Kitchen Maestro: Orchestrating Chef Placements

In The News

"More often than not, landing behind a prime New York stove involves a phone call to one man - someone known in a vaguely Seinfeldian manner, as the Maestro."

"Alfred Ehrlich draws on previous experience both as a food purveyor and chef to run Kitchen Maestro, a recruiting business that focuses... on finding... employees."

"A person who is creative and can cook is just a start," says Alfred F. Ehrlich, owner of Kitchen Maestro, a New York City-based company that specializes in chef placement. "You've got to get into the head of the chef and the people who want to hire him or her. The right match depends on it."

"Getting chefs' jobs used to be an informal process, driven largely by word of mouth. But now it is like any other highly evolved profession: there are headhunters and agents to help.... Mr. Ehrlich, who once was a cook at La Reserve and worked in the wholesale division of the Gourmet Garage, is well connected in the restaurant business."

"It takes one to know one: Kitchen Maestro, the new chef placement firm headed by former chef Alfred Ehrlich, is busily assisting kitchen switchin' at a number of NewYork restaurants."

Alfred Ehrlich, President of the 20-year-old personnel consulting firm Kitchen Maestro, says "the cost of filling a position or training unqualified candidates takes more of a toll on a business than the investment of hiring a personnel consultant to conduct a search for qualified vetted professionals." Plus, Kitchen Maestro firm gets paid a contingency fee and provides a one year replacement guarantee."