Maki was born in New Orleans in 1982. In Missouri, he landed work at a couple of reasonably fancy restaurants, washing dishes, moving up to prep. Maki says he learned to work hard, "cut the shit out of myself a couple of times," and came away with arms splotchy with burns from a deck oven. He says the kitchen was a place where he got yelled at a lot, but it also seared him with a sense of urgency and a fierce work ethic.

In Greensboro, North Carolina, he got a taste of fine dining at a place called Mark's on Westover. He says he "raised a bunch of hell, started to realize that being a cook wasn't just what I did to get paid." It was a realization that sent him to New England Culinary School in Burlington, Vermont, where, he says, he "got his shit together." He worked every shift possible, read everything he could about food, and was taken in by instructors he considers great. It was on to Boston, and work at a couple of restaurants that taught him the kind of serious technique and discipline required to excel in a big French brigade.

At the Rainbow Ranch Lodge in Big Sky, Montana, he learned the business of running a kitchen. He moved to San Francisco to manage Quince, where he opened the kitchen every morning, made stocks and sauces, and did butchery and charcuterie. He took the butcher's job at Bi-Rite about a year and a half ago, and later helped launch 18 Reasons. "I'm just trying to keep it real," he says. Source: SF Weekly