About Us

Local Kitchens is a fast-casual restaurant brand transforming the industry by pioneering a new category of dining. Through collaborations with award-winning chefs and culinary influencers, we offer a menu of exclusive, globally-inspired dishes featuring bold flavors and high-quality ingredients—all in a dining experience that’s both convenient and affordable. Founded in 2020 by former DoorDash co-founders Jon Goldsmith and Andrew Munday, Local Kitchens was built on a mission to bring communities together through food. Since then, the brand has grown to 13 locations across the Bay Area, with plans to expand into Southern California this spring.

LK R&D Chef
Job Type: Hourly

Annual Pay Cap: $90,000

About the Role

We are seeking an R&D Chef to lead menu innovation and recipe development for our expanding culinary operations. This role is perfect for a chef who thrives on creativity, understands fast-casual dining, and can translate bold flavors into scalable, executable dishes across multiple locations.

Key Responsibilities

• Menu & Recipe Development – Create and test innovative menu items that align with our brand identity and customer preferences.

• Executive Tastings – Organize and lead tastings for our executive team, presenting new dishes with clear culinary rationale.

• Multi-Unit Recipe Standardization – Write, document, and refine recipes to ensure consistency across multiple locations.

• Cuisine Expertise – Be well-versed in diverse cuisines and global flavors, understanding how to adapt them for a fast-casual concept.

• Training & Implementation – Train kitchen teams on new recipes, techniques, and execution standards to ensure quality and consistency.

• Ingredient Sourcing & Costing – Collaborate with the Supply Chain team to source quality ingredients while optimizing food costs.

• Operational Feasibility – Work closely with Operations to ensure new dishes can be executed efficiently at scale.

• Culinary Leadership – Bring a strong culinary point of view and passion for making food that is not only delicious but also operationally sound.

What We’re Looking For

• 3+ years of experience in restaurant R&D, menu development, or a similar role.

• Professional kitchen experience, preferably in fast-casual, QSR, or multi-unit operations.

• Deep understanding of recipe writing, food costing, and operational execution at scale.

• Strong training and leadership skills, with the ability to guide kitchen teams through new menu rollouts.

• Passion for bold flavors, high-quality ingredients, and innovative cooking techniques.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

• Culinary degree or equivalent hands-on experience preferred.