line cook

sous chef

ambassador

groundskeeper

harvester

Mission Hill Family Estate Winery

It’s like that bottle of wine you tasted at a tasting room on a wine tour, out of town with friends on a long weekend.   The hype, excitement, drama of a fun day with cool people and you pony up and buy the bottle.   Then you get home, put it away for a bit and open it when you are away from the  hype and it’s not what you expected, flat, no flavour and truly disappointing past the packaging.   

On the face this place is sexy and distinguished and intriguing.  Then you get to your actual work and see the poor leadership, worse management,   The tone set right at the top which permeates through and through.   The leadership is not qualified for their roles and will end up fired like the rest of them someday soon, it is inevitable.   If you could only see the true turnover stats    

You will see truth in their actions that they truly don’t care about you, no matter what they say or how much they pay you, and will be rid of you on a whim.   If you must, work there for the experience and use them for your resume but leave before you see the true tarnish underneath the shine.   

And leave before they fire you because they seriously fire everyone.   The creepiest ones are at the top.   And those top dogs who read this will 100% say “ what an idiot we should have fired this person” rather than take in the feedback to make any positive change because everyone outside the insanity is apparently a moron.   Glad to have this train wreck in my rear view.

My whole experience was unprofessional from start to finish:
1. Onboarding: They kept postponing my start date because they said everything was taken. Therefore, I was left with no choice but with whatever was left. I was not trained properly and was expected to learn everything on the job.
2. Working: Working at the Terrace was marketed as a team effort but you were on your own at the end of the day. Unless you were part of a clique, it was difficult to receive any sort of support. Poor management who only cared about the numbers rather than the well-being of their staff; long hours, undesirable conditions (hot, windy and slippery stairs when it rained) and not having a clear outline of what was expected. There were discrepancies between marketing and what was truly offered that employees suffered verbal abuse from customers. 
3. Leaving: Without notice, they fired me on the spot. All my 'mistakes' were pointed out the day of and were never mentioned beforehand. No concrete evidence for grounds of firing was given aside from the 'mistakes' outlined verbally, which could have been prevented had proper training been provided or upper management supported their staff in front of customers.

Working at Mission Hill was one of the worst decisions i've ever made. Throughout my time there, you learn lots of techniques and skills but at the cost of your sanity. CONS: Management were extremely unprofessional and toxic, pay was low, constant mishap with paycheques, and overworked (overtime was mandatory). PROS: although it was a stressful work environment like most kitchens,  you learn a lot while working there, time off was easy to book, and its a pretty place to work. Honestly if your looking to further your career in the fine dining industry, go for another winery; You'll have a better work balance, and get paid way better.

Mission Hill Winery is a wonderful place to work. The management try and give employees opportunities to grow within the company and they offer a Career Development Program each summer which helps eager employees advance in to various new positions. Each staff member at the winery is passionate about where they work and what they represent as there is a lot of team spirit. Summer is definitely the busiest time of the year and in the Fall and Winter months it slows down quite a bit so sometimes it is recommended to have a second part time job, however they do try their best to keep staff around. The hardest part of the job is probably the lay out of the property. The winery is built for ascetics rather than for the ease of the employee, making some jobs a little more difficult. (i.e. The restaurant layout and the storage spaces for events)

The most enjoyable part of the job is that I was allowed to work such a beautiful place like, overlooking rows of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, our outdoor and stylish Terrace Restaurant.This spectacular culinary destination was recently recognized by Travel + Leisure magazine as "one of the top five winery restaurants in the world…the centerpiece of the Canadian wine tourism industry…one of the most glorious dining experiences around."

I learned a lot about wine and food combination.

Working as a team with the managment and co-workers they are very helpful as our goals was the same, which was to exceed guest expectation.

The hardest part of the job is to leave that place behind as I had to go back to Germany.

Mission Hill Family Estate used to be a fantastic place; unfortunately, a core management group has since retired and this place now goes through managers like their flavour of the month. Gone are the days of a “family” business and now the focus has changed to serve the filthy rich and elite at any cost. 

Workers would spend their entire careers here— 25, 30, 35+ years and retire. This ended abruptly with the busting of the union. This company negotiated a new collective agreement in bad faith only to lay off 70% of the union two weeks later.  

I am embarrassed to say I worked for a company with no moral compass. That’s exactly what Mission Hill Family Estate has become. 

I cannot put into words how grateful I am of Mission Hill for how the kitchen team has helped me grow and become a better chef but also overall person. Very supportive environment with no issues with egos or attitude as everyone is extremely friendly and driven to do well as a team. Management has a perfect mix of making sure you’re holding standards high aswell as normal chats and helping you get time off, or different problems that may arise. Overall I would recommend this company to any person in the hospitality industry!

What is the best part of working at the company?
Challenging arrogant guests, great wine shop staff,  constant battle between arrogant guests as well as arrogant needy staff members
Treated like second class citizens

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working special events with needy clientele 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Arrogant and entitled customers and staff

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Long and mentaly draining not worth the effort

I learned a lot about cuisine and wine, I really enjoyed working somewhere so beautiful and the architecture was very cool. My co-workers were alright, I made friends with everybody and we were always smiling. Work was very fast paced which got overwhelming at times but everyone worked as a team. One thing that wasn`t so good was working outside (the restaurant is outside), very hot weather in a full black suit uniform, but I made it work.

Fun work place, with a cohesive, but small team, where everyone has equal roles. Chefs aren't afraid to take a step back occasionally and let you take the lead. Hardly any red tape, or kitchen politics, everyone is very open with each other. Pretty decent benefits for a seasonal job, but there is very little room for growth.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Line cook 4 salaries reported	$23.00 per hour
Sous chef 2 salaries reported	$49,500 per year
Ambassador 2 salaries reported	$21.50 per hour
Groundskeeper 2 salaries reported	$24.50 per hour
Harvester 1 salary reported	$23.00 per hour

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