Meet Ryan Weeks

We recently connected with Ryan Weeks and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

My creativity thrives when I challenge myself to add that bit of flare that my customers have come to love, I’m always looking to wow our patrons. Whether simply by taste, or with some uniqueness or both! My goal is usually to create something that is comprised of the following traits: unique, beautiful, tasty and wow factor.

I find that I’ll have an idea to create a dish, or menu item, and then the fun begins. Initially I may have a generic recipe. Then comes the fun part, as I ask myself: “how can I make this unexpected?” So I begin to come up with ways to make it unique or interesting.

For example taking a commonly found “Smash Burger” idea… and adding my own flare to it: a “Lava Smash Burger” Made with a chunky house buffalo sauce, crispy onions, and all the other usual toppings on a Smash Burger. However making it unique by packaging the “Lava” in a large plastic syringe, that’s then jabbed into the top of the burger.

So as you press the syringe the “Lava Sauce” comes oozing down the sides of the burger. And voilà! A tasty, fun and interactive dish, packed with flavor and star quality. A winning combination that ensures each customer is not only satisfied, but that they will remember their visit to us at Wok & Roll.

Creativity in the kitchen keeps this passion of mine alive. Half the fun is the challenge to continue to out-do our previous creations. Testing ideas tends to be quite entertaining as well and every minute spent perfecting a dish and its many layers, is a great investment made for us and our customers to enjoy.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Well… I was born in Bakersfield California. In the early 90’s Bakersfield still had that small town feel. Farms and prosperous land as far as the eye could see. I’ve always felt my culinary journey started there. One of my earliest memories is picking grapes off the vines with friends, because our backyard was the vineyard. If it grows, Bakersfields got it. So being in such close proximity to such a wide variety of fresh foods at a young age, shaped me to love the food, the land and the work it takes to feed us. It definitely made me appreciate every bite that much more,

My grandmother “Donna” raised me as my mom continued school. Growing up I’d watch and help her in the kitchen. And so I began to pick up on the processes she created to make cooking simpler. She taught me about cooking temps, measurements, techniques and so much more. However the best thing she ever taught me: confidence in my decision making. See my grandma had a talent that couldn’t be taught. A talent chefs master with years of experience. The ability to take a recipe and know exactly what else could be done to elevate the flavors. Or all together alter the recipe with additional ingredients or techniques. I was lucky enough to learn this from her…and so my passion for culinary arts really began.

I started my professional journey in culinary quite late in life, around 26 yrs old, Up until then, I had stayed with my grandmother and took care of her as her health declined, In 2017 after her passing, I moved to Reno Nv. Fairly quickly thereafter a family friend of ours was looking to sell a local bakery and cafe he owned. I took the risk and bought it to peruse my dreams of owning my own restaurant. Lacking experience in managing a business I reached out to a friend of mine that owned a food truck and we became business partners in the venture. I was more front of house and she was the back of house (chef).

In late 2018, we opened Manila Bakery & Cafe. A Filipino bakery and cafe, the response from the local community was huge. And the business flourished for over 9 months. I decided to part ways with my business partner and close it when the lease came up for renewal.

With some newly learned management skills under my belt, I felt it was time to pivot and open a food truck. I saw it as the right fit for me to learn what my stamp on the culinary world would be. Would I make Asian Fusion cuisine? Or country cooking? I wouldn’t know until I was doing the cooking myself.

The first year (Dec 2019 Peak Covid) I mainly ran ghost kitchen brands out of the food truck, so mainly online delivery platforms. Someone else’s recipes and brand. It allowed me to get comfortable in the truck and be able to explore exactly what it was I wanted to create. Parked in the heart of downtown Reno, I was open pretty late each day and so began making various stir-fry’s for my late night walk-up customers. And so Wok & Roll was born.

For the first year and half of the second, I was cautious in committing to any large events. I’d take on an event and gradually commit to a larger one. In efforts to not get in over my head. And by doing so, i earned many of the local event producers trust and respect, As they have seen many newcomers struggle in the first years with how to keep up with high volume.

2022 was when things started to heat up for us and the the trajectory of the business was UP UP UP.. We booked every major event in northern Nevada, worked closely with many local businesses and non profits. We’ were on the news almost every week and the exposure for the brand was phenomenal. What could be next I wondered?

Late 2022, we were approached about opening a 300 sq ft space inside what would become Northern Nevadas only Food Hall called Reno Public Market.. Showcasing 12+ local company’s, live entertainment, retail, one of the largest bars in town, We jumped at the opportunity, and were the first to be accepted. We opened our doors on Jan 4th 2023 and have had great success. And have continued to run our food truck thru the summer. So again the question is “what’s next?” Follow us to find out!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

First make a realistic plan. Don’t be afraid to take chances …however guard yourself from doing to much too fast. Take the time necessary to perfect everything you do and time to let everything your learning really sink in. Set goals short and long, have some be realistic and set some you may think would be impossible for someone to accomplish that’s just starting. You may end up surprised.

Second build relationship with your local community and business owners. I was surrounded by people I was able to ask: “hey I’m going through this phase, what would you caution me against or advise me about?” Having others, that have walked similar paths as your about to tread is priceless when it comes to the mistakes they can save you from making.

Third and lastly: simply enjoy yourself and be kind. The relationships you build and make going forward can either hinder or accelerate your success. So be sure you love what you do… staying happy comes naturally when you do,

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Looking ahead in the near future for Wok & Roll, a goal we are currently working on would be to franchise, I’ve been able to create a company with lots of potential. It’s got great margins, brand recognition and so much more going for it. Ideally through networking, meeting someone that could offer that value of advising us through the process or assisting in anyway would be spot on.

And should any chef out there be open to some sort of collaboration…. Or someone have an opportunity available… we would be totally interested. That’s half the fun and a great place to learn is getting involved with new and exciting projects/opportunities.

And of course any new added value to our endeavors is welcome. I pride myself in my work and try to be the best version of me for any work I do in the company. Luckily we’ve got great team members all adding their own expertise and value creating a solid team of motivated individuals with the same goal: growth.

So if your interested in joining us as we build something great, reach out, we’d love to hear from you.

We can be contacted via email at [email protected] or visit our website and submit a ticket at www..wokandrollnv.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wokandrollnv.com
• Instagram: @wokandrollnv
• Facebook: @wokandrollnv