16 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS www.calodging.com PROFILE Jonathan Solis wasn’t thinking about a hospitality career when he stepped into Eleanor Schuster’s classroom for an elective culinary class. “I just took the class to satisfy a requirement to graduate high school,” he said. But that required class quickly sparked Solis’ interest in cooking—something he said Schuster recognized and encouraged. “She recognized my potential and pushed me to go on and compete in a culinary competition through the program,” he said. Today, the Los Angeles native is the Director of Food and Beverage and Culinary Operations at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco. His parents emigrated from Mexico, and he draws a lot of his culinary inspiration from that heritage along with the Asian cuisine all around him in San Francisco. “I like to use a lot of Asian ingredients as well— that’s kind of my style,” he said. Solis attended the New England Culinary Institute on a scholarship after high school and, from there, got his first job at the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside. He spent a few months there learning the business before moving to the Hyatt Regency Valencia to become its Lead Line Cook. From High School Kitchen to Grand Hyatt SF: JONATHAN SOLIS’ RISE IN CULINARY EXCELLENCE
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