Michael Kwan

Michael Kwan is CEO and co-founder of EMC Seafood & Raw Bar in Los Angeles, California, United States, a role that places him at the center of a restaurant identity shaped as much by precision as by appetite. Since 2013, when he launched EMC in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, the business has carried a clear sense of place: urban, polished, and rooted in a neighborhood that rewards restaurants with a point of view. From the beginning, the concept has been anchored in raw seafood and in a style of cooking that is tempered, not overworked, letting ingredient quality and careful handling do most of the talking. The restaurant’s focus gives Kwan’s work a distinct rhythm. EMC Seafood & Raw Bar is built around oysters, uni, lobster dishes, sashimi, ceviche, and carpaccio—items that arrive with an emphasis on freshness, texture, and restraint. Rather than leaning on heavy sauces or theatrical complication, the menu language stays direct and purposeful, presenting cold seafood, shellfish, and prepared raw dishes through an Asian-fusion lens. That framing is central to the company’s character: recognizable enough to feel approachable, yet specific enough to distinguish EMC within Los Angeles’ crowded dining landscape. Kwan’s title as CEO and co-founder suggests both stewardship and authorship. As co-founder, he helped establish the original direction of the business; as CEO, he remains tied to the larger shape of the brand, the tone of its hospitality, and the continuity of the idea that first took form in Koreatown in 2013. The company’s identity is therefore not only about what appears on the plate, but also about the disciplined clarity of its concept—one that organizes raw seafood into a contemporary, Asian-fusion experience without losing sight of the basic pleasures that draw diners in the first place.