There was a time when Rattanak “Ram” Tray wondered if working in restaurants could ever be a “real” career. “I’d been in restaurants since I was 14,” he recalls. “But I wasn’t sure I could build a future in them. So, I decided to go to college and study accounting. That’s when I realized I didn’t want to be stuck in a cubicle for the rest of my life.” Today, far from any cubicle, the chef-owner of Yosaku Restaurant in Portland, Maine…
Four generations after Gian Antonio Pepe’s great-grandparents arrived at Ellis Island, the youngest member of Pépe International, Inc. is rolling up his sleeves. And getting to work leading the Carmel, Calif. restaurant group into the future. In an ongoing quest to refine menus, manage post-pandemic staffing issues, and create a warm Italian family ambience in their restaurants and bakeries, the young entrepreneur continues traditions harkening back to his old family get-togethers in New Jersey and Italy, even while he puts…