CHEF KEVIN LIN

There are two misconceptions that Chef Kevin Lin would like to clear up right away: One is that sushi is just raw fish, and the other, that only Japanese can make sushi. The astute businessman, who manages two successful franchises in area Wegmans stores, takes great pride in telling curious shoppers about the sushi he creates.  The native of Myanmar (formerly Burma) is half Burmese and half Chinese.

Though he studied auto mechanics in high school, Kevin soon realized the value in honing practical business skills. At age twenty, he tried his luck at running a rice noodle business; a few years later, he was managing a men’s retail clothing store. But it became increasingly clear to this aspiring entrepreneur that his economically depressed country offered few long-term prospects.  So in 1990, Kevin made the gutsy decision to relocate to Tokyo, Japan, where he hoped to build up a resume that could open more than a few doors abroad.  One of Kevin’s first jobs was washing dishes in the Shinjuku district. It took another few years for his big break: becoming a chef’s assistant at a raku raku restaurant on the Ginza, Tokyo’s version of Park Avenue. It was here he learned the fine art of preparing sushi.

Kevin and his wife arrived in Queens in July 1996. Kevin immediately set about finding employment, which included restaurant jobs in Manhattan and Long Branch, New Jersey. Within a few months, one of his childhood friends, a successful sushi chef, told Kevin about the AFC Company, a franchise based in Los Angeles. It was AFC’s contract with the Wegmans supermarket chain that brought Kevin and Stephanie to Erie, Pa., and soon after, Buffalo.