house, promoting clear communication and a unified dining experience.

Daily Operations & Planning: Attend and actively contribute to daily group-building and planning meetings, strategizing for service and operational improvements.

Hiring & Talent Development: Conduct interviews for potential new hires and assist in onboarding, ensuring a well-trained and cohesive kitchen team.

Chef’s Tasting & Banquet Management: Assist in developing chef’s tasting menus and take an active role in banquet preparation and execution, ensuring smooth service for large-scale events.

Crisis Management & Kitchen Stability: Lead the team through high-pressure services, maintaining homeostasis in the restaurant by adapting to challenges and ensuring a positive, productive kitchen environment.


This role requires a strong balance of leadership, precision, and adaptability, ensuring La Jolla Groves delivers an exceptional dining experience every service.

Sous Chef

Acting Kitchen Manager

Line Cook

Vanders Keep

As Chef de Cuisine of Vanders Keep, a fine dining European-style restaurant within the $8.2 million/year immersive theme park Evermore, I managed both the restaurant’s high-end culinary program and multiple food stands across the 12.75-acre amusement park, ensuring an exceptional and thematically immersive dining experience.

Key Responsibilities:

Operational Leadership: Managed a multi-million dollar per year fine dining establishment while overseeing park-wide food service operations, optimizing kitchen workflows and service efficiency.

Multi-Unit Oversight: Directed food service across multiple themed park stands, supervising small teams (2-5 individuals per unit) to maintain consistency and quality throughout the park.

Kitchen & Staff Management: Led a team of 10 trained culinary professionals in Vanders Keep, ensuring seamless execution of fine dining service and kitchen operations.

Inventory & Cost Control: Conducted weekly and monthly inventory checks, managed product acquisition and ordering, and worked with vendors to reduce costs while maintaining quality standards.

Staff Recruitment & Scheduling: Hired, trained, and scheduled restaurant and park food service staff, ensuring optimal coverage and efficiency.

Budgeting & Procurement: Managed food costs, financial performance, and sustainable budgeting practices across all dining locations.


This role demanded a combination of culinary leadership, operational efficiency, and financial acumen, ensuring both Vanders Keep and park-wide food operations met high service and quality standards.

Chef De Cuisine

Slapfish Restaurant Group

Lead Line Cook

Maverik, Inc.

Adventure Guide

Bravo Investments

Customer Service and Sales Representative

HB Boys, L.C.

Shift Supervisor

I have many years of customer service experience. I am a motivated individual worker, I look for more efficient techniques to complete day to day tasks.

Taplio

David Behunin's Linkedin Analytics

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}David Behunin's Linkedin Analytics

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

David Behunin's Linkedin Analytics