Cantinery makes food for gathering.
We handle the whole spread — bold, elevated bites, considered tablescapes, and the vendors that pull a party together — so you can focus on the only thing that actually matters: your guests. Ingredients you feel good about, flavors people ask you for the recipe of (we'll never tell), and a hands-off experience that asks nothing of you except the guest list.
We specialize in seasonal grazing boards, passed canapés, hearty mains, and desserts for private clients, plus full-service coordination, from tablescaping to vendor sourcing, so you're not juggling five different people to pull off one dinner. For brands and retailers, we offer culinary design and activation services, including menu design, event production, and onsite support.
We are a young, female-founded boutique looking to expand our team by bringing in creative, detail-oriented, and people-focused chefs to help us continue to grow our business.
Job description
We're looking for an experienced Onsite Event Cook to represent our kitchen at private events across Brooklyn and occasionally Manhattan. If you’ve got the chops to cook well in any kitchen, while a client is sipping on a martini in the next room, we want to talk to you.
This is a freelance, shift-based role suited to someone who already has real event or line experience and is looking for consistent, well-run gigs.
What You'll Do
Work onsite at private events, assembling canapés and boards and cooking dishes live at client locations
Handle oven and grill work for proteins and hot items, maintaining quality and consistency under time pressure
Help servers and event staff with setup and breakdown
Serve as a face of our kitchen — interacting directly and professionally with clients, guests, and other event staff throughout the shift
Keep your station and the surrounding event space clean throughout service, not just at the end
Manage multiple moving priorities as the event unfolds — timing, plating, guest needs, and service flow all at once
Schedule
Evenings, with some weekday mornings and evenings as needed
Onsite in Brooklyn, occasionally Manhattan
Freelance, approximately 4–6 hours per shift
What We're Looking For
At least 2 years of private event or line cook experience
Confident handling and cooking proteins, including oven and grill work
Strong knife skills and a track record of keeping a clean, organized workstation under pressure
Able to time food precisely so everything hits the table at optimal temperature
Proactive about cleaning and resetting the space during service, without being asked
Comfortable juggling competing priorities in a live, fast-moving environment
Confident and polished when interacting with clients and guests — this role is as much about presence as it is about cooking
Able to stand for the full shift and lift and transport catering cargo up to 25lbs
Food Handler's Certification strongly preferred
Why Work With Us?
Our mission is to make food for gathering — we want to help people come together and celebrate the moments that matter with our dishes. That shows up in how we work:
By families for families. We serve food we feel good about putting in front of our own.
Straight from the source. We work with a network of local producers we trust to source ingredients responsibly.
Never boring. We design bold, seasonal flavors that fit the event — always in service of the ingredient, never at its expense.
Beyond the food, we care just as much about the experience of working here. We're building a workplace that's positive, nurturing, and genuinely fulfilling — one that respects that this job is one part of a full life, not the whole of it. Freelance shifts should fit around your other priorities, not compete with them, and we try to design our schedules and our culture with that in mind.
Compensation
this position is: hourly, varies DOE, $35.00 - $50.00
Role requirements
Minimum relevant experience: 2 years
Required skills
Confident handling and cooking proteins, including oven and grill work
Strong knife skills and a track record of keeping a clean, organized workstation under pressure
Able to time food precisely so everything hits the table at optimal temperature
Proactive about cleaning and resetting the space during service, without being asked
Comfortable juggling competing priorities in a live, fast-moving environment
Confident and polished when interacting with clients and guests
Required certifications or licenses
Food Handler's Certification strongly preferred
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