Overview

Woodfire Chef

Tucked away in the South Downs National Park are three very special ‘gastro-campsites’. Woodfire Camping is a new concept for camping, blending the simple pleasures of outdoor life with a truly sustainable ethos and the kind of rustic yet gourmet fire-cooked meals that foodies flock to.

This is an exciting new concept in tourism and hospitality – nothing like Woodfire Camping currently exists in the UK – and for 2025 we are planning some exciting new projects, marking a key stage in our development. Our challenge is to grow our brand while holding on to the unique vibe and culture that makes what we do so special. Woodfire has had lots of attention from the national press and built a loyal following of many thousands of campers and followers on social media over the last few years. Now we are on the hunt for great people to be part of our growing team and journey.

This Role Includes

THE ROLE: As the Woodfire Chef, you’ll replicate the menu under guidance and training from our chef consultant, Ivan Tisdall-Downes, co-founder and Exec chef of Native and a 2025 Green Michelin Star-winner. Using the best local and seasonal ingredients, you’ll ensure you uphold our sustainable practices and contribute to the relaxed vibe of the team in our open kitchen.

You will:

– Be at the heart of our kitchen, leading service and making decisions that keep everything running smoothly. While you’ll learn from our chef consultant, this is your chance to take ownership – managing the kitchen, problem-solving on the fly, and ensuring every plate is flawless.

– Follow our kitchen systems and processes, ensuring every aspect runs smoothly; from upholding the highest food hygiene standards to maintaining a safe and well-organised cooking environment.

– Be responsible for ensuring smooth service, managing meal prep and stock and leading the Assistant Chef with confidence. Your success will be measured by the consistency of every dish, team morale, and guest feedback.

– Respect the ingredients. We work with the best seasonal and local produce.

– Be accountable for food ordering, ensuring it aligns with our gross profit targets and cost management while maintaining quality and sustainability.

– Embrace the opportunity to mentor and work collaboratively, sharing knowledge and skills to support a strong, dynamic team.

 

This role is a fantastic opportunity to:

·       step up and demonstrate your leadership skills

·       hone your fire-cooking

·       follow sustainable tourism practices in a truly unique setting.

·       work on events if appropriate: Woodfire Camping runs the fire-cooking school at Taste of London in Regent’s Park and Big Feastival. We also run corporate events and ticketed Feasts with big-name chefs and restaurants including Ottolenghi’s ROVI; Temper; Embers Brighton; Black Rock Restaurants (The Salt Room, Burnt Orange; The Coal Shed) and

We’re looking for someone who…

–       is currently CDP level, ready to step up and prepared to learn. Our cooking is niche and while we want someone who has a good understanding of techniques, we have honed what we do and want someone open to replicating that.

–       is prepared to teach. We are looking to build a team of enthusiastic fire-cooks and chefs straight from catering college and you will be working alongside them.

–       is presentable, collaborative and has great communication skills for our open kitchen.

–       takes ownership of their role, is hard-working and takes a pride in maintaining the highest standards and an understanding that every guest’s experience matters.

–       has a can-do attitude. We are a small, family-run business operating in the outdoors and sometimes it’s all hands on deck!

 

●        Attractive benefits: free camping, open air kitchen, staff food, casual dress; competitive salary; pension and performance-related bonuses; excellent opportunities for professional growth

 

HOW TO APPLY:   Click the link here to apply by 30th April 2025.

HOURS: We open from 4th April to 30th September for weekends and school holidays, with some events mid-week termtime. During termtime, the job is c. 20 hours over the weekend min with potential extra work during the week.

During school holidays (23/5/25 – 2/6/25;   17/7/25 – 31/8/25), the job is every day (2 days off a week) –  c. 45 hours. Planning to set up an events team / Fire Cooking School for the off-season.

 

 

 

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About Woodfire Camping

Woodfire is a small business with a big vision - to make people feel at home, outdoors. We started in 2018 and have since become recognised by the national press for our great food, feasts and camping ethos.  We base everything we do on four key tenets: sustainability, generosity, comfort, and health.

Sustainability – we built our campsite to represent and respect the land that it sits on. We try to employ the most sustainable processes in everything we do, from the way we use water through to the composting of our waste. Our buildings are made from locally felled timber, the food we cook comes from local suppliers and our aim is to leave as little trace as possible and help our campers do likewise.

Generosity – we want our guests to feel at home, partly because it’s lovely to see people enjoying themselves and also because we know hospitality and generosity breed the same in return. Generosity cultivates an atmosphere of mutual respect and it’s this sense of belonging we want our guests to feel at Woodfire, so they leave feeling they’ve been part of something unusual and remarkable.

Comfort - we want people to 'feel at home, outdoors', and to see that being outside and in nature doesn’t have to mean roughing it. If anything, it's pure luxury. But to those luxuries of nature, we add some touches like our nostalgic aesthetics -  ‘70s china and old-school bacon & egg sarnies - to the ‘spa-like’ (The Guardian) outdoor showers and conveniences like phone charging points, to demonstrate that you can do everything outdoors that you can indoors, and it’s better! Perhaps our most important USP is the amazing food that we serve – way beyond the level that anyone would expect from a campsite – and this delivers extraordinary comfort and pleasure to our guests.

Health – it’s proven that being outside is beneficial to mental and physical health; this is widely recognised from the ancient Japanese culture of Forest Bathing to the NHS’s growing prescriptions for time outdoors. We know from being onsite that our physical and mental health are better and we want to make this possible for others to discover too.

The business is growing fast - plans include opening new sites, setting up a fire-cooking school and growing our events as well as a possible take-away food option in the off-season. We're looking for great people who want to be part of what we're doing to join our growing team and journey.

The owners of FoodFire campsite. Part of the Sussex Tasting menu round-up

Woodfire Camping

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