The American Dream is a concept that means different things to different people. For most, it’s a measure of success. We think the American Dream is about leaving a legacy, building a future for yourself and for your family, contributing something to the fabric of society, being valued and feeling useful. Running a restaurant is a risky venture but it can be a rewarding one and these three restaurants are testaments to this great country’s  entrepreneurial spirit and the idea that, if you’re willing to work for it, your dream really can come true. 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY EVAN SIGMUND

Ask Selina Lum, of Taste of Asia, where she’s from and you’ll get a confident smirk and a quick reply: Sturbridge, Massachusetts. She’s more than a little taken aback at my confusion: “You don’t know Sturbridge? It’s famous. It’s a huge part of American history.” I’m not from around these parts so my American history is a little shaky. I grew up in South Africa where they taught us world history, and only covered the Americas in broad strokes. Lum seems to relax a little to hear that I’m an immigrant. I’m pretty sure her family is from Southeast Asia, Laos specifically, but she never confirms the information. At one point she talks of her parents and their unwavering belief in possibility. Her mom and dad used to say, “We brought you here, if you want anything, truly, then nothing will stop you. We have nothing for you but the desire for success.” Selina met her husband Lam Lum, Taste of Asia’s enigmatic chef, through her father. They were fishing buddies in Massachusetts. Lam and Selina lived with her parents for a while to save money and ate ramen noodles every night for two years. I remark that ramen wouldn’t be so bad with a talented chef like Lam around to jazz it up. Selina laughs; Lam was not a chef back then, she assures me. The evolution of Lam from cooking neophyte to chef is the kind of story that independent movie directors salivate over. The Lums moved to Sarasota and decided that they wanted to own their own business. They considered, and then rejected, a gas station, gift shop, crown molding company, T-shirt shop and liquor store. They liked the idea of a restaurant, so they decided to go that direction. The first chef that they hired gave them two weeks’notice and then left after nine days. The second chef lasted two months but Lam took the opportunity to learn everything he could during the man’s tenure in the kitchen. He learned how to cook in two months? Lum fixes me with her vivid brown eyes and says, “How badly do you want it? How did you learn to walk and talk? You’re motivated. You keep trying. That’s what I tell my kids, if you want it badly enough you will do it. If you don’t do it you must not want it that much.” Selina and Lam have always given their daughters, Nikki and Katrina, the opportunity to work in the family business. The girls are fixtures at the restaurant and have been there through the two summers that it took to build the current location. The girls and the restaurant mean everything to Selina and Lam. Selina’s eyes well with tears when she speaks of the dedication and determination that it has taken to build a strong restaurant. They moved from Main Street to Siesta Key to this large stand-alone building, just south of Bee Ridge on Tamiami Trail. Selina’s mom died during construction, Lam’s mom died on New Year’s Day. The Lum family has persevered through tragedy, financial setbacks and the occasional mean-spirited review. Their local following is devoted and the food is delicious. Chef Lam offers cooking classes, passing on his own self-taught prowess. The cauliflower fried rice is a personal favorite, as is the rich tangy flavor of the Tom Kha Gai soup. As Selina is fond of saying, “Who needs drugs when you have Tom Kha Gai? ”

