Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe Looking for Pizza Cook/Prep Cook at Talkeetna, Alaska Full Time

Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe is a family run small business just outside the busy tourist town of Talkeetna, Alaska. Take a look at our website to get a feel for our unique cafe in rural Alaska. In addition to producing creative, healthful, deli-style breakfast & lunch, artisan breads & pastries, and wood fired pizzas, we are always working to make business choices that reflect our care for the community and the planet. Our focus is on creative, wholesome, often healthy, organic when possible, and Alaska Grown including integration of produce from our family farm. Flying Squirrel is a fun place to work with a positive work environment, wonderful food, and a community feel where everyone is working as a team. The busiest summer months also include plenty of sweat and stress, constructive criticism and controlled chaos, probably in the same doses found at many other busy establishments. We love food, love to share what we make, and love to tell people about the care, respect and value we place on all food and on this beautiful, extreme, amazing place we live. Our 13th summer is sure to be the busiest yet! We need dependable, committed, hard working folks with a sense of humor that care deeply about making and serving great food and who strive for excellence in all aspects of any job.

The Pizza Cook

We are seeking a dedicated, enthusiastic, friendly, hard working pizza cook. The position could be full time, part time (4 afternoons/evenings per week minimum, weekends required), seasonal (early May-mid Sept) or year-round in combination with other work at the Squirrel.

The pizza cook is focused on producing gourmet pizzas in our wood fired bread oven. The pizza cook must be able to work independently, under pressure sometimes without a break for up to 6 hours, have some prep skills, and be interested in managing a wood fired oven’s challenges (and rewards!). Being able to work well with other staff is critical along with knowing how and when to ask for help when needed. This is a great opportunity to learn and gain experience for someone who loves to cook, enjoys variety and can handle many tasks at once. We are looking for someone passionate about high quality, simple and delicious cafe-style foods, ideally with 1-2 years relevant experience. The position could begin training immediately, but candidates must be able to begin by early May at the latest.

The Town

Talkeetna, Alaska is a fun tourist town, brimming in the summer months with visitors from all over the world. The forests, rivers, wildlife, and mountains in the area provide beautiful surroundings and exceptional recreational opportunities including hiking, rafting, canoeing, fishing, biking, mountaineering and more. The cafe itself is surrounded by Alaska’s forest wilderness, with a bike path into town, hiking trails and a lake just a short walk from our back door. Despite it’s tiny size, Talkeetna boasts many cultural activities including plays, live music, yoga classes, restaurants, bars, churches, a historical society museum, National Park ranger station, excellent public library, summer circus camp, children’s activities, and more. Starting from Talkeetna, many folks enjoy the accessibility to other Alaska wilderness adventures such as Denali National Park 3 hours to the north and Hatcher Pass 2 hours to the south. 

Talkeetna has a lot to offer for summer employees including all kinds of non-profits happy to have volunteers from recycling to radio shows and news readers to ticket takers at the circus. We can help coordinate free or discounted tourist activities for summer staff such as rafting, zip line, railroad tickets, scenic flight tours and more. Public transportation is available to the local grocery store, credit union and hardware store and our wonderful small town library is just a mile away from the Squirrel. Most seasonal staff prefer to have a car, or at least a bicycle.

The Deal & The Details

Candidates must have the ability to work on your feet for 8 hours (ideally, with a 30 minute lunch break, though it’s not always an option), general physical fitness, completion of high school math, and the ability to help unload orders including lifting 30-50 pounds. Depending on experience, the pizza cook position will pay $15-18 per hour. Tips are pooled for all positions and all staff are expected to participate in some amount of customer service/interaction with our open kitchen and cooperative work environment. Tips average $4-6/hour. A sizable end-of-season bonus is guaranteed for any staff that fulfills their commitment and attends “cleaning day” in mid September.

Although we don’t currently have any housing options, we are working on some “glamping” at our property where the Squirrel is located and have many contacts to help folks secure summer housing. It’s a tough market for summer rentals, but we have never had a summer employee unable to find something suitable. Once hired, we will do what we can to provide assistance in finding lodging for employees who need help. There are a large variety of different kinds of housing situations including cabins, campers, roommates, apartments, etc. Best to start looking as soon as possible if you plan to come to Talkeetna for the summer. Having a car increases the possibilities dramatically.

A shift meal is included with every work-day more than 6 hours. We want employees to enjoy and feel nourished by the food we make so there are very few limitations placed on the meal benefit. How can you make, sell, and stand behind the company, it’s food and your job, if you haven’t tasted it’s products?!