RAY MARTINCHEF

California • Culinary • Life

A lifetime
at the table.

Chef Ray Martin has spent decades shaping food, menus, kitchens and the people who bring them to life.

Enter the story
CHEF
RAY
MARTIN
01 / THE STORY

More than a chef.
A culinary life.

California born. Classically trained. Forged in demanding kitchens and large-scale restaurant development.

Ray Martin's career has moved comfortably between the kitchen, the test kitchen, the dining room and the television set. His path includes acclaimed Southern California restaurants, menu development for national concepts, executive culinary leadership and a return to the energy of the California food scene.

This new site is designed as a living archive of that journey — the people, places, dishes, stories and moments that make up the man behind the plate.

Chef Ray Martin seated in a professional kitchen
THE CRAFT Precision.
Experience.
Character.
02 / THE CAREER

A career built
around flavor.

From celebrated restaurant kitchens to corporate culinary leadership, Ray's work has always centered on making food better — and making systems work.

FOUNDATIONS

California Culinary Academy

Classically trained at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, establishing the technical foundation for a long professional career.

RESTAURANTS

Las Brisas • Remicks • Players • El Torito Grill

Executive-chef leadership across Southern California concepts, developing a reputation for disciplined execution and distinctive food.

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY

Menu development • Culinary innovation

Ray's career included menu-development work with The Cheesecake Factory. Industry profiles also credit him with helping open more than 30 kitchens, including three Grand Lux Cafés and the Cheesecake Factory Express at Disney World. A surviving published recipe for Pasta with Mushroom Bolognese is attributed to Chef Ray Martin at The Cheesecake Factory.

BJ'S RESTAURANTS

Culinary research & development

Ray rose to Vice President, Culinary Research and Development, later serving as Vice President of Culinary Development and Corporate Executive Chef. His work helped evolve menu quality, presentation and flavor.

WAHOO'S

Executive Chef • Culinary direction

At Wahoo's Fish Taco, Ray focused on consistency, purchasing, recipe development, sauces, spice blends and new menu presentations while helping a growing West Coast brand scale its food.

ON SCREEN

Kings of Fi$h

Ray appeared as a renowned chef in the 2016 series Kings of Fi$h, bringing his culinary expertise into the world of television.

Orange County Business Journal feature about Wahoo's and Chef Ray Martin
03 / THE ARCHIVE

Wahoo's grows up

A chapter in the California food story.

The archive supplied with the original site includes an Orange County Business Journal feature on Ray's work with Wahoo's. It becomes a visual anchor for the new site's editorial approach: not just a résumé, but a record of a career in motion.

Explore the archive →
04 / ON SCREEN

Television • Demonstration • Story

When the kitchen
becomes the stage.

Ray's on-camera work captures another side of his craft: translating professional technique and food knowledge into an experience people can see, understand and taste.

Chef Ray Martin appearing in a food-media setting ▶
Wahoo's Fish Taco • KCRA 3 Chef Ray Martin cooks salmon tacos on the KCRA 3 Patio. Watch / read the segment →
05 / THE ARCHIVE

A life in food, as told through the record.

The story
behind the story.

Years of kitchens, menus, television appearances and industry coverage leave a trail. This archive gathers the public record around Chef Ray Martin into one place — a living research library that can grow as new photographs, interviews, documents and memories are added.

CAREER / 1970s–2000s
THE FOUNDATIONS

California Culinary Academy → Southern California kitchens

Public industry profiles identify Ray as a California Culinary Academy graduate and document executive-chef work across Southern California concepts including Las Brisas, Remicks, Players and El Torito Grill.

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY
A PIVOTAL CHAPTER

Menu development. Openings. Culinary systems.

Nation's Restaurant News identifies Ray's menu-development work at The Cheesecake Factory. A 2009 industry profile says he helped open more than 30 kitchens, including three Grand Lux Cafés and the Cheesecake Factory Express at Disney World. A 2013 California avocado-industry feature likewise highlights his work at Cheesecake Factory and BJ's.

Nation's Restaurant NewsRead original → Chef Magazine ArchiveRead original → Produce NewsRead original →
CULINARY ARTIFACT
FROM THE ARCHIVE PASTA
WITH
MUSHROOM
BOLOGNESE

Chef Ray Martin • Cheesecake Factory

A recipe survives.

A surviving recipe archive attributes this Cheesecake Factory dish to Chef Ray Martin. It gives us something unusually valuable: a tangible culinary artifact connecting a published dish to this chapter of his career.

Source attribution is preserved as found; the recipe archive is a secondary source, not an official Cheesecake Factory publication.

View source →
CAREER / BJ'S → WAHOO'S
Restaurant News Resource

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. announces management appointments

Ray Martin is promoted to Vice President, Culinary Research and Development.

Read original → Nation's Restaurant News · 2014

Wahoo's Fish Taco chef targets purchasing, menu upgrades

Ray's work on culinary consistency, sauces, spice blends and menu development.

Read original →
TELEVISION / 2014–2016
KCRA
3
October 14, 2014

Chef Ray Martin cooks salmon tacos

Wahoo's Fish Taco • KCRA 3 Patio

Watch / read →
CBS
LA
July 22, 2014

Wahoo's cooks new summer menu dishes

Executive Chef Ray Martin with Wing Lam on KCAL9

Watch / read →
KINGS
OF FI$H
2016 · Season 1, Episode 11

Dishin' It

Mike cooks up new dishes with renowned chef Ray Martin.

View episode →
THE NEXT CHAPTER

This archive is designed to keep growing.

Future additions can include original menus, photographs, interviews, awards, restaurant openings, television clips, recipes, scanned newspaper stories and first-person memories — each with its source and date.

06 / THE VISUAL RECORD

Keep the
moments.

The original website archive gives us the beginnings of a much richer visual history. The next phase can turn that archive into a curated chronology of kitchens, chefs, television, press and signature dishes.

Chef Ray Martin Chef Ray Martin with colleagues in a food-media setting Original Chef Ray Martin site image
07 / CONTACT

Let's talk
food.

For appearances, culinary projects, media, collaborations or general inquiries, use the form.