Manuel Saavedra
Play Sports Lounge
Coral Gables
19
years of professional experience
- A dynamic, results-oriented restaurant leader with 15 years of hospitality experience, offering focused leadership and kitchen techniques to lead teams and drive sales and profitability. Consistently achieves performance goals through enthusiasm, tenacity, and initiative, which complement knowledge/experience in:
- Team Building/Staff Training
- Quality Control
- Guest Relations
- Policies/Procedures
- Purchasing/Inventory Management
- Consistent Performance
- Cost Containment/COG’s Control
- Facility/Safety Management
Work History
Executive Chef
7 Months- Managing all food operations, responsible for all special events catering, buyouts recognizing entire kitchen's operations.
- Supervising/motivated/created schedules for 15 BOH team members.
- Oversaw all fresh product deliveries, building strong vendor relationships to bring in top ingredients for optimal prices.
- Maximized customer satisfaction and team performance through a command-based structure and assist control over staff actions.
- Managed weekly food/labor costs
- Created menus/dishes for events of 300+ attendees.
Executive Chef/Kitchen Manager
1 Year 4 Months- Managing all food operations, responsible for all special events catering, buyouts recognizing entire kitchen's operations.
- Supervising/motivated/created schedules for 15 BOH team members.
- Oversaw all fresh product deliveries, building strong vendor relationships to bring in top ingredients for optimal prices.
- Maximized customer satisfaction and team performance through a command-based structure and assist control over staff actions.
- Managed weekly food/labor costs
- Created menus/dishes for events of 300+ attendees.
Chef De Parti
1 Year 8 Months- Directly responsible for handling all aspects: plans, budgets, BOH P&L line items: (Actual vs. Theoretical) food waste gaps, inventory life cycles, food cost, and guests experience measurements.
- Oversaw team of 15-20, overseeing fresh menu production.
- Conducted daily logs, sales forecast, and identified KPI’s
- Maintained a positive and enthusiastic, motivating work atmosphere
Exec Chef
2 Years 2 Months- Relocated from Dallas to open Miami location as Exec Chef. Hired, trained BOH team.
- Responsible for leading a scratch kitchen operation, feeding 1000+ covers weekly.
- Set BOH KPI’s and SOP’s; handled all purchasing and new inventory setup.
- Managed all weekly orders and deliveries developing vendor relationships.
- Responsible for weekly food cost/labor cost control.
- Oversaw kitchen equipment sanitizing & maintenance.
Executive Chef/Chef/KM/CRT
11 Years 3 Months- Oversaw all BOH operations and teams of 35-40; interviewed, hired and trained.
- Set up new kitchens in NRO’s.
- Managed BOH operations in $250K-300K weekly kitchens.
- Managed all COG’s areas; Handled vendor setup and weekly purchases.
- (Travel Chef, Helping open restaurants and supporting when needed.)
- Accomplishments: I’m very proud of seeing my cooks getting promoted to the next level. Some travel trainers, some even kitchen managers. It’s a rewarding feeling to see you inspire people to get better.
Line Cook Trainer
2 YearsEducation
Bachelor’s degree
Diploma
Timeline
Executive Chef
Play Sports Lounge
09.2025 - 04.2026Read More
Executive Chef/Kitchen Manager
Pinstripes
02.2024 - 06.2025Read More
Chef De Parti
The Biltmore Hotel at Coral Gables
06.2022 - 02.2024Read More
Exec Chef
Cinepolis Luxury Dine-In Theatre
04.2020 - 06.2022Read More
Executive Chef/Chef/KM/CRT
Yard House
01.2009 - 04.2020Read More
Line Cook Trainer
The Cheesecake Factory
01.2007 - 01.2009Read More
Miami Senior High
Diploma
Read More
Miami Dade College/Brown Mackie
Bachelor’s degree
Read More