He was born in India, raised in London, and finished high school in New York. Jonathan's first job in the restaurant industry began at the age of 17 as a waiter in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Jonathan's ambition led him to the Culinary Institute of America in New York, where he graduated in 1991. He then began moving further westward and landed a position as Chef Tournant at the Renaissance Restaurant in Aspen, Colorado. He remained there for over 2 years and then decided to relocate to Hawaii where he could work with the freshest seafood possible. He started as a line cook at the famed Pacific Café with Jean-Marie Josselin in Maui and Kauai and was soon promoted to Executive Chef.
After 7 years in Hawaii, Chef Hale moved to San Diego in 2001 and has taken over the helm as Executive Chef at the first seafood restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter- Blue Point Coastal Cuisine. Hale and his team have created a first class menu, earning awards from the Gaslamp Quarter Association such as Favorite Place to Dine 2004 and Best Seafood 2004. Some of Chef Hale's signature dishes are the Seared Day Boat Scallops with goat cheese portabella ravioli and Lobster Bisque with port and rosemary. Chef Hale's favorite thing about his job, besides working with his culinary team, is "being able to create a dish, market it, execute it, and do it all over again the next day. It just doesn’t get old." Jonathan's experience and unique style have quickly distinguished him as a leader and an innovator for the Cohn Restaurant Group