Brianna Apling
Vancouver,WA
Summary
Professional kitchen management expert with comprehensive experience in leading culinary teams, ensuring high-quality food preparation, and maintaining kitchen efficiency. Strong focus on team collaboration, adaptable to changing needs, and dedicated to achieving operational excellence. Skilled in inventory management, staff training, and maintaining health and safety standards. Reliable, results-driven, and prepared to make significant impact in any culinary environment.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Line Cook
Kascadia Public House
10.2025 - Current
- Worked as a closer, helping to solidify operation processes and procedures. Switched to opener to help solve inconsistency issues and solve problems with recipes and prep procedures.
- Prepared and cooked menu items to ensure quality and consistency.
- Collaborated with team members to streamline kitchen operations and improve efficiency.
Kitchen Assistant Manager
McMenamins
Vancouver, WA
04.2023 - 10.2025
- Worked as a line and prep cook for one year before being promoted to Kitchen Assistant/Assistant Manager.
- Managerial responsibilities included reinforcing health and safety standards, creating daily prep lists, ordering, training, coaching, and making from scratch soups.
- A major focus of my times was promoting a focus on kitchen cleaning, portioning, and organizational standards as well as adjusting pars and revising ordering/prep guides to reflect business needs.
- Coordinated inventory management to optimize supply chain efficiency and reduce waste.
- Supervised kitchen staff to ensure adherence to food safety and hygiene standards.
Line Cook
Bleu Door Bakery
06.2020 - 04.2023
- Breakfast/brunch and sandwich line cook. Experience working every station: eggs, griddle, fryer, cold sandwich, salads, expo, catering, prep, and dishwasher.
- Worked with the owner in menu planning and recipe creation for restaurant menu and weekly specials as well as our plant-based dinner to go offerings during the pandemic, introducing different world cuisines options to our regular customer base.
- I also worked in a leadership capacity through many different staffing arrangements.
- Trained new staff on food preparation techniques and safety protocols.
- Maintained cleanliness and organization of workstations in compliance with health regulations.
Assistant Kitchen Manager
Pok Pok
08.2019 - 03.2020
- Responsible for directly overseeing kitchen staff in the proper execution of recipes and adherence to kitchen standards.
- Utilized sales data from restaurants to determine the proper amounts of food to produce and product to order.
- Directed and coached staff to resolve issues or correct behavior. Performed light maintenance on various equipment.
- Worked with delivery drivers to ensure the correct products are delivered to the correct locations.
Cook 1
Pursuit Collection, Glacier Park Lodge
05.2019 - 07.2019
- Hired as a Cook 2 and immediately placed in charge of the Pantry Station where I trained staff and set the standards for recipes, portions, and plating.
- Promoted after two weeks and to work in whichever station needed the most help including Expo, Grill, Breakfast while still maintaining my position a Pantry Lead.
- Collaborated with team to ensure timely meal service during high-volume events.
- Prepared and cooked a variety of dishes in fast-paced kitchen environment.
Hardlines Order Clerk
Fred Meyer
01.2014 - 05.2019
- Worked independently in a position that had very little direct oversight.
- Responsible for stocking and ordering gift cards, batteries, and various impulse purchase items. This involved coordinating with members of all departments to keep their specific items stocked
- Worked with new HOC employees at other locations to train and help organize and streamline their processes.
- Won company-wide Christmas gift card selling competition (increases in sale dollars amount and %) during my first two years in the position.
Head Cook
Boy Scouts of America
06.2010 - 08.2010
- Worked for two summers at two different summer camps. Each was a seven-week contract cooking for between 150-300 children and adults 3 meals a day, 5 days a week.
- Supervised and trained a kitchen staff in food safety, proper knife skills, recipe scaling, and basic cooking techniques.
- Created the entire menu and recipes focusing on scratch made items for most meals to achieve nutritional requirements while taking food allergies and restrictions while adapting meals for those that needed.
- Performed weekly inventory and ordered necessary foodstuff and supplies.
- Developed and implemented menus that adhered to dietary guidelines and preferences.
- Supervised kitchen operations to ensure timely meal preparation and delivery.
Freight Manager
Fred Meyer
09.2002 - 11.2002
- Worked in various positions including other management/supervisor positions, but my last position was as the graveyard shift Freight Manager/Person-In-Charge.
- Supervised freight employees and assigned daily duties.
- Responsible for merchandising new and seasonal items in the sales floor while coordinating with department heads regarding freight and new products.
- Ensured compliance with company standards for merchandising, safety, and organization for myself and my team.
Programming Team Lead
IDC CH2M Hill
09.2000 - 08.2002
- Employed as a programmer and then promoted to lead the company-wide software upgrade for a multinational industrial design company.
- Worked in AutoLISP for AutoCAD, C++, and Visual Basic. I was promoted to Programming Team Lead during a major software upgrade which included training employees in office locations around the country on new software and procedures.
- Coordinated with staff around the world on multiple projects regarding the automation of repetitive tasks and document control procedures.
- Responsible for planning/supervising the creation and release of in-house written programs to offices around the world.
Education
AAT - Cuisine Management
Clark College – McClaskey Culinary Institute
Vancouver06.2019
Associates of Applied Science - Computer-Aided Drafting and Design
ITT Technical Institute
03.1998
Skills
- Leadership
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Customer service
- Planning and Organization
- Time management
- Attention to detail
- Strict adherence to safety and sanitation standards
- Ordering
- Employee development
- Experience with many cuisines (Asian, Indian, Vegan, Pizza, Mexican, North African)
Timeline
Line Cook
Kascadia Public House
10.2025 - Current
Kitchen Assistant Manager
McMenamins
04.2023 - 10.2025
Line Cook
Bleu Door Bakery
06.2020 - 04.2023
Assistant Kitchen Manager
Pok Pok
08.2019 - 03.2020
Cook 1
Pursuit Collection, Glacier Park Lodge
05.2019 - 07.2019
Hardlines Order Clerk
Fred Meyer
01.2014 - 05.2019
Head Cook
Boy Scouts of America
06.2010 - 08.2010
Freight Manager
Fred Meyer
09.2002 - 11.2002
Programming Team Lead
IDC CH2M Hill
09.2000 - 08.2002
AAT - Cuisine Management
Clark College – McClaskey Culinary Institute
Associates of Applied Science - Computer-Aided Drafting and Design
ITT Technical Institute