Assistant Cooks

The Assistant Cook is a seasonal, contract position in our beautiful remote wilderness retreat center. Our center is open from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple cooks to share the season with only one head cook and one assistant cook scheduled for each retreat. The center is far from any store or resources, runs entirely from solar power and there is no cell service. Most of the retreats are held in noble silence and all staff is required to respect this container by remaining silent anywhere that guests may be able to overhear. The kitchen/dining area is attached to the retreat space therefore noise travels easily from the kitchen to the meditation hall. It is an enriching practice that often brings us closer than the spoken word.

Assistant Cooks Qualifications

Basic food safety course required for all cooks and can be found here. http://newmexico.foodhandlerclasses.com/default.aspx
Must have an interest in cooking and enjoy preparing meals for others.
Helpful to have sensitivity to special diets (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, soy free, etc.)
Must live in residence at the retreat center during work periods.
This can be a physically demanding position at times. Must be physically fit and able to lift up to 35+ lbs and perform various kinds of physical labor as part of job responsibilities.
Ability to communicate and work with diverse groups of people. Sensitivity to issues of race, gender, class and sexual orientation.

Sensitivity to working with retreats that are silent and an ability to reduce noise coming from kitchen during these retreats.
Must be able to adapt to an environment with very limited storage, no walk in cooler, single oven, must make effort to store food appropriately to eliminate waste.
Must keep a very clean environment to control pests
Must be able to work well with others in a small team and able to support/assist the head cook as needed.

Cooks Duties and Responsibilities

Shop for food locally on occasion when not available from our vendors and coordinates with your next trip into the retreat center.
Prepare and serve vegetarian meals for staff, retreat participants and group rentals including accommodation for special dietary restrictions as directed by the head cook.
Prepare special diet foods and observe strict cross contamination protocol if there are guests in attendance with food allergies and sensitivities as directed by the head cook.
Maintain food stores in the kitchen, pantry, teachers quarters and snack bar areas.
Keep kitchen facility clean, orderly and safe for staff and guests.
Regular check in with retreat managers to ensure smooth operations and address any needs that arise.
Conduct kitchen inventories as needed.
Conduct Work Meditation Job Training for vegetable chopping and food put away/dishwashing the first morning of each retreat.

Observe respect for mindful silence, conducting kitchen work with the minimum amount of noise necessary.

Attend staff meetings as needed.
Have a sense of humor and be flexible!

Availability:

We staff this positions from mid-May through mid-October. We employ multiple cooks to share the season with one head cook and one assistant cook scheduled for each retreat. I work with all staff to create a schedule that is agreeable for everyone. We cannot guarantee a place to stay when it is not a staff members scheduled work period.

Benefits:

We offer a daily rate compensation as an independent contractor plus gourmet vegetarian meals and single occupancy heated accommodation. (Please note there is no electricity to any of the accommodations at Vallecitos.)
Staff who work six retreats or more are offered one retreat per season at Vallecitos at no charge.
Staff is invited to attend sits/talks during retreats when teachers allow.
We cover the cost of approved training (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and more).

All interested parties please email a letter of interest to director@vallecitos.org. You must include:

Why you believe you are an ideal candidate for the position
If you have ever been to Vallecitos before or your connection to the organization
Your related experience
Your availability
Your contact information

updated 2/4/20

Khalil Hassan

...I cannot express in words alone how important the retreat was for me. One of the most valuable lessons I learned is the importance of listening to my inner self. Vallecitos provided the necessary environment that makes it impossible not to go inward. When I returned home, I hit the ground running, but with a more focused direction. I attribute that to my stay at Vallecitos.

Debra Susan Abbot

...I had a tremendous experience at Vallecitos, which is one of the most rewarding and positive things I’ve done within my lifetime. I have incorporated many of the things I learned into my daily life, and it has been very healthy for me. I had to experience loving kindness, sympathetic joy and generosity to understand the full power and grace of these profound feelings and actions.

Swati Prakash

...The time and the space to reflect and cultivate inner calm were so valuable. This was a very healing experience for me. It also started me on the practice of meditating. I meditate every day now, just for 10 minutes, but it makes a huge difference in my everyday life and with work.

Jane Cronlund

...Since the retreat, my pace of personal breakthroughs has quickened and old dynamics seem to be changing in positive ways. I am better able to deal with previously tense situations and successfully resolve them. I have increased feelings of peace. Thank you!

Cristina Mormorunni

...I am so much more aware of the path I want to be on and the power of the sacred in my life.

...17 years ago, I received an invitation to sit for 10 days of silence at Vallecitos. I accepted the invitation with no idea of the lasting impact the retreat would have on me. Over the years, the annual pilgrimage has provided me with tools to sustain and deepen my ongoing mediation practice. Sweeping fields of wildflowers, star-dotted nights, and bubbling streams provide a unique opportunity to directly experience interconnectedness. This gentle, wild setting is a profound environment to recharge mind, spirit, and body.

Mark Coleman

...Vallecitos has always been one of my spiritual homes. It is a place where I have learned so much about the refuge of wilderness. It is where I have discovered so much about my own nature, from the wildness of nature there. Not only is it exquisitely beautiful and pristine, it is also profoundly serene and a place of deep renewal. I feel so blessed to have been able to visit every year for the past twenty years. I am eternally grateful for that land.

Mushim Ikeda

...I was teaching at Vallecitos one year in August, during the meteor showers. Our sensitivity heightened by hours of silent meditation, we would stand outside at night and watch trails of light cross the vast dark sky, signs from what I call the Greater Reality. Unforgettable.

Katie Gall

...Vallecitos has truly become a home to me. Working with such great teachers and mentors is an honor and being able to absorb all the knowledge and blessings that flow through the gorgeous land has shaped my soul and nourished my mind. It really is a magical place that I am forever grateful for.

...I came to Vallecitos for a retreat years ago and fell in love with it. Now as a volunteer and yogi I try to come back every summer to soak up the stunning landscapes as well as the rich dharma. This place truly calls me home.

Krys Kornmeier

...The view of the Aspen trees outside my casita, the cool silent mornings of meditation, the warmth of the lodge, and the exquisite majesty of the land created a gentle but powerful impression... in one short visit I have come to treasure Vallecitos.

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