Derek Hunt Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

New York, United States

► Opened 3 Ole & Steen bakeries and 1 commissary in NYC in 1 year. ► Hit margin within 0.5% for 14 consecutive months. ► Successfully introduced new products in 5 consecutive quarters. ► Won Eater’s award for Best Hot Sandwich of 2019 with the O&S braised beef toastie. ► Directed the implementation of key operational and organizational initiatives. ► Created and rolled out a system-wide standardization process to ensure impeccable operational execution and consistency between locations. ► Built and implemented a strategic plan for operational excellence, consistent production standards, and logistics. ► Enforced compliance, specifications, and regulations. ► Served as the voice of field operations with marketing and other internal teams as well as in communication with external vendors. ► Owned budgets, vendor negotiations, contract purchasing, and quality assurance. ► Traveled quarterly to Denmark for Ole & Steen’s global culinary conferences. ► Liaised directly with CEO, COO, and private equity board members, providing updates and recommendations, and ensuring branding translated successfully in the U.S. market. ► Hired, on-boarded, and guided employees. Established an open-door culture, providing opportunities for growth, development, and internal promotions. Improved morale and retention.

Greater New York City Area

► Oversaw 3 commissary teams, including the setup and operationalization of commissary locations throughout the United States. ► Developed menus, engineered processes, analyzed competition, and supervised location design. ► Reformatted the U.S. culinary program for scalability. Adapted universal systems of core disciplines. ► Optimized margins with menu development, menu process engineering, and competitive analysis of core assortment. ► Revitalized logistics and quality assurance strategies. ► Mentored chefs, encouraging creative collaboration, customization of regional tastes, and specialty development.

Greater New York City Area

► Conceived next-generation quick service restaurant for international launch. ► Conducted menu development, process engineering, competitive and logistical analysis, expense projections, and financial modeling. Composed rollout strategy. ► Collaborated on design with German architect firm Buro Ole Scheeren and delivered proof-of-concept with a full-scale mockup. ► Teamed with Global Bangkok HQ officials for alignment and coordination. Traveled to Bangkok and Berlin for design summits and concept development.

New York, Ny

► Updated Cookshop flagship location. Refreshed the back-of-house culture and unified the team by streamlining operations and improving scheduling system and employee communication. Bettered sanitation practices to obtain an “A” from the Department of Health. ► Achieved profitability for Vic’s by eliminating high labor and food costs. Re-evaluated plate cost composition, designed lunch and brunch menus, created standard operating procedures, and stabilized labor and food costs. ► Launched Rosie’s. Sped build-out and construction, which had fallen behind, by assuming a project manager role and developing timelines. Hired back-of-house and senior staff.► Created tools for maintaining food costs and labor expenditures. ► Generated equipment maintenance schedules. ► Evaluated and negotiated kitchen contracts. ► Simplified purchasing processes. ► Established comprehensive composting initiative. ► Expanded whole-animal butchery program.

New York, Ny

► Shaped menus, kitchen design, and back-of-house staffing for NYC’s first delivery-only restaurant. ► Grew to operate 3 concepts with tailored menus through the same kitchen and delivery process. ► Designed packaging to maintain food quality through delivery. ► Scaled business model and adapted standard operating procedures for growth. ► Established cost and tracking systems to ensure financial metrics were met.

New York, Ny

► Spearheaded the revival, rebranding, and re-launch of NYC restaurants. ► Conducted operating expense assessments and designed plans to streamline spending. ► Engineered new menus to boost profitability per guest. ► Developed products from concept to tasting to rollout across multiple locations. ► Created Culinary Engineers NY service to revamp back-of-house functions. Consultants temporarily replaced staff, wrote menus, and controlled budgets to stabilize operations. Transitioned roles to permanent staff once renovation efforts were complete.► Crafted dumpling and small plate menu items for Genji Sushi’s 80 locations across the U.S. and UK. Used market, competitor, and trend analysis to inform concepts. Implemented quality control. Developed new manufacturing processes to improve quality and reduce costs. ► Conceived the first real-fruit soft-serve product for Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co. Built standard operating procedures, production floor and manufacturing equipment design, and training practices. Developed products for various consumer needs. Scaled business with capacity to manufacture thousands of products per day. ► Opened and re-launched notable restaurants such as Restaurant 343, Beekman Kitchen, LeZinc, Odeon, Café Luxembourg, and Saltaire Yacht Club.

Certified Cook, Culinary Arts Program

Master Of Italian Cuisine, Culinary Arts/Chef Training