Cook

Denali Air

Passionate about food and love sharing your recipes?  We are looking for an enthusiastic cook to provide family-style staff meals to our team (approximately 20 people) five days a week. The chef keeps our entire team running!

We are the original flightseeing company in the Denali area (operating for more than 45 years!). Our private airstrip is on 30 acres, eight miles south of the entrance into Denali National Park.  Our location is remote yet accessible, with six million acres of Denali National Park at our doorstep. 

We fly from mid-May through mid-September every year. We offer a unique opportunity to be part of the legendary Alaska aviation experience. The season at Denali Air is spent showing guests some of the most majestic scenery in the world, and it's an amazing feeling to be part of our passengers' bucket-list experience.

We prioritize personal connections with all our employees and work hard to welcome and integrate new staff into our community.  We understand the value each staff member brings to our collective summer experience, and we foster a warm community that embraces hard work, respect, adventure, and humor!   

We offer PRIVATE accommodations in stand-alone dry cabins tucked in the trees alongside the airstrip and near the cozy communal cookshack.  Our campus is set up to give our staff the privacy they need and opportunities to socialize by hanging out near the fire pit, enjoying yard games, or spending time in the outdoor covered pavilion.  There are hiking trails right off the airstrip for trail running or hiking for those looking for easy access to the outdoors.  In addition, we have an employee vehicle available on a sign-up basis for trips in the local area for hikes or other adventures. 

Within walking distance of Denali Air is a restaurant featuring a pub and a small coffee shop. In addition, a small lakeside bakery/café can be reached via the trail system behind the airstrip or by car (1 mile away). There are a few other fantastic restaurants/bars within a 5-mile radius. The Denali "Canyon" area, near the Park Entrance, is a bustling seasonal community with multiple restaurants, bars, and coffee shops and where most hotels are clustered. Besides the endless outdoor activities available, numerous community and educational programs are within a short drive (for example, check out the Denali National Park NPS site and the Denali Education Center site). In addition, there is often live music at local bars and a lively social scene.

The ideal candidate will have experience setting menus, budgeting food costs, ordering and monitoring supplies in a relatively remote setting.  The priority is on providing nutritious and delicious food for our staff while utilizing meal-planning strategies to stay within a budget and being resourceful, given the lack of large grocery stores in the immediate vicinity.  The bulk of food supplies are purchased in Fairbanks, a 2.5-hour drive from our operation; a grocery van is provided for these bi-monthly trips, and a clean driving record is necessary.  The cook is also responsible for kitchen maintenance, cleaning, and food safety.   Therefore, the cook must be highly organized and always prioritize cleanliness.  Since this position works and lives within our small community of 15-20 employees, the ideal candidate will be personable with excellent communication skills.  This person will also need to be highly responsible with a strong work ethic and must be able to thrive and succeed working independently/unsupervised.

Employees work, live, eat, and socialize with each other daily for 4 months and so must have strong interpersonal skills and thrive in a relatively remote setting.  In addition, employees must be able to commit to the entire summer season (mid-May until September 20th).