Executive Pastry Chef - Bar Sprezzatura

Inspired by the casual elegance of Italy, Bar Sprezzatura is a unique escape into Italian culture and cuisine. Located within the historic Heathman Hotel, Bar Sprezzatura is a bustling lunch destination by day and an aperitivo and cicchetti bar by night, celebrating the vibrant flavors of coastal Italy through exceptional hospitality and seasonal cuisine.

About the Role:

As the Executive Pastry Chef, you will oversee all pastry and dessert production for both Bar Sprezzatura and the Heathman Hotel, creating memorable desserts, breads, breakfast pastries, amenities, banquet desserts, and specialty offerings that elevate every guest experience. This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for balancing creativity with operational excellence while maintaining the highest standards of quality, consistency, and execution.

Working closely with the Executive Chef, hotel leadership, and Mina Group's corporate culinary team, you will lead the pastry program from concept to execution while mentoring the pastry team and supporting the continued growth of one of Portland's premier hospitality destinations.

Our Ideal Candidate Is:

A passionate, creative, and detail-oriented pastry professional who thrives in a high-volume luxury hospitality environment. You enjoy building pastry programs that balance artistry with operational excellence and take pride in creating memorable guest experiences through exceptional desserts, breads, breakfast pastries, and specialty offerings.

You are a hands-on leader who enjoys mentoring pastry cooks, fostering creativity, and maintaining consistency across multiple outlets. You understand both the artistic and business sides of pastry operations and are equally comfortable developing new menu items, managing food costs, and supporting banquet and hotel operations.

What You Bring to the Table

• Personal Attributes
  • Exceptional communication and organizational skills
  • Passion for hospitality and creating memorable guest experiences
  • Creativity balanced with consistency and operational discipline
  • Intellectual curiosity and commitment to continuous learning
  • Ability to remain calm and organized in a fast-paced environment
  • Strong mentoring and coaching abilities
  • High attention to detail and presentation
  • Positive attitude with a collaborative leadership style
• Professional Attributes
  • Advanced pastry and baking techniques including plated desserts, breads, viennoiserie, chocolates, frozen desserts, and specialty confections
  • Strong understanding of breakfast pastry production and hotel amenity programs
  • Experience supporting banquet and large-scale pastry production
  • Menu development and seasonal dessert creation
  • Strong inventory, ordering, and food cost management skills
  • Knowledge of production planning and labor efficiency
  • Ability to maintain the highest food safety and sanitation standards
  • Experience training and developing pastry teams
  • Comfortable working collaboratively with culinary, banquet, and hotel leadership

Requested Capabilities

• 4+ years of pastry experience in fine dining, luxury hotels, or Michelin-caliber restaurants
• Minimum 1-2 years in a pastry leadership role (Pastry Sous Chef or Pastry Chef preferred)
• Culinary or Pastry degree preferred
• Strong knowledge of baking science, chocolate work, sugar work, and modern pastry techniques
• Experience managing multiple production priorities simultaneously
• Knowledge of food safety and sanitation regulations
• Working knowledge of inventory management and labor controls
• Ability to frequently lift up to 40 pounds
• Ability to stand for extended periods and work a flexible schedule including evenings, weekends, and holidays

As part of the Makeready collection, we proudly offer a variety of thoughtful benefits and perks for eligible team members including accommodating PTO/PTO exchange, medical/dental/vision benefits, maternity/paternity leave, pet insurance, company-matched dependent care & 401k, student loan repayment program and a wide range of additional ancillary benefits. The health, happiness and well-being of our team is our top priority. 

We take pride in our Guiding Principles to help define how we successfully work together. We follow them not out of duty but live by them instinctively.

Makeready LLC and its affiliated entities are proud to encourage and support an environment where everyone can be a successful team member as their true independent self. We are an equal opportunity workplace and employer that does not discriminate based on race, color, disability, gender/sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, veteran status, or any other protected status. We are committed to building a team and a workplace where we are all able to be successful based solely on our individual qualifications, experience, abilities and job performance.