Cook (Sunnyside)

The Role

Prepares nutritious meals and snacks for residents and staff of Sunnyside Home and others to meet Canada's Food Guide requirements, Regional policies and procedures, and in accordance with long term health care standards and regulations as directed by the Manager, Food Services.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Prepares, portions, and presents meals and snacks to be served to residents, staff, volunteers, visitors, out-reach services, and at special events.  Adapts standardized recipes and ensures appropriate amounts of food are prepared to meet menu requirements.
• Prepares special food for therapeutic, texture modification (pureed, minced, or dental soft), and special preference diets.
• Portions food to be distributed to dining areas on residential floors, Senior's Day Care Program, Alzheimer's Day Away Program, Meals On Wheels Program, the cafeteria, and any special catering functions.
• Organizes food preparation schedules to meet meal deadlines.
• Labels, dates, stores, and utilizes leftover food.  Disposes of all unusable food.
• Checks and records the temperatures of a walk-in and a reach-in refrigerator and a freezer twice daily.
• Turns on equipment, such as steamers, ovens, fans in the morning.  Turns off and checks the condition of same at night.
• Bakes desserts, snacks and items for special functions, as assigned.
• Prepares production estimations and quantity requirements, such as defrosting meat, and requisitions for supplies from the storeroom according to menu requirements.
• Ensures that work area is maintained in a clean and orderly state.  Changes oil and filters for the fryers, as required.  Sanitizes and stores chef's knives.
• Receives calls and takes messages for the Supervisor, Food Services and/or Manager, Food Services in their absence.  Passes information on to appropriate dietary staff, as required, and acts on emergency therapeutic dietary requests.
• Participates in dietary staff and special committee meetings, such as quality assurance, fire safety.  Also participates in In-Service training sessions.
• Assists with internal audits or inspections to ensure quality, as assigned.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of safety and sanitation in food handling and equipment use, normally acquired through the attainment of vocational/technical training, such as two year Community College Diploma in Food Preparation or equivalent, plus Cook (Red Seal) Certification and Safe Food Handling Course, with two years experience in large quantity food preparation in a health care or long term care setting.
• Understanding of therapeutic diets.
• Communication and human relations skills in order to respond pleasantly and professionally to demands; to communicate effectively with staff, residents, and families; to interact appropriately with and have a basic understanding of the geriatric population; and to participate as an effective team member.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to follow written and oral instructions in English.
• Ability to make accurate mental calculations for portion sizes and number of dishes required.
• Must provide an acceptable Police Records Check in order to ensure suitability for working with vulnerable populations.
• Ability to support and project values compatible with the organization.