Chef Jack Yoss found his culinary passion and curiosity to experience different food cultures at a young age. As a child, he spent his early years in Brazil, Greece, and Caracas, Venezuela, finally settling in Boulder City, Nevada, where he spent the rest of his childhood. It was in Nevada that he remembers feeling at home in his family’s kitchen and inspired by his father’s home cooking.

Moving to Las Vegas as a teenager in the 90s, he got hooked on the pace, difficulty, teamwork, and camaraderie that he experienced working in various restaurants. In his early role as Saucier at Chinois, he gained extensive knowledge of the Asian cuisine and caught the eye of Chef-Owner Wolfgang Puck, who helped set Yoss off on his culinary career.

After a stag at Puck’s Postrio restaurant in San Francisco, Yoss was asked to make a move to become Sous Chef. He rose to chef de cuisine at Postrio before garnering executive chef stints at NineThirty in Los Angeles and Portland’s late Ten 01.

Yoss’s curiosity and zeal eventually led him to spend nearly a decade honing his skills overseas across 11 different countries. He garnered experience at Michelin starred restaurants, assumed guest chef responsibilities at grand openings and various restaurants across Asia and Europe and consulted on restaurant re-conceptualizations and restaurant openings.

Yoss eventually settled in Bali as the Director of Cuisine for the W Retreat and Spa overseeing all culinary operations. Deeply inspired and influenced by his environment, Yoss dedicated his time to deploy sustainable methods across his restaurant. Anything that sprouted from the ground was to be grown and sourced from a local farm in Bali. He championed this effort as Director of the Sustainability Council for the Starwood Food and Beverage Council, making strides for greater sustainability across all 13 hotel properties in Bali.

Now in Austin, Texas, as the Culinary Directory for Hai Hospitality, Yoss is applying his past mentorship and leadership experiences to the future of the Hai organization. Committed to embracing learning, leading by example, collaboration, and creating remarkable food, Yoss weaves influences from his travel and past experiences into the food and service development of Hai’s restaurants.

Chef Jack Yoss resides in Austin with his wife and two kids. He is a 2004 nominee for Food and Wine Magazine’s best chef in America by Jaques Pepin, has been a keynote speaker on sustainability, and served as a pro-bono consultant for Amicorp benefiting underprivileged village teenagers.