Lee Maen is one of the founding partners of Innovative Dining Group (IDG) and oversees the visions at each restaurant including their site selection, design and architecture. Maen was exposed to the restaurant industry at a young age, working as a busboy in high school and at various restaurants during college. While earning his MBA at UCLA, Maen, Philip Cummins and their friends owned a few nightclubs. During that time, Maen noticed how Angelenos were invested in sushi bars but the scene had no atmosphere. This led to the Maen opening Sushi Roku in 1997, thus shaping the modern sushi scene we now know today. As Angeleno himself, every night in L.A. is showtime for him and his restaurant as he is always looking for ways to get ahead of the competition.