Culinary Operations Intern

Culinary Operations Intern

ABOUT HONEYGROW

honeygrow is a thriving Philadelphia-based fast-casual restaurant with a growing number of locations in the mid-Atlantic, northeast, and mid-West regions. Founded on the principles of bringing people together over quality, wholesome, and simple foods, honeygrow remains committed to its roots. Yet it's our key ingredient – our team – that truly propels and differentiates us in becoming a sustaining, great brand. We believe that our team members are the heart and soul of honeygrow, driving our success and embodying our core values of grit, pride, compassion, and focus. At honeygrow, creating and building a distinctive brand is in our DNA. As a company on the cusp of substantial growth, we are looking for like-minded individuals who share our passion and values to join us in shaping the future of honeygrow. We invite you to be a part of our story and contribute to our journey as we continue to redefine the fast-casual dining experience.

honeygrow’s success depends on our people. Our restaurants can only prosper and provide opportunities for employment and growth when we continually improve ourselves, and the work we do. We believe that a commitment to uncompromising values and integrity should always support our decisions and actions as we pursue our goals. The following Core Values will guide our team as we move forward:

• Work hard at work worth doing
• Your work directly betters people’s lives and happiness
• Enlighten each other to enlighten our guests
• Always be learning, always be improving
• Be mindful of your surroundings
• Exceed expectations

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Operations Services Culinary Intern is a short-term role responsible for producing the ground-truth data that makes three of honeygrow’s core systems trustworthy: Restaurant 365 (food cost), PreciTaste (food production), and MenuCalc (guest-facing nutrition). The work begins in the kitchen—capturing real prep yields and real portion weights as the team actually executes them during service—and ends with that data flowing back into the platforms that drive ordering, prep planning, and nutrition information.

KEY BEHAVIORS:

• Detail-Obsessed: Comfortable with the kind of repetitive, precise measurement that produces trustworthy averages. Understands that “close enough” early in the project compounds into expensive errors downstream.
• Field-Comfortable: Willing and able to spend significant time in working kitchens. Comfortable around heat, equipment, and the pace of service, and able to collect data without slowing the team down.
• System-Minded: Bridges the kitchen and the spreadsheet. Can take what was just observed at the make line and translate it into a recipe record in R365, PreciTaste, or MenuCalc without losing context.
• Self-Directed: Manages the project independently between site visits, asks for help when blocked, and communicates progress proactively without needing to be chased.
• Professional Presence: Represents the Restaurant Support Center well during restaurant visits—respectful of operators’ time, focused, and easy to host.
• Continuous Improvement Mindset: Looks for ways to make the process better as the work progresses. Willing to flag when the original plan isn’t working and propose a better one.

ROLES + RESPONSIBILITIES:

The three projects are intertwined by design. Yield data and portion data collected once feed all three systems, so accuracy and consistency in the field translate directly into better food cost analysis, smarter prep production, and reliable nutrition information for our guests.

In-Restaurant Data Collection

• Prep Recipe Yield Studies: Visit honeygrow restaurants and capture pre-prep and post-prep weights for every bulk prep recipe. Each measurement is repeated multiple times under normal operating conditions so that averaged yields—not one-off snapshots—become the system of record.
• Portion Weight Studies: For each ingredient on the make line, record 25–30 individual portion weights using the exact utensil or device the team uses during service. The goal is a defensible average that reflects what guests actually receive, not idealized lab conditions.
• Method Consistency: Follow a standardized methodology across every restaurant visit so that data from one location is directly comparable to data from another. Document the utensil, scale, prep step, and any deviations that could affect results.
• Field Documentation: Maintain clean, time-stamped records that include location, date, prep recipe or ingredient name, utensil used, and every individual measurement. Treat raw data with the discipline that downstream systems depend on.

Systems Updates

• Restaurant 365 (Food Cost): Review and update every recipe in R365 using validated yield and portion data. These records drive R365’s predictive ordering and actual-vs-theoretical food cost reporting—the accuracy of those reports lives or dies by this work.
• PreciTaste (Food Production): Review and update recipes in PreciTaste so that prep production recommendations reflect real ingredient behavior, reducing both stockouts during service and over-prep that turns into waste.
• MenuCalc (Nutrition): Audit menu item entries in MenuCalc and update with revised ingredient weights and recipe components. MenuCalc drives the nutrition information honeygrow publishes to guests, making accuracy both an operational and a compliance concern.
• Discrepancy Resolution: Identify and surface differences between recipes, prep procedures, and the three systems as they are found—not at the end of the internship. Partner with Operations Services, Culinary, and Supply Chain to resolve them.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Restaurant Partnership: Work alongside General Managers, prep teams, and line cooks during site visits. Be a respectful, low-friction presence in the restaurant—data collection should never come at the expense of service or the guest experience.
• Stakeholder Updates: Provide regular progress updates to the Operations Services team covering restaurants visited, data collected, systems updated, and open issues.
• Methodology Documentation: Leave behind clear documentation of the methodology used, decisions made, and assumptions applied so that this work is repeatable as menus evolve.
• Project Support: Support seasonal menu updates, limited-time offerings, and new menu item setup across R365, PreciTaste, and MenuCalc. Additional duties as assigned by the Operations Services Manager.

KEY SUCCESS METRICS

• Coverage: Percentage of prep recipes with validated yield data and percentage of menu line ingredients with verified portion weights.
• SystemsCompletion: Recipes updated in Restaurant 365, recipes updated in PreciTaste, and menu items audited and updated in MenuCalc.
• DataQuality: Consistency of methodology across restaurants and the defensibility of averages when reviewed by Culinary and Supply Chain stakeholders.
• DownstreamImpact: Measurable improvement in actual-vs-theoretical food cost variance and in the accuracy of PreciTaste prep recommendations following the updates.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Currently pursuing or recently completed coursework in culinary arts, food science, nutrition, hospitality management, supply chain, or a related field.
• Comfort with spreadsheets (Excel or Google Sheets) and a willingness to learn restaurant management platforms (Restaurant 365, PreciTaste, MenuCalc).
• Access to reliable transportation and ability to travel to honeygrow restaurants across the region. Mileage reimbursed per company policy.
• Ability to stand for extended periods, lift up to 25 lbs, and work in an active restaurant environment that includes heat, sharp tools, and the normal pace of service.
• Short-term role; specific duration, weekly hours, and start date to be set with the Operations Services Manager.
• Fluency in spoken and written English

Please note that this is not a remote position. honeygrow’s Restaurant Support Center (HQ) is located in Philadelphia, PA.

honeygrow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status., or any other class protected by applicable law. EEO Employer M/F/Vet/Disabled.

If you require reasonable accommodation during any part of the employee selection process or employment process, please direct all inquiries to hr@honeygrow.com.

honeygrow does not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters or employment agencies and is not responsible for fees from recruiters or other agencies except under specific written agreement with honeygrow. Any unsolicited resumes sent to honeygrow are deemed to be the property of honeygrow, and honeygrow reserves the right to hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency.