Volunteer chef for artists residency (1 two-week session, 2 one-week sessions)

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Chef-in-residence internships available for summer '16

Mineral, Washington - Mineral School (www.mineral-school.org), a nonprofit arts organization that offers writing and visual artists residencies, is offering four culinary internships this summer. If you are an independent and self-directed individual interested in helping evolve a food program for a retreat setting, if you are social and flexible, if you like a startup environment, if you’re improvisational, and if you like the idea of cooking from the kitchen of an old school 20 minutes from Mt. Rainier using as many local ingredients as we can source, please apply.

Application: Deadline April 15, 2017

Please e-mail an expression of interest to mineralschoolarts@gmail.com, and include your resume, preferred dates, a description of your culinary experience and how you could expand on it by cooking at an artists’ residency setting, and whether you will bring a vehicle to Mineral. Preference will be given to applicants who bring their own vehicle (gas reimbursement up to $100 available). If you have questions, feel free to call Brian McDonald at 360-485-3034 or e-mail him at newwavechef@gmail.com.

Details

We are an all-volunteer organization hosting our second year of residencies this summer. We will provide room and board to four artists at a time over four two-week periods (Sunday to Sunday), with a pair of special guests within that period. Each residency will launch with a "kickoff dinner" for up to 14, and there will be one more special dinner midway through for up to 8. Otherwise, there will be 6 diners at meals (4 residents, you, and a rotating board member onsite as "dorm parent.") Meals are generally family style or buffet, with diners bussing their own dishes to bus tubs after eating. We will choose residents based on artistic merit and ask about dietary concerns after the fact, so our culinary pro will need to respond to those TBD diets.

Dates of remaining 2017 programs (110-125 hours of food service total:

July (7/14-7/30) about 6 hours/day, plus 10-20 hours offsite in Q2 2017 to shop/plan. (You begin work 7/14, residents onsite 7/16-30.)

August (8/11-8/27) about 6 hours/day, plus 10-20 hours offsite in Q2 2017 to shop/plan. (You begin work 8/11 residents onsite 8/13-27.)

September (9/15-9/24) about 6 hours/day, plus 10-20 hours offsite in Q3 2017 to shop/plan. (You begin work 9/15, residents onsite 9/16-9/24.)

September/October (9/29-10/7) about 6 hours/day, plus 10-20 hours offsite in Q3 2017 to shop/plan. (You begin work 9/15, residents onsite 9/16-9/24.)

Who should apply?

This internship is best suited for a grad student interested in recipe/menu development and making nutritious food both appealing and affordable, a chef interested in exploring new recipes or cooking in a "personal chef" setting, or anyone with culinary experience interested in learning more about sourcing and food costing.

Ideal applicants display the following traits:

• Commitment to meeting food cost and nutritional requirements for Mineral School residents
• Desire to balance culinary aesthetics with labor requirements and sourcing challenges
• Interest in creating family-style meals that can be customized at table for food allergies/lifestyles
• Ability to utilize existing vendors (farms/stores) and suggest, vet and on-board new vendors
• Interest in working closely with Mineral School board (in particular, our Culinary Program board member) on menu development and editing, vendor approval, and scheduling food pick-up
• Willingness to critique existing processes and offer suggestions for improvement
• Willingness to post-mortem your experience as a chef-in-residence

What we can offer

Mineral School offers real-world experience in the entire food service process but in a small-batch, family-like environment. This includes menu planning and costing as well as food prep and critique. We will provide a collaborative experience, individualized feedback, and will provide confirmation to your institution that you fulfilled work requirements as well as future job references. We offer a unique, low-pressure environment where you can showcase your culinary approach while tending to constraints connected to food costing, sourcing, and diners’ allergic requirements.

Location:Mineral, WA (nearest town Morton or Ashford;

Setting: Rural, pastoral, food desert despite good local farming and "clean" food options

Your room: You’ll have a private queen bedroom with half-bath, linens, wifi. Showers onsite.

Guests: Guests (friend, partner) permissible pre-residency and one or two nights during.

Hours and timeframe: Roughly 6 hours/day for 16 days during the back half of the month of your internship; about 10-20 hours in 2 nd quarter 2016 for planning. During the actual residency, the onsite board member will handle some meals so you have time off -- they can either heat up precooked food or cook from scratch for said meals, depending on how you want to run the kitchen.

Food budget: We are working with a max $3.75/meal cost for residency, $1000 per two-week residency period.

Meal count: 268 plates total. Breakfasts (84), lunches (92), dinners (92)

Food vibe: Seasonal, farm-to-table, family style, healthy, as local as is affordable with nutritional and food allergy requirements met. Sample menus from 2015 are available.

Kitchen equipment: Commercial 3-compartment sink, separate hand sink, 6-burner double oven commercial gas stove with flat-top grill, 2 regular residential fridges, crock pot, rice cooker, mini-chopper, outdoor grill, dishwasher, baking and sauce pans etc.

Help available to intern: We hire a local woman for 12 hours/week cleaning, 2/3 of which involves the kitchen. The onsite board member will help with meal-related cleanup or meal handling on your days off.

Local introductions: Want to wild-craft? Find a swimming hole? Scope out a farm? Give a nutrition talk for the local hospital foundation? We can help you find free-time activities that jibe with your interests.

Community: You will be a vital part of the residency experience and community, and we will all learn together how to offer nutritious and affordable meals and share the table.

Prior knowledge: We have two years of residency under our belts from and from that we have developed a repertoire of recipes suitable for most diets. We’ve established some friendly farm partners, and we’ve got a nice cookbook library if you need inspiration. We have a chef on our board to help guide the process.