www.calodging.com Winter 2025 17 PROFILE During his time at the Hyatt, Solis found another mentor, Chef Rolf “Rolfs” Rothen, who Solis described as an “old-school” chef with a modern vision. “He wanted to develop the restaurant into something newer and more current,” Solis said. “So he allowed us to be creative and play around with some of the dishes.” Solis took advantage of the opportunity and honed his style and skills over his nearly fiveyear tenure at the Hyatt Regency Valencia. It was Chef Rolfs who then recommended Solis to a friend for a sous chef job at the Hyatt in Newport Beach. “He called me and said, ‘I have an opportunity for you here, and I don’t want to hold you back,’” Solis remembered. Over the next several years, Solis continued to work his way up—from Banquet Chef at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, to Chef de Cuisine at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, Executive Sous Chef at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Mass., Director of Food and Beverage and Executive Chef at the Sheraton Hotel in San Gabriel to his current role as the Director of F&B and Culinary Operations at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco. Solis started his position at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco just months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which upended everything and led the hotel to restructure its everyday operations. “Everyone had to do a little bit of everything, and so I was transitioned into not just the executive chef, but also the F&B director,” he said. “That meant that I had to focus both on the food as well as all of the purchasing and managing all of the servers, bartenders and banquet events,” he said. Solis is grateful he was forced to adapt and offered this advice to aspiring culinary professionals: “You never know what opportunities can open up for you when you’re willing to try something new. Be open and adapt.” As a chef, Solis uses his creativity to create spectacular guest experiences. He recalled his THE IMPACT OF HOTELS ON CALIFORNIA JOBS New properties create additional hotels, as well as construction and other ancillary jobs across the state. 98 hotels opened in California in 2024 4,000 new jobs supported in the state work at the Sheraton in San Gabriel where he had the opportunity to open the restaurant, the gift of a blank slate. “We went through the process of imagining every detail from what the silverware would look like on the tables to developing the menus,” he said. “We tasted 30–40 different types of butter to narrow down the ones we liked.” From there, Solis led the team in putting all the pieces together. “It’s a lot more research to take these wonderful ingredients then and let them naturally speak to you and dictate what they should be. The creativity comes through that.” At the Hyatt San Francisco, Solis is currently working with his Chef De Cuisine to slowly and methodically elevate the guest experience. “We’re taking the slow route and laying the foundation which means taking the time to teach the team new techniques,” he said, “How to handle products and ingredients and then start to build our menus for the future.” Solis likes to turn to social media to stay current on culinary trends. “You never know what could influence you,” he said. “It’s about shopping around and making sure you’re staying relevant.” He also looks at what’s happening in the natural world. “For instance, citrus is not doing really well, so we’ll have to tweak our menu for upcoming seasons and adapt as things happen.” It’s precisely that uncertainty that Solis loves so much about his job. “I love that no day is the same, and we get to overcome different challenges every day,” he said. “And you know…I can’t think of a better job that pays you to eat and taste new wine all the time.” With the exception of Friday nights, Solis loves cooking dinner for himself, his husband Noel, and the littlest member of their family. “My little dog Olive is my sous chef,” he said. “She’s always careful to see if I drop something on the floor.” Solis also loves trying new restaurants in his free time. “Anywhere I travel, I make it a point to build my itinerary around where I’m going to eat for dinner.” Source: Oxford Economics, STR, American Hotel and Lodging Association
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