Jess Soman Followed His Heart to the Goodstone Inn

Jess Soman Followed His Heart to the Goodstone Inn

By Leonard Shapiro

Some wise words of advice from his mother long ago set Jess Soman on an intriguing path that has led him to a dream job these days as the general manager of Middleburg’s gorgeous Goodstone Inn just off Snake Hill Road.

Goodstone Inn General Manager Jess Soman followed his heart to Middleburg.

He grew up in an Air Force family that was frequently on the move, spending his teenage years at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, 80 miles from Frankfurt where he and his two sisters also became fluent in German.

After studying psychology in college back in Los Angeles, he headed to Aviano Air Force base in Italy as a loan officer, then returned to Ramstein a year later as an assistant branch manager of a bank on the sprawling American base.

He wasn’t happy.

“I picked up the phone and called my mom one day and told her this didn’t feel right,” Jess recalled. “I was thinking to myself – I have one life, and when my ride ends, it would not be anything special. My mom asked, ‘what are you passionate about?’”

“I had experience in hospitality, waiting tables, bartending, driving limos, and I was always wide awake when I did it, really enjoyed it. There was definitely a passion for it. That’s when my mom said, ‘you have to follow your heart.’”

Before long, he did.

He took a job as a Table Captain at a Michelin restaurant in Germany. Then he moved back to Washington in 2008 and did similar work as Maître d’ of Marcel’s, a widely regarded restaurant at 24th and Pennsylvania in D.C. In 2012, he began a decade-long journey at the Inn at Little Washington under the tutelage of renowned world-class chef and founder Patrick O’Connell.

First, he was a table captain, soon dining room manager, and quickly director of food and beverage. He could have stayed far longer at one of only 13 restaurants in the U.S. to earn a Michelin 3-Star rating, until purely by chance, he had a serendipitous crossing of paths with Goodstone owner Mark Betts.

They started chatting and Betts asked him where he worked and what he was doing.

“He told me he was looking for a leader for Goodstone, and was I interested? It definitely took a leap of faith. I had a very hard talk with Patrick; he didn’t want me to go. But I told him he ought to think of me as one of his disciples going out in the world to spread his message.”

Patrick O’Connell told him he’s leaving the light on if he’d ever like to come back, but that does not seem likely.

Jess is totally engrossed in getting the already high quality and popular Goodstone Inn to the next level, meaning a possible one-star Michelin rating and a five-star designation from Forbes, another hospitality industry benchmark.

“The challenge attracted me to Goodstone,” he said. “My role at the Inn (at Little Washington) covered a lot, but now I’m involved in everything.”

When he arrived last July, there were some staffing issues with important positions to fill. That’s been done. Jess used his laser-like attention to detail and vast experience to cultivate and nurture the team in uplifting every facet the estate has to offer.

He inspected each of Goodstone’s 18 guest rooms with the maintenance and housekeeping directors “and we’ve completely elevated every room. We did it one room at a time, and they are pristine…My greatest strength is fine dining, and our chef also has been very open to my suggestions, very receptive. And a Michelin star is what we want, the ultimate goal.”

The good news: he and his staff have discovered all their goals are not far from being achieved, both in the kitchen and the accommodations.

“Across the board, the staff were relieved to find that what they’re doing is nine-tenths of the way there,” he said. “I think it gives the staff confidence in me, and I believe in them. Completely.

“I’d like to think I’m a compassionate person. People who stay here, who eat here…we get a chance to restore them, put them back together from the beating they might be taking in the outside world. I want to heal people and enrich their lives, and I feel like I have the ability to do that – and to teach others the same.”

By the way, back when he told his “old school” Air Force veteran father about his plans to switch from banking to hospitality, his dad told him he was making a big mistake.

Clearly, though, Jess Soman’s mother knew best. He’s followed his heart, for sure.