Free hospitality cover letter template

For chefs, bar staff, waiting staff, baristas and hotel teams. A full example for a chef de partie, and what to put in yours.

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A hospitality cover letter in the Banner design, with a made-up name and a typed signature

Hospitality cover letter example

Callum Reid, Chef de Partie, hotel restaurant · four years in professional kitchens, running two sections

Dear Mr Hale,

I would like to apply for the Chef de Partie role at The Granary Hotel. I have cooked professionally for four years, and for the last eighteen months I have run the larder and pastry sections at a busy gastropub serving around 120 covers on a Saturday night.

I prep and run my sections on my own, write my own prep and order lists, and keep the walk-in and dry store rotated and labelled. When our sous chef is off, I run the pass on quieter weekday services. Last spring I also helped to rewrite our dessert menu, costing each dish with the head chef so the margins worked before anything went on the menu.

Food safety is second nature to me. I hold Level 3 Food Safety in Catering, keep our HACCP records and temperature logs up to date, and I am confident with the 14 allergens, from labelling prep to answering questions from front of house.

Your seasonal menu and the way you work with local farms are why I am applying. I would like to learn in a kitchen that cooks like that, and I would be glad to come in for a trial shift.

I can work split shifts, evenings and weekends, and my notice period is two weeks. Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,
Callum Reid

Or write yours from the job advert

What to mention in a hospitality cover letter

Keep it to one page. Pick what the advert stresses most, and give an example for each point.

Writing the CV too? See the hospitality CV template and our chef CV example.

Invited to interview? Read our hospitality interview questions, with how to answer each one.

Tips for yours

  • Read the menu, drinks list or website first, and mention one thing that genuinely appeals to you.
  • Keep it short: hospitality managers often read applications between services.
  • Offer a trial shift, or say when you could come in for a chat.
  • For front of house, show your warmth with one quick example of looking after a guest.

  1. Your role and venue type

    Bar, floor, coffee or kitchen, and the kind of place: pub, café, fine dining, hotel or events.

  2. How busy it was

    Covers on a busy night, the size of the bar or the tables in your section. It shows you can keep up.

  3. What you were trusted with

    Running a section, opening and closing, cashing up, ordering or training new starters.

  4. Food safety and licensing

    Your food hygiene level, allergen training, Challenge 25 and a personal licence if you have one.

  5. Availability

    Evenings, weekends, split shifts and seasonal dates, and when you can start.

Hospitality cover letters: your questions

Do I need a cover letter for a bar or waiting job?

Often not, especially if you apply online or hand your CV in. A short one helps when you email a manager, apply to a hotel or a more formal restaurant, or want to explain your availability.

What should a chef put in a cover letter?

Your level, the kitchens and cuisines you know, the sections you can run, your food safety level and anything you have done on menus, ordering or costing. Offer a trial shift.

How do I write a hospitality cover letter with no experience?

Show you are friendly, reliable and quick to learn, with examples from school, sport, volunteering or helping at events. Mention any food hygiene certificate and the hours you can work.

Keep going

Cover letters for other jobs: Nurse Healthcare assistant Care worker Teacher Teaching assistant Retail Customer service Administrator Receptionist Accountant Project manager Sales Marketing Software developer Electrician Warehouse School leaver Apprenticeship Part-time job Career change

Your turn. Write yours

Paste the job advert and make the draft your own. Download it in your CV’s design, with your signature.

Write yours freeSee the example