Sept. 28, 2021, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – GRCC alum Chris Wessely wants to create a business that helps fight food insecurity at home and around the world – and is participating in a Start Garden competition this week to help his dream become a reality.
Chef Wessely, a 2011 graduate of GRCC’s Secchia Institute for Culinary Education, plans an upscale ramen noodle and boba tea shop and pledges to donate a portion of every meal to charities providing meals to children.
Noodle Pig at 601 Bond Ave. in Grand Rapids is opening this winter, and Wessely is competing for $20,000 to build the business through a Start Garden competition.
Start Garden is a Grand Rapids organization aiming to accelerate experimentation, risk-taking and investment in early startups.
Wessely in July was chosen to be a finalist in the Start Garden 100, a competition for entrepreneurs. At Wednesday’s Demo Day at 20 Monroe, 10 projects will be selected and winners will receive $20,000 to help their businesses.
Wessely didn’t start out to be a chef. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Aquinas College in 2004, majoring in Political Science and Japanese, participating in a year-long exchange program with Seikei University in Japan. In 2008 he founded the Sport and Social Club, which operates sports leagues for adults, with an eye toward helping young professionals stay fit.
But he loves to cook, and enrolled in the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education while running the Sport and Social Club, graduating with a 4.0 grade point average and earning Faculty Choice honors.
Now he’s changed his responsibilities with the Sports and Social Club to focus on opening Noodle Pig.
“I really wanted to focus on food, combining my two passions – culinary and business,” he said, taking a break in the Secchia kitchen on Tuesday while preparing for the competition. He also made time to speak to students in Chef Bob Schultz's class.
“It’s going to be a different concept, a fast-casual ramen restaurant like you’d find in Japan and big cities here,” he said. “I think of it as healthy foods meeting quickness.”
He plans to make all of the food from scratch, including the noodles. He’s purchasing a Japanese noodle machine and patrons will be able to watch it work.
“It will be like watching people make the fudge in Mackinac Island,” he said. “We say people eat with their eyes first.”
Every bowl of ramen sold will help cover the cost of a meal for three children. He plans to partner with three charities focused on feeding children. He is looking to partner with a local and national effort, and with a friend who runs a children’s home in India.
“As you slurp away to ramen-bliss, know that you’ve also made a significant impact in three children’s lives today,” Wessely posted on the restaurant’s website. “Together, we will end child hunger, one bowl at a time.”