Anteaters make a mark in the culinary world
If you’re situated in renowned food meccas like Paris or Rome or even New York, it might be expected that local college alumni will gravitate toward restaurant and culinary industry careers. But Irvine? Well, yes!
A surprising number of Anteaters have found that their UCI-trained business and econ brains pair nicely with their passion for good food. And the city of Irvine, a growing paradise for foodies in search of international cuisine, is also a global hub for innovation and technology – increasingly important in food professions.
Plus, there are resources everywhere you look: vendors, marketing pros and diverse populations hungry for new culinary concepts. It’s a great place to dream, a great place to create and a great place to eat.
Here, we catch up with some UC Irvine alums – from CEOs of major restaurant chains to proprietors of local eateries – who are cooking up good things.
Out of five boys born to the Lee family, the eldest two listened to their restaurateur parents and pursued professions outside the food world. But the three youngest – Renato “Mingo” Lee ’90 and elder brothers Ed Lee and Wing Lam Lee are where Wahoo’s Fish Tacos starts.
The brothers, born to Chinese parents who immigrated to Brazil and then Orange County, grew up working in their parents’ Balboa Island restaurant, Shanghai Pine Garden.
“We all worked at the restaurant seven days a week, and so the message to the boys was: Go to school! Get your degrees and do something else!” says Mingo Lee, who has two daughters of his own. “I get it. We all want our children to pursue an easier life.”
In 1988, his parents were on the brink of retiring, and the three youngest brothers (when Lee was still a UC Irvine student) became intent on opening a fish taco shop. Despite reservations, their parents put up seed money to get them started in a single store in Costa Mesa. Lee believed he’d be selling tacos for a couple of years before he moved on.
“We had parents who taught us about the value of hard work and sacrifice,” he says. “We didn’t have to look far for the ultimate role models.” The brothers logged 12-hour days at Wahoo’s, Lee carved out time for classes and studying, and afterward they’d all find the local late-night dining spots to try new food. “And then we’d get up the next morning to surf … and repeat!” Lee says.
After graduating with a B.A. in economics, he was accepted into law school and planned to move to San Francisco. Then Lee made a sudden U-turn. That taco shop was doing really well. Now, more than 35 years later, the brothers command a chain of 45 Wahoo’s Fish Tacos outlets across the country, with one in Japan.
“An economics degree is a lot of theory, but what it did for me is give me sort of a foundation for the way I look at the world and the way I execute things,” Lee says. His UC Irvine education bolstered his analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills – all much needed, because Lee, who tends to “hold down the fort” while his brothers are more public-facing, is now in charge of formidable tasks like technology innovation.
But how do sons of Chinese descent born in Brazil and raised in Orange County become taco purveyors?
Tacos were their westside Costa Mesa neighborhood food and what the brothers grew up eating, especially on surfing trips to Ensenada and Rosarito Beach in Baja California. Some of the tacos offered at Wahoo’s have Asian-inspired flavor profiles, and some of the salsas, black beans and rice, which customers always rave about, are Brazilian-influenced.
“I’m not sure how I feel about the word ‘fusion,’ but before there was that word in food, I think we were doing it because of our wacky upbringing with blended cultures,” Lee says.
And, he notes, a trip to Wahoo’s wouldn’t be complete without a splash of Mr. Lee’s Chili Sauce: “I’m sure people wonder why there’s this Asian red chili sauce on the table. That’s because it was my dad’s recipe, and we loved it on our food growing up.” The brothers attempted to get their father to create a Mexican version, but it never tasted right, so they stuck to the original.
Lee says Orange County can be a tough and expensive place to start a business – and the restaurant industry in general has become increasingly tech-intensive, with an overwhelming number of payment-related and delivery innovations to keep up with – but it’s also a fortunate environment.
“I’m not sure how I feel about the word ‘fusion,’ but before there was that word in food, I think we were doing it because of our wacky upbringing with blended cultures.”
“This whole area is a hotbed where a lot of concepts are born and bred,” he says. “There are resources here every which way you look. UC Irvine and the entire region support and inspire entrepreneurs.”
Ed Lee’s son is now a UC Irvine alumnus, and all three Wahoo’s brothers have kids who have worked in the restaurants at various times, but so far, no offspring are clamoring to carry on the fish taco tradition. This fall, Mingo Lee’s elder daughter is heading to law school at the University of San Diego. (She was wait-listed at UC Irvine.) Does he have any regrets that he didn’t follow a similar path?
