Oblivious meets Patao

I'm totally excited for my cousin Tony's Patao Pop Up coming up this Saturday. The menu looks delicious and amazing! To be honest I can't believe my cousin is now getting his PhD and is also super tall. I still remember when he was a little munchkin when we would visit him at his parents house in North Hollywood. Many thanks to him for doing this Oblivious Interview. It was neat learning more about him!  If you are free this Saturday and want to try his delicious menu, you can still get tickets here!

Name(s) Tony Martin
Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc):
PATAO (www.patao.la)
UCLA Science & Food (www.scienceandfooducla.wordpress.com)

What's the one word you are guilty of using too much?
I catch myself saying, "Dannnnnng" quite often. I use it to add emphasis to just about everything. "Dannnnng, this salsa is spicy" "Dannnnng, that movie was so good"

How did you end up doing what you are doing now?
I decided to pursue higher education in the sciences because I was interested in making a contribution to our understanding on human diseases. With that said, being in a Ph.D program is no joke! My mentor often says, "There's a reason why we call it RE-SEARCH". The first thing you come to learn as a graduate student is that experiments WILL and OFTEN fail. So you get used to repeating experiments over and over again. But you make calculated decisions based on your results and try to improve your protocol. It's just like cooking. You decide to make your first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They suck, naturally. But next time you decide to brown the butter or maybe chop a chocolate bar instead of using chips.  Eventually, you get the hang of it and make something you are proud of and want to share.  That's how my love for cooking came into the picture. Cooking is much like working in a lab, except the reagents are different and the product is edible. How could you not like cooking? 

Which member of the Wu-Tang Clan best describes your personality?
Definitely NOT the guy who had a bad run with scissors. Ouch! But I guess he's not a proper member of the Wu-Tang Clan anyway. I'd say Ghostface Killah. I had the privilege of catching him at one of the Boiler Room performances and that guy was so passionate about his performance. I'd like to think that same passion translates to into the work I do too.

Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why?
That's hard. I really think dogs AND cats are so tight. Do you remember Catdog? That things WINS.

What is the best part of any given day for you?
The parts of the day that bring me the most satisfaction include (1) breakfast (2) lunch (3) dinner. Always and forever. 143 637!

In a zombie apocalypse who would you want on your survival team?
I don't know an incredible amount about the X-Men, but in the event of a zombie apocalypse, it's me + them ALL DAY. Shout out