Retreat Chef

The Role:

We are inviting a motivated, dynamic, and joyful person to join our Medicine Kitchen team as our new freelance Retreat Chef at 42 Acres.

The Retreat Chef is an integral part of the kitchen team, helping to care for and support the flow of the Medicine Kitchen by facilitating a well-organised, intuitive, and nourishing food operation. The role supports the delivery of deeply wholesome and creative food experiences across retreats, gatherings, and events.

You will support all areas of kitchen operations, including food preparation, retreat service, event catering, stock organisation, food-hygiene, and maintaining consistently high standards of cleanliness and hospitality. A collaborative approach and willingness to support the daily rhythm of retreat and event life are essential.

You will be part of a dynamic and values-led team, delivering retreats and events that may take place indoors, around the fire, and from our off-grid Woodland Kitchen.

Key accountabilities include:

• Supporting the Retreat Catering team to deliver nourishing food experiences across retreats, workshops, corporate gatherings, and events
• Assisting with the preparation and service of seasonal menus including plant-based, detox, macrobiotic, and fire-cooked meals
• Supporting a warm, welcoming, and guest-focused kitchen environment aligned with the ethos of 42 Acres
• Catering for a wide range of dietary requirements and allergen-sensitive menus
• Maintaining high standards of hospitality, food hygiene, cleanliness, and Health & Safety
• Supporting day-to-day kitchen operations including food prep, cleaning, organisation, stock rotation, and kitchen upkeep
• Working collaboratively within dynamic catering teams across a variety of service styles
• Supporting food production, preservation, fermentation, and seasonal processing
• Preparing and working with seasonal, home-grown, and foraged ingredients in collaboration with the land and foraging teams
• Supporting outdoor and live-fire cooking experiences from the Woodland Kitchen and event spaces
• Contributing to fine dining experiences, creative seasonal events, and environmentally conscious practices across the estate
• Positively contributing to a warm, collaborative, and creative kitchen environment 

Guest Experience:

42 Acres core vision centres around supporting others to connect to nature, themselves and each other. These beliefs are at the heart of the offering at 42 Acres, we weave together opportunities for deepening connection, and this is also at the heart of our culture here.  

We encourage fluid working to foster these connections and support one another to deliver an unforgettable guest experience.  In reality this means you will at times be required to support not only the kitchen team, but also the production team, gardens team and guest experience team with housekeeping, production, working retreats, whole self service activities, fire cooking events and other events that enable you to support the team, immerse yourself in 42 Acres and connect with nature!

• maintaining the highest standards of hospitality in the presence of all guests and visitors
• communicating and presenting our food philosophy to guests at every opportunity

About you (great to haves):

• Passionate about food, wellbeing, sustainability, and conscious hospitality (essential)
• Positive, adaptable, and able to thrive within a varied and evolving hospitality environment (essential)
• Willingness to learn about deeply nutritional food philosophies and retreat catering (essential)
• Comfortable working with bespoke dietary requirements and plant-based cooking (essential)
• Strong teamwork and communication skills (essential)
• Able to remain calm and organised in busy kitchen and event environments (essential)
• Good understanding of Health & Safety and food hygiene standards (essential)
• Self-motivated, tidy, and detail oriented (essential)
• Agile and resilient, able to respond to changes in the internal and external environment (essential)
• Interested in seasonal food, foraging, gardening, fermentation, preservation, and regenerative food systems (essential)
• Happy working across both indoor and outdoor catering environments (desirable)
• Previous kitchen or hospitality experience (desirable)
• Although we have a strong plant-based focus, we do cook with well-sourced meat and dairy produce and therefore are looking for someone willing and able to prepare these ingredients (essential)
• Due to the nature of hospitality, you must be able to work Monday–Sunday according to dynamic team rotas (essential)

The Details:

This is a freelance/self-employed role operating flexibly across retreats, events, and seasonal programmes. Hours will vary depending on retreat schedules and operational needs.

You are expected to be present during retreats, usually between 7am and 10pm and across weekends. Flexibility is essential. We run the space 52 weeks a year and encourage rest and balance in between busy programme periods.

There is no public transport to 42 Acres. It is best accessed by car, so you will need the ability to travel to a remote rural location.

About 42 Acres:

42 Acres is a growing Retreat & Wellbeing centre, Regenerative Estate and Nature Reserve.  Our accommodation, experiences and events all share one vision: to promote living in harmony with nature, self and others. Currently operating in the UK, we are home to a stunning farmhouse estate in rural Somerset.  We have a clear philosophy, focused on biodiversity, inner work, and collaboration, in service of human and planetary wellbeing.

It is a place where food is grown and foraged onsite, and its suppliers are almost exclusively local and ethical. With a strong philosophy to deliver unforgettable experiences for every guest, 42 Acres runs almost exclusively on renewable energy and much of the almost 200-acre setting is dedicated to nature restoration and wildlife.

42 Acres is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a policy of treating all its employees and job applicants equally.