ChristopherAster
Banquet / Hotel / Restaurant
For 20+ years I've directed kitchens where the count is in the thousands and the standard doesn't drop. I develop the sous chefs and managers who lead large teams, I hold food and labor cost, and I build the systems that let a kitchen perform the same way on its worst day as its best.
As heard on WHCP 91.7 FM's Dirt to Table with Chef Jordan Lloyd
Chef C. Aster
From the Pass
Every photo opens the work behind it: the recipe card, SOP, production plan or workload analysis I wrote for it.
Three Continents, Every Kind of Kitchen
Every stop added something. Luxury hotels taught service, fine dining taught standards, banquets taught scale, and ownership taught what every dollar is worth. Play the route, or tap a pin.
Kinds of Kitchen
A few of the dozens. Tap one to find it on the map.
Food and labor cost held in every one of these settings. The range is the point: a leader who adapts to any operation, keeps looking for a better way, and brings the team along.
Career, Ticket by Ticket
My career, newest first. Tap a ticket for the details, or filter by the kind of kitchen you're hiring for.
Scroll the rail sideways for older tickets →
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
No chef builds a standard alone. These are the chefs whose kitchens built mine, and the philosophy I carry into every kitchen I run.
“A sous chef works for their cooks.”
Chef Jordan Lloyd, my mentor and friend
Everyone in that picture went on to become at least an executive chef, and most now run their own businesses. World-class chefs gave us a strong philosophical foundation, through mentorship and the struggle we shared on the line, and every one of us built on it.
Chef Christian Delouvrier
Four New York Times stars · Three Michelin stars
I was his Executive Sous Chef at La Goulue in Bal Harbour, 2007 to 2009. He taught me what a standard really is: sound, tested technique, the passion to see it implemented consistently at the highest levels, and the discipline to train every new cook to it.
Chef Jordan Lloyd
Mentor and friend
His philosophy that a sous chef works for their cooks shaped mine. He has gone on to help shape a food renaissance on Maryland's Eastern Shore through his restaurant, hospitality and consulting businesses, including Hambleton House Events & Catering.
The Ritz-Carlton
The opening team in South Beach, and my induction into a world-class culture of luxury hospitality: ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen, including the ones you work beside.
Raise the floor.
When everyone in the kitchen gets better, the whole operation gets better. I build a culture where every cook knows the standard, believes they can hit it, and has the support to get there, so the guest gets a great plate no matter who's on the line.
Driving the KPIs
Food cost, labor and quality move when every level of the kitchen understands why the targets matter, and when the system makes the right call the easy one. I lead with empathy and back it with systems, so accountability points at the standard and everyone from sous chef to new hire can see where they stand against it.
Empathy
Context is the precursor to empathy. I learn what my sous chefs and managers are carrying, and what their crews are carrying, and I explain the why behind every number I ask them to hit. Then I set each of them up to succeed with the right role, the right support, and expectations that are clear and held the same way every shift.
Systems-backed accountability
The targets live in the prep lists, order guides and firing charts the team works from every day. Coaching is consistent and documented at every level, so each sous chef, lead and cook knows where they stand and what their next step up looks like. When a number slips, the system shows where, and we fix the process first.
Assistant Sous Chefs and 60 cooks and team members, working from AI-assisted prep lists, order guides and execution timing that keep production on spec at any count.
Turned around culinary labor at a union property under heavy renovation, and brought food cost down steadily while opening two new outlets.
−18.8%culinary labor against budget, food cost 2.4 points under budget, and gross operating profit 2.1 points over, on $10.79M in F&B revenue.
Systems that hold the line
I build my own production tools, and I use AI to build them faster. The point isn't the tech. The point is that my sous chefs can lead the day without me in the room, and a new cook on their first day hits the same spec as my best.
Firing charts
Minute-by-minute fire, hold and pickup times for every event on the day, split by hot side, cold side and execution, with equipment load mapped out.
Plated lunches up to 2,600 guestsRecipe-driven ordering
Order guides generated from standardized recipes and guest counts, rolled up by station and into one bulk order with shared items flagged.
Orders that match the menuRecipe library
Standardized recipe cards for full global banquet menu programs, with ownership and gaps tracked.
One spec, every cookDaily one-sheets
A one-page read of the day's events, timeline and priorities, built to adjust by altitude: from the daily checklists cooks work from on the line to KPI-centric report-outs that give senior leaders highly accurate, current information.
From the line to leadershipLabor analysis
Staffing built off what the menu actually asks of the kitchen, not just the guest count. I've used it to turn around labor cost at union properties.
Labor in line with volumeFood & Beverage Consulting
For restaurants, caterers, hotel teams and institutions that need a chef's hand without a full-time hire. As owner of Aster Hospitality, I've built menus, costing and kitchen systems for startup restaurants. Through online platforms, I've consulted for restaurants and colleges in India, the Philippines and Australia, and even tested recipes for an organic, fresh dog food company in Argentina.
Menu & recipe development
Concepts, tested recipes and standardized cards your cooks can execute, scaled from a dinner for twelve to a banquet for thousands.
Costing & pricing
Recipe costing, menu pricing and food cost targets you can actually hold.
SOPs & kitchen systems
Written standards, prep systems, order guides and production schedules your team can run without you.
Banquet operations
Production planning, firing charts and staffing for event-heavy operations that need to scale.
Remote engagements available now · On-site by arrangement
Training & Education
Advanced Diploma, European Culinary Management · Lucerne, Switzerland
Executive Certificate in Hospitality & Tourism Management
Executive Sous Chef at La Goulue, Bal Harbour. Trained directly under the four-star chef and held his standards across a high-volume fine dining kitchen.
Trained and certified in Ritz-Carlton service standards as part of the South Beach opening, where I was inducted into a world-class culture of luxury hospitality. I learned what it means to be a gentleman serving ladies and gentlemen: not only our guests, but our internal guests, the ladies and gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton I worked beside. Working as a team to anticipate our guests' needs and create lasting memories is a core tenet of my hospitality, and of my appreciation for being of service.
Journalism and Political Science · Eugene, Oregon
ServSafe Manager
Let's Talk
Open to Executive Chef and Executive Banquet Chef roles across hotel, resort, banquet and restaurant operations. Based in Orlando. Authorized to work in the US for any employer.