Kimberly Olson Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Chicago, Us

Chicago, Us

Culinary Director led the expansion of Rick Bayless' newest concept streetside concept Tortazo. Oversaw supply chain, procurement, recipe development, and culinary operations. Created and maintained inventory and recipe management systems on R365, Radar, & Cheftec for nutrtional and cost controls.Developed proprietary recipes with co-packers and manufacturers.Identified menu efficiences to reduce overall cost of goods and labor.Refined training materials to accelerate team on-boarding.Sole responsibility for kitchen layout, equipment selection, and vendor selection.

Oversaw 9 licensed Frontera restaurants ensuring quality control and operational excellence met brand standards. Menu and recipe development- continuous data analysis to identify areas of potential opportunity & how menu items were trending. Incorporated seasonal menu offerings to locations. Staff training and development- develop core training materials and initiate quarterly refresher training systems for brand loyalty.Supply chain management- identified suppliers that met and exceeded all natural pre-requisites and were capable of sizing to the business need without compromising quality. Discovered operational inefficiencies to align operators to excel to see maximum flow thru. Identified critical quality control points to ensure brand standards were met continuously. Created open communication for third party operators to create sustainable relationships for brand longevity.

Strategic Consulting, included menu development and recipe creation.Managed & developed new customers, while maintaining existing sales within assigned given sales territory.Coordinated sales transactions with food service producers to ensure demand was met.Communicated trends/pricing issues and other unique issues as it related to sales.

• Aggressively researched, identified, qualified, & targeted potential clients & develop access strategy to initiate contact• Developed & maintained relationships while understanding and communicating prospective customers' corporate culture• Exercised creativity and judgment in developing and evaluating sales and marketing strategies in selling farm-to-table local and seasonal produce and ingredients• Develop and lead strategy process with regard to: Competitive Environment, Account Sales Strategy & Development Strategy• Utilized resources and culinary expertise in order to design & deliver customer desired outcomes• Developed relationships with intermediaries to build pipeline of opportunities and awareness of capabilities• Represented the organization in the marketplace at various industry organizations and events• Built relationships personally with prospective customers• Provided appropriate market & competitive information

Chicago, Il, Us

• Opened two, farm to table restaurant concepts focusing on local, organic, and sustainable food products, and responsible for catering social events within the Museum. • Created compost and recycling program, souring 100% compostable goods. • Develop community partnership with local schools and shelters to promote food, and food knowledge • Responsible for hiring, training, and developing all levels of staff.• Profit and Loss Management, responsible for sourcing and procuring all food and supplies.

• Cater high profile high security events~ including NFL Super Bowl Headquarter Hotel ‘12• Purchaser of food, supplies, and equipment for banquets and sub-outlets • Responsible for leading banquet kitchen culinary and stewarding teams for 36,000 Sq. Ft of space• Proven results of a low food cost, labor parameters, and food & beverage profitability• Develop and continuously evolve menus and recipes• Drive sales team to sell profitable menus via menu engineering• Lead community partnerships for marketing events producing newspaper publicity• Opening Task Force Chef for Westin Birmingham February ‘13• Chefs Move to Schools mentor

• Premier 4-star Upscale 412 rooms + 35,000 square feet of private events space.As a member of the opening team, played an essential role in developing and executing menus for private and corporate events. Joined members of the sales team to help close business. Created unforgettable guest experiences by hosting chef tables for the Hotel's top customers. Devoted myself to excellence for which I earned recognition by being promoted to Executive Chef for a $3 million food and beverage operation.