Wolfgang Puck Catering is committed to recruiting individuals who express an interest in and passion for hospitality-driven experiences; who come from diverse backgrounds, are open-minded and curious about our clients and guests; and, most of all, who possess a welcoming smile and spirit. Our ultimate goal is to develop mentoring and career building opportunities through a talent pipeline that allows us to promote from within.
"The most important thing in life, whatever you do, has to be passion." Wolfgang Puck
Success on our team starts with our culture:
- We have Wolfgang’s PASSION for our business, our product, and our people / guests / clients.
- A FLEXIBLE MINDSET is key; we are strategic business partners who wear multiple hats.
- Our services require a CONCIERGE mentality, a bias to action with humble hospitality.
- We are out-of-the-box PROBLEM SOLVERS, who look around corners so our clients and guests don’t have to.
- We curate company and partner resources to bring our client’s vision to life. We seek to cultivate the next generation of talent, purveyors and partnerships.
- We bring an entrepreneurial approach to deliver results for our clients (you might call this scrappy).
- Collaboration and openness to innovative business tools, new ways of thinking and ability to partner across departments are essential to create optimal business solutions.
“I can have the best food, but if we don’t have good people, it won’t get you very far.”
Job Summary:
Wolfgang Puck Catering is seeking a Pastry Chef to support the culinary experience at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, with reach across the broader campus through Art & Wellness Enterprises.
This role is centered at Crystal Bridges and plays an important part in shaping desserts and baked goods that enhance daily service, special events, and art‑ and wellness‑driven programming. The Pastry Chef will collaborate across culinary and hospitality teams to create offerings that feel thoughtful, expressive, and welcoming, reflecting the museum’s mission and the belief that food can deepen connection, creativity, and well‑being.
As part of Art & Wellness Enterprises, this position also supports pastry development and presentation across campus, including The Momentary and other food and beverage experiences, as needed. This role works across kitchen spaces, cafés, and museum environments. Schedules include evenings and weekends to support service and events. The work is hands‑on and collaborative, involving standing, lifting, and detailed pastry production in a dynamic setting.
What You’ll Do:
- Lead pastry and dessert development in support of Crystal Bridges’ cafés, events, and programming.
- Create both rotating, art‑inspired offerings and signature desserts that can be refined and revisited over time.
- Oversee daily pastry production, presentation, and quality standards.
- Support dessert preparation, plating, and menu development across campus as part of Art & Wellness Enterprises.
- Collaborate closely with chefs, front‑of‑house leaders, and hospitality partners.
- Supervise and mentor pastry and line‑level culinary team members.
- Develop clear, repeatable recipes that balance creativity with consistency and scalability.
- Contribute to special events, activations, and wellness‑focused initiatives as needed.
- Translate artistic inspiration into desserts that feel intentional, approachable, and engaging.
- Help ensure pastry offerings align with the tone, mission, and guest experience of Crystal Bridges.
- Support campus‑wide culinary consistency while allowing room for creativity and expression.
- Build strong partnerships across culinary and hospitality teams.
What We’re Looking For:
- A culinary degree or equivalent professional experience, typically gained through five or more years working in pastry or dessert production.
- Strong foundational knowledge of pastry, desserts, and confectionery, including breads, laminated doughs, candies, and composed sweets.
- The ability to read, analyze, and interpret technical information, recipes, and operational or financial documents.
- Comfort working with basic mathematical concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to support recipe development and scaling.
- A creative eye and attention to detail, with the ability to translate artistic inspiration into thoughtfully crafted desserts.
- An organized, clean, and methodical approach to pastry production and kitchen operations.
- Confidence collaborating with culinary, hospitality, and operations partners across departments.
- Advanced pastry training or specialization in areas such as entremets, laminated doughs, candies, or modern dessert techniques.
- Experience contributing to menu development, recipe documentation, or standardized production systems.
- Leadership experience supporting or supervising pastry and line‑level culinary team members.
- Comfort adapting to changing needs in a museum, event‑driven, or guest‑facing environment.