“We’ve been blessed beyond imagination, and we are very, very thankful, but I admit there is a little part of me that wonders what my life would’ve been like if I had gone in that direction,” Lee says. “Then again, I hang out with a lot of guys who happen to be attorneys, and not one of them has ever said, ‘You should’ve gone to law school.’”
UC Irvine alum Minh Pham ’03 (international studies) and childhood friend Paul Cao (who graduated from a UC farther north on the 405) are the team behind Irvine’s Burnt Crumbs, a brunch restaurant in Los Olivos Marketplace that’s known for innovative breakfasts and sandwiches. Try the Japanese soufflé pancakes or the ever-popular spaghetti grilled cheese sandwich. Though Cao is a trained chef, Pham says a lot of the inspiration behind dishes comes from members of the restaurant team.
“If they go out and eat something that’s kind of cool, we’ll try to figure out a new twist on it,” he says. “We’re not pretentious about it. Good food ideas can come from anywhere.”
Before brick and mortar, Pham and Cao, both Irvine-born and -bred, rode the food truck wave with The Burnt Truck, which serves up creative sliders. They made friends with a fellow food trucker, UC Irvine alum Martin Hanson Tse ’02 (international studies), who operates Dogzilla, which sells hotdogs. In addition to Burnt Crumbs, the three friends now combine forces for catering under The Burnt Group. Look for The Burnt Truck (sliders), Dogzilla (hotdogs) or their collaborative venture Burntzilla (sliders and mini-hotdogs) at area events.
In 2008, when the economy took a downturn, Karen Nation ’93, who was working in real estate, found herself in flux. But instead of striving for the same old, same old, she had a surge of ingenuity. In one mad rush, Nation penned a business plan for a healthy, do-it-yourself, no-bake snack concept.
“There were baking mixes for cookies and protein powders for smoothies but nothing for an easy, healthy, homemade snack,” she explains.
These days, Nation is the solopreneur behind Creation Nation, a line of mixes for customers to easily customize and whip up their own healthy balls, bars and bites. Her favorite must-tries, she says, are Oat Yes Chocolate Chip and Oat Cocoa Bliss.
Nation has been featured on the TV shows “Shark Tank” (she didn’t garner an investment because the hosts said she was doing great on her own) and “Good Morning America” and in the magazine Good Housekeeping, where her Energy Bite Mix received the Best Snack Award.
The munchies are all created with Nation’s mixes, and the user decides the rest – throw in water or any type of milk, a banana or nut butter, coconut oil or syrup, for example. All the snacks are vegan, gluten-free and keto-optional. They’re also school-friendly because they can be made without nuts.
Fans of the morsels are affectionately called “ballers” because many of the snacks are best served rolled into balls. But how does a kid who grew up in small-town Colorado, sometimes in foster care, become such a baller herself?
“I had a lot of food allergies, and that really led me to become interested in healthy eating and then fitness. I think I was drawn to Southern California originally because of this,” explains Nation, who came to the Golden State on her own to finish high school and then got into UC Irvine. “But I also had a business mind, so studying economics made sense.” She gained a greater understanding of supply chains and distribution channels, for example.
Studying economics, working in real estate and eventually launching a healthy snack company may sound like disparate activities, but she says that – just like her mixes – everything blends well.
“Running a snack company is project- and process-oriented. It also takes sales, marketing, networking, business development – all these flow from business to business,” says Nation, who spends considerable time interacting with members of her baller club and developing social media and other digital content since she now sells the mixes primarily online.
And what’s next?
“I love collaborating with other food brands and women-owned businesses. I’d like to do more of that,” she says, “while providing healthy snacks for moms, families and athletes.”
Zach Ficke may have attended UC Irvine for only a year (2012-13) before he felt a calling to go to culinary school in Chicago, but he sure made a lot of Anteater friends. Ficke joined Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity while on campus, and his AEPi brothers now come out in spades to support his Tulum, Mexico-inspired restaurant, Salt & Lime Modern Taqueria, in Costa Mesa. Must-tries, he says, include prime rib-eye tacos, Mexican shrimp tacos, poke nachos, burritos and – naturally – margaritas.
“We’re an upscale fast-casual restaurant,” explains Ficke, who opened Salt & Lime in 2024 after cooking in Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach restaurants.
“I’m pretty much a career restaurant nerd,” says Joseph Ortiz, MBA ’06, president and chief operating officer of Farmer Boys restaurants. The Whittier native completed his undergraduate degree at Cal State Long Beach. But it wasn’t until Ortiz entered the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business’ MBA program that he felt serendipity at play.
“I got accepted into several other business schools, but I went with UCI because it was smaller,” Ortiz recalls, noting that he believed he’d benefit from a more intimate program. “Plus, I was paying for school on my own, and they offered me a good financial package, which told me that they really wanted me there.”
At UC Irvine, Ortiz connected with a mentor who recognized his talent and eventually recommended him for an important internship at the corporate headquarters of Southern California-based Panda Express. From then on, Ortiz’s career path was set.
This is not to suggest that the food industry was an obvious choice. “Going into the restaurant industry from business school is probably not a traditional path,” he says. “But for me it was a strategic choice. Maybe it’s not as glamorous as tech or some other industries, but it’s where my skill set really stood out.”
Ortiz worked at several restaurant and food companies, mostly in finance positions, for 14 years before accepting the role of Farmer Boys vice president of finance and accounting five years ago. A little over two years ago, he was offered the top spot of president and chief operating officer. The chain, which is still held by five brothers from a farm family in Cyprus, operates more than 100 restaurants serving breakfast, burgers, salads and sandwiches in Arizona, California and Nevada. (Ortiz recommends the Hog Heaven breakfast burrito or, on the healthier side, the Cobb salad with house-made ranch dressing.)
Ortiz says his UC Irvine MBA training not only set his course but also exposed him to many of the decision-making processes he uses today. “Sometimes as a student you don’t always have the perspective to understand why you’re doing every assignment,” Ortiz says. “But now I often come across a problem and remember certain tasks we did in business school, and I’ll think, ‘Ah! That’s what that was for.’”
At work, he has two primary focuses: his restaurant employees and the customers.
“I always say that as a company, we make our money 10 or 15 bucks at a time,” Ortiz notes. “The person who is serving that meal, the person who is cooking it – those are the most important people in our system. That’s who is making direct contact with the customer, and that’s who is determining the customer’s experience.”
As a kid, Ortiz overcame a stutter with hard work and speech therapy. He credits his parents for encouraging him to not let anything hold him back. His mother’s and father’s families emigrated from Mexico, and Ortiz was a first-gen college student. He says he comes from the same background as a lot of his restaurant workforce.
“I wear my UCI sweatshirt and hat often so that kids who might be from the same place where I started will see that there are possibilities out there if you work hard, remain curious and focus on your goals,” Ortiz says.
Nevielle Panthaky, MBA ’22, vice president of culinary and menu development at Chipotle Mexican Grill, earned a bachelor’s degree at The Culinary Institute of America and worked as an executive chef at several restaurant groups before embarking on UC Irvine’s MBA program. He grew up in the business, with a chef father who moved into management of luxury hotels. His family resided in India, Africa, England and the Middle East. Despite this lived experience, Panthaky says education is still key.
“I felt that for me to play a much more influential role in the restaurant and hospitality industry, getting an MBA would be valuable,” he says. The program, which he describes as fun, helped Panthaky further understand digital transformation, as well as what it takes to run a profitable business and build a brand, great teams and efficient processes.
“These are all the tools you need to execute at a high level,” he says.
And he didn’t have a long commute to class since his test kitchen is in UC Irvine’s Research Park. So what’s his team’s latest Chipotle innovation? Chipotle Honey Chicken. “It’s got the right balance of sweet and spicy,” Panthaky says.
When Mahta Ariarad ’16 was still an undergrad at UC Irvine, she was hitting the books while running a restaurant out of her parents’ supermarket.
After graduating with a B.A. in business economics, Ariarad headed to New York to earn an MBA at Columbia University and logged some time as a business consultant. But Irvine and a passion for feeding people beckoned her back.
Now she’s the co-owner (along with sister Ana Ariarad) of restaurants Irvine Grill, which serves kebabs, stews, rices and other Persian dishes; and Aria Kitchen, which offers Persian-Mexican fusion. Ariarad recommends Aria’s empanadas, nachos and kebab tacos.
In addition to the two restaurants, she will open a Super Irvine International Market in Parkview Center in July. The grocery store and deli will stock Persian delicacies and staples as well as German, Italian and Asian foodstuffs and more. (UC Irvine students get 10 percent off every day!)
“Running a restaurant while attending UCI really prepared me for the pressure of balancing all of these businesses,” says Ariarad, who is also a real estate agent. “Plus, I learned a lot from my econ professors! In fact, I enjoyed UC Irvine even more than I did my graduate program.”
