The Gordon Hotel is a small country pub on Main Street in Gordon, halfway between Ballarat and Melbourne. We've got a public bar, a bottle shop and a bistro that's become the reason a lot of people make our pub their first choice. Locals come in for a parma and a beer after work; weekends we get families, the local footy club, travellers coming off the Western Freeway and regulars who've been sitting in the same spot for twenty years. It's a friendly, unpretentious room and we like it that way.

The food is honest, generous pub cooking done properly. Chicken parmas, steaks cooked to order, schnitzels, beer-battered flathead, burgers, pasta, salt and pepper calamari, a roast on Sundays, plus a specials board where we let the kitchen have some fun. Nothing fussy, but nothing lazy either — positive produce, cooked well, sent out hot.

The role

We're after an experienced chef to take the day-to-day running of our kitchen across lunch and dinner service, Wednesday to Sunday. You'll be the one setting the standard on the pass and keeping the back of house calm, clean and organised.

Day to day you'll be:
Running lunch and dinner service, leading the kitchen team on shift
Ordering and managing supplier relationships




Costing dishes and holding food cost / GP targets
Stock control, rotation, waste management and stocktakes
Menu and specials input — we want your ideas
Food safety, cleanliness and compliance

About you
Solid experience in a pub, bistro or similar high-volume kitchen
Confident running a service on your own and getting the best out of a small team
Comfortable with the numbers — ordering, costing and stock control
Reliable, level-headed and positive to work with
Current Food Safety Supervisor certificate (or willing to obtain)
Trade qualification (Cert III Commercial Cookery) preferred

What we offer
$75,000 – $80,000 plus superannuation
Full-time, Wednesday to Sunday with Monday and Tuesday off — two consistent days off every week, not a rotating roster
A supportive owner who backs the kitchen and doesn't micromanage it
Genuine input into the menu
A regular local crowd who appreciate positive honest pub food

If you're a chef who wants to run a kitchen properly and be part of a pub the town is proud of, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply through Seek with your CV and Cover Letter, or call in for a chat.

📌 Chef County Pub Bendigo
🏢 Gordon Hotel
📍 Bendigo