BIO
My name is Alice Hua Mai and this is my story. I was born and raised in Orange County and grew up eating my way through Little Saigon and the food culture of my Vietnamese parents. I moved to West LA when I attended UCLA and now consider myself an Angeleno. No, UCLA does not have a culinary arts program. My bachelors degree is in Economics with a minor in Japanese. I pursued a career in commercial real estate after graduation and had the opportunity to work with some of the top brokers in the field dealing with cool creative office spaces. Eventually, however, I decided to do something completely different and I have not looked back since.
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I have to thank my parents and friends for their support of my career, which is really a passion that I have allowed to consume my entire being.
Find what you love and let it kill you.
CAREER
I started my career as a stagiare picking petite herb salad and trying to find my place in the brigade on the weekends while continuing to work my full time office job. Eventually I gave up air conditioning and swivel chairs for the orchestrated chaos of the kitchen. Under Chef Brendan Collins, I managed the charcuterie program at Waterloo & City, a beloved gastropub in Culver City. I also worked in pastry and bread production, and earned my stripes to the boys' club that was the hot line.
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With the restaurant's closure in 2015, I moved on to explore the world of modernist techniques and regional Spanish cuisine as a line cook at The Bazaar by Jose Andres at the SLS in Beverly Hills. My time here working under Chef Holly Jivin and Chef Aitor Zabala was incredibly impactful in shaping my culinary influences, "eat with your eyes" emphasis on beautiful plating, and high standards for quality and execution. And my eternal love for pan con tomate.
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I left the Bazaar to work as a Junior Sous Chef / Manager at the Tender Greens in the heart of Santa Monica. Produce simply does not get any fresher than having farmers personally drop off their goods at your receiving door. This was my first exposure to managing both front and back of house teams, at one of the highest grossing locations.
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The volume and constantly moving parts at this quick service concept balanced with my fine dining background in my next role at Superba Food + Bread. Here I started as Sous Chef to industry power couple Vicki Fan and Kazuto Matsusaka. I was then twice promoted, first to Executive Sous of the Venice location, then to helm the El Segundo location as Executive Chef. My time at Superba encouraged me to drive seasonality and using farmers market produce, develop a strong business acumen, and tame the beast of all day service as the self-proclaimed Queen of Avocado Toast.
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In 2019, I joined Chef David LeFevre's group of restaurants in Manhattan Beach, taking the helm of Fishing with Dynamite as Chef de Cuisine. With a focus on pristine seafood, high quality ingredients, and an old school nostalgia meets new school flair, FWD has been my home and platform to develop both my operational knowledge and culinary creativity.