Abe Ng, founder and CEO of Sushi Maki, joins us to share how he turned a neighborhood sushi bar into a multi-channel powerhouse with restaurants, university locations, luxury hotel accounts, and over 15 Whole Foods installations — all while keeping quality, approachability, and family values at the core.

We talk about growing up in the family restaurant business, leaving a stable finance job to launch a wrap concept that flamed out, and how that failure paved the way for Sushi Maki’s rise. Abe shares what it takes to scale fresh sushi across different formats, the operational discipline behind serving executive chefs and Whole Foods customers alike, and the role of persistence, partnerships, and people in long-term restaurant success. He reflects on Miami’s culinary growth, lessons from wholesale logistics, and why investing in talent is the secret to sustainable scale.

Chapters

• (00:00:12) - Handling The Heat
• (00:01:19) - Enjoying Matcha
• (00:02:39) - Starting Out in the Restaurant Business
• (00:05:19) - When Did You Choose College?
• (00:07:18) - Handling the Heat: Starting a Business in Your 20s
• (00:14:21) - Sushi Maki's rise in popularity
• (00:17:41) - Whole Foods Takes Sushi to Luxury Hotels
• (00:19:48) - Marriott's Sushi at Whole Foods
• (00:27:57) - Where Next for Sushi Maki
• (00:31:55) - Abe Sherman on His Favorite Maki Roll