Mark D. Woodruff, the chef-owner of MADE Restaurant is originally from Plano, Texas. He started rolling silverware in the family restaurant at the age of nine and he knew almost immediately that he had found his place. To know your dream at such a young age and to follow it all the way through is a rarity. He appears unflappable but you get the sense that, beneath the calm exterior, he’s on fire. This surety of the shape of his future imbued Woodruff with that intangible quality that all leaders possess and when he attended the Culinary Institute of America at the age of 27 he quickly became the de facto leader of the pack. Woodruff acted as liaison between the chefs and students and was selected to give the graduation toast to 560 students. MADE was born when Woodruff and his friend and now business partner, Michael Ripatranzone, were sitting at their favorite local watering hole, Evie’s Tavern on Ringling, discussing what kind of restaurant they wanted to open. Both men were drawn to the idea of making everything from scratch. Everything needed to be made to order or homemade, even the ketchup. The name seemed obvious, but there’s a slight mob connotation with the idea of being a ‘made man.’Ripatranzone hails from New Jersey so he’s particularly sensitive to the vernacular. They decided to make it an acronym, and Modern American Delicious Eats came together rapidly from conception to execution. Woodruff has been in Sarasota and in the hospitality business for a long time. He has many friends that have worked for and with him over the years. I, myself, worked for Woodruff at one point, serving tables in a restaurant that he managed. A few of the servers at MADE are familiar faces and I ask Woodruff if he does that on purpose—keeping a core crew of close friends employed. “I find that if you trust and care about your employees and they trust and care about you, then it works. They know that this restaurant means everything to me and they respect that. They take ownership and it makes it special.” Woodruff and Ripatranzone share a vision for their future. Both would like to see MADE become a franchise. They want to open a few more locations in Sarasota and then Ripatranzone has his heart set on Jersey, whilst Woodruff has his eye on Austin. Woodruff designed the menu around memories of childhood favorites and family dinners. He’s taken the meatloaf, creamed corn and fried chicken of his past and given it an edge. The creamed corn becomes jalapeño grilled cream corn “risotto-style,”the fried chicken is brined in buttermilk and Cholula. The menu features many gluten free options as well, with perfectly cooked lamb chops and salmon as the stand outs. Woodruff likes to push the envelope, he’s working on a surf and turf special featuring octopus and his take on the s’more uses smoked sea salt and house-made marshmallow. The menu changes seasonally, as does the cocktail list, and brunch at Made has become a Sarasota must-do. There’s a little something called “Billionaire Bacon” that should not be missed.

When Andrea Bozzolo was a 13-year-old boy, living in the tiny village of Pallanza in Piedmont, Italy, he used to steal his father’s motorcycle and take it on joyrides. He was restless and mischievous, and he loved the illicit feeling of speed and danger. When his father inevitably caught, and punished, the wayward teen, he was grounded for what seemed like an interminable amount of time. He was allowed to eat his meals with the family and collect the mail. On one sojourn from the mailbox he was struck by the beauty of a postcard sent by the son of a family friend all the way from San Diego, California. The boy wrote that he was seeing the world as a chef on Princess Cruise Lines. Bozzolo went straight to his father and declared that he wanted to be a chef. His father was nonplussed by the sudden career inspiration but sent Bozzolo to hotel school at “E. Maggia” at the age of 15 and in the summers Bozzolo would work as a kitchen helper in hotels and restaurants in the nearby Swiss Alps and the city of Milan. He soon discovered he loved the work and what began as a way to see the world took root as a passion for his chosen field.

In 1991 Bozzolo joined Princess Cruise Lines as a chef. In the first year, he traveled from New York to Los Angeles to Honolulu, then on to New Zealand. During his eight-year tenure with the cruise line he also worked everywhere from London to Brazil but remained intrigued by his time in America and vowed to return one day. He returned to Piedmont, Italy and opened his own restaurant featuring his own brand of Italian cuisine informed with the influence of the disparate cultures he experienced during his work as a traveling chef. After five years, the opportunity presented itself for him to move to America and he jumped at the chance. Bozzolo found himself in Sarasota and in 2003 he proceeded to open Divino Restaurant on Main Street, which he ran for six years before selling out to his partner and opening his own place on Siesta Key. Andrea’s on Siesta Key is a cozy 40-seat restaurant that Bozzolo describes as his baby. The menu changes according to his inspirations and moods and he knows his customers by name. Bozzolo decided to take on the challenge of opening an additional restaurant in 2014 in partnership with American businessman Howard Rooks. Amore by Andrea is located in the shell of the old Mattison’s Steakhouse on Longboat Key. Amore features an almost Victorian manor feel with chandeliers and dark wood and various drawing rooms on different levels. There’s a private dining room in the wine cellar and a patio that Bozzolo plans to expand with cabanas to lend it a resort feel. Both locations source ingredients locally whenever possible and quality is of utmost importance to the exacting chef. An exceptionally affordable brunch features an Italian buffet of delicacies, comfort foods and decadent desserts. Bozzolo greets guests affectionately in a mixture of Italian and English and people stop him as he walks by to heap praise on him. I ask Bozzolo what his American Dream looks like and he speaks of a small 10-room hotel on a vineyard that produces three or four world-class wines and features a 40-seat restaurant with a fireplace that serves meals from his own garden. Until then, he’s happy and he’s busy, and to think it all started with a postcard from San Diego. SRQ