Yannis Paravalos has an engineering degree from Merchant Marine Academy in Syros, Greece, and he speaks Greek, French, and English fluently & can speak Spanish for conversation purposes. He started in the Airline Industry as a Flight Attendant and then as an In Flight Service Manager, later he moved to Restaurants and Hotels. He has a Business certificate from York University (Canada), also  leadership course ( optime) and a certificate from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Although most awards in the Industry are geared towards Chefs, he has some recognition certificates for lecturing at Hospitality Colleges, wine seminars and was also selected as part of the Canadian delegation Team to China (2006) among the best Chefs in Canada. At Royal Plantation, the group won the Best Wine Experience Award in Jamaica in 2009.

He finds Food and Beverage to be a fascinating field and feels it is always evolving and that it brings people together.

He has a long history of encounters with the stars, working at Planet Hollywood and Man Ray in Paris. Some of the people he met include Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp. Yannis noted that so far, he has not encountered any unusual situations with celebrities regarding privacy issues or unusual needs at Royal Plantation, as they tend to relax on vacation, as the guests do.

Yannis manages the overall food and beverage operation at Royal Plantation Ocho Rios, including Dining Room, Bars, Room Service, Kitchen and Stewarding. The team currently has about 60 members. Regarding the pastry operation, Yannis indicated that everything the resort produces is made daily and from scratch, including their wedding cakes. When planning menus, Yannis indicates they are looking at current trends, food cost, proper execution, and availability of products. When purchasing for the hotel, they first purchase anything produced locally unless the standard is not up to par such as local romaine lettuce, which is not as crispy as imported. One of the issues encountered at a luxury hotel on an island is that they sometimes run out of specialty items, such as caviar.

Before coming to Royal Plantation Ocho Rios, Yannis did a fine job at Beaches Boscobel where he and the team brought exciting ingredients to a wide audience of all ages. Yannis noted that the job was similar in some ways, except at Royal Plantation, they are dealing with a lot more details rather than numbers because the clientele’s expectations are much higher. Yannis was part of the food show in Kingston and the Observer’s awards last year representing Beaches Boscobel. According to Yannis, the local cuisine maintains its originality and it is also starting to fuse with world cuisine , such as Asian, creating Jamaisan.

When asked what he considers to be a gourmet dining experience, Yannis said, "I am a big fan of a progressive 4 course menu, portions have to be kept small so you can enjoy dessert as much as the first course and actually walk away from the table not feeling stuffed".

Yannis offers these tips about wine: 1. Drink something you enjoy and don’t get too carried away with all the "wine rules"',  2. Chill red wine for 10 minutes and wait 10 minutes before serving white wine if it’s out of a fridge and not a proper wine cooler, 3 More expensive doesn’t always mean better, the best wine on any wine list is the one you like the most. General Manager Peter Fraser offers this tip: 4. Most people tend to place their hands around the glass instead of under the goblet or at the stem. However, holding it around the glass tends to warm the wine, not acceptable for both white and red.

A fun fact about Yannis is that he loves watches and can name most manufacturers and the type of movements that exist in their products.

"I hate mediocrity as well as perfectionism, they are both ills for your soul. Mediocrity keeps you stale and growing in your 'comfort zone', perfection is an illusion and can drive you crazy. I prefer 'great' because it’s better than good and more attainable than 'perfect'", Yannis noted. Yannis and the team accomplish "great" on so many levels on a daily basis.