After spending his “whole life” working in restaurants, Chef Andrew Gruel (pictured) teamed up with the Aquarium of the Pacific in 2009 on a project to “increase awareness for sustainable seafood amongst chefs, restaurateurs and consumers” — and two years later, his fast-casual Slapfish restaurant concept was born.

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“I’ve always been into the ocean … from a chef’s perspective,” Gruel said. “I wanted to combine my background with quality fine dining with sustainable seafood.”

So, in 2011, the Southern California-based chef “bootstrapped a food truck” and started small, buying 1,000 pounds of fish from local fishermen and creating lobster rolls and fish tacos. Even in the middle of a recession, Slapfish went from one food truck to three in a matter of months, and then Gruel rolled his success over into a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

By the end of this year, he’ll have five locations in the Los Angeles area — including one at the bustling Los Angeles International Airport — one at Baltimore’s airport and two in the Middle East.

So what’s the secret? Read the entire story on Seafood International.