The Secret Ingredient Behind This Couple’s Booming Chinese Fusion Restaurant—and Long-Term Financial Success

Kenneth Wan and Doris Yuen are both children of Chinese immigrants who owned or cooked in restaurants. Their parents taught them the value of hard work—and never to work in a restaurant. But after college and attempts at office jobs, both realized the kitchen—not the cubicle—was their calling. Now the couple own MAKfam, a trendy Chinese fusion restaurant in Denver with lines out the door.

But with success, two children, and a growing staff, Doris and Kenneth wanted professional help to help them keep their finances on track while juggling it all. Enter Evan and Cory. Evan in particular was a perfect fit: the son of a noted Denver restaurant owner, he also grew up in kitchens—and spent years on the corporate side of the food and beverage industry.

Evan and Cory’s first step was to help the young entrepreneurs secure strategies to grow and protect their money with a dynamic investment and insurance portfolio. Then they set to work to reduce business risk (by managing liquidity and insurance needs) while ensuring staff had the comprehensive benefit packages that Doris and Kenneth prioritized. Here’s the story of how a couple with a passion for the wok set up their business for long-term success.

You both grew up as children of working-class Chinese immigrants. How did that experience shape your ideas about money and careers?

Kenneth: My parents owned a hole-in-the-wall Chinese takeout restaurant in Boston. Once I was old enough to talk to strangers, I was working there. That’s where my love of food began. But my parents did not want me to pursue a restaurant career. I ended up getting an economics degree, for them. Then I worked for two years in investment banking, and I hated it. My sister told me about this six-month culinary program in New York. I pitched it to my mom; she could see I was depressed in banking. She gave me her blessing to go study food.

Doris: I immigrated from Hong Kong when I was seven years old. My dad was a chef and he was sponsored by a Chinese restaurant in Rhode Island. In Hong Kong, we would eat at all these late-night street markets, guys cooking up noodles and shrimp in a wok. So food was always a part of my life. But my parents never wanted to own a restaurant. I remember saying to them that I wanted to go to culinary school, and they shot that down. They said, “We want you to get a job where you don’t have to work on weekends and there’s AC.” So I studied forensic science in New York because I loved true crime, but I ended up working in biotech.

How did you meet?

Kenneth: It was in 2014, and I was doing daytime prep work at a New York restaurant. One day a friend invited me out to happy hour. That morning I was butchering fish, and I went to the bar thinking it was just going to be us dudes. He didn’t tell me he was inviting girls. I showed up in my chef’s pants, covered with fish guts. Somehow it still worked for Doris.

Doris: We made fun of his pants! But when I found out he was a chef, it piqued my interest. I wanted to get to know him.

Sounds like the “meet-cute” first act of a rom-com. Take us from that to starting your own business.

Doris: In 2015, the Queens night market had just opened, and they were looking for vendors. I said to Ken, “You know how we always talk about starting our own thing? What if we try to create a viral food pop-up?” We landed on Hong Kong French toast, layered and fried. That gave us a taste of what it was like to have our own business. I got to have the creative outlet of doing the branding, marketing, and social media. And Ken got to make food that made him happy—not cooking someone else’s food.

At the time, Ken’s sister was living in Denver. We were always talking about getting out of New York because it’s so expensive, and we thought Denver was nice. Also there were not that many Chinese restaurants there. We drew up a timeline for quitting our New York jobs. Then we did tons of pop-ups to save money, and in 2019 we got in the car and went. All we had lined up was a meeting at a food hall. They ended up giving us a space. Then the pandemic hit. We signed up for all the delivery platforms, and suddenly we were making thousands a day on takeout.

How did you meet your advisors, Evan and Corry?

Doris: That was also during the pandemic. We were doing well in the takeout business, and with very little overhead at the food hall we had a lot of money in our checking account. I was like, “Is there a way we can use this money to make more money?” Then a business consultant we knew introduced us.

Kenneth: Meeting Evan was one of the best days of my life. It turns out his father is one of the founders of the Denver restaurant scene, owner of famous steakhouses. So Evan has been around restaurants his whole life and also worked in food and beverage for years. He joked that he has a PhD in restaurant P&Ls. And the first thing he said after looking at our financial statements was, “You guys are killing it!” For someone with his restaurant expertise to say that made me feel very reassured.

How did your expectations of financial advice compare to the reality?

Doris: To be honest, at first we thought we were just meeting with a business consultant, someone who’ll give us a few tips. Then I realized, “Oh, we’re meeting with a financial advisor!” So we just started talking. They asked a lot of questions: “Where are you going? Do you want to build an empire? Do you want kids?” Then one day I told Corry, “Hey, I’m pregnant!” So Corry and Evan became our go-to people for all our business and family financial questions.

What goals have you accomplished since you started working together?

Doris: First, organizing our personal investment and insurance needs. Next, keeping our business finances on track—the short-term stuff like cash flow but also looking ahead to expansion and retirement. When we opened the restaurant in 2023, Evan and Corry helped us create benefit packages for our staff. We wanted to get them health insurance and 401(k)s, and they set all that up. They also helped us prepare a safety net so our personal finances would continue to cover the business if things got tough, to ensure everyone here is taken care of.

Kenneth: The Denver restaurant scene is precarious; there are a lot of closures all around us. Evan and Corry gave us peace of mind with their wisdom and when it comes to our financial portfolios with Northwestern Mutual. They helped us take risk off the table with life insurance, property insurance, and casualty insurance.

What would you say to small business owners who don’t think they need personal financial planning?

Doris: It’s always good to have people reviewing your finances, understanding how you’re doing, and telling you, “Hey, if you keep going down this path, you’ll be out of business.” Or, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” Evan and Corry make sure all our finances are going in the right direction, so we can focus on running our business and serving the community. Plus, they’re good customers!

This story has been edited and condensed from a recorded interview. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI.

The testimonial presented may not be representative of the experience of other clients and are not a guarantee of future performance or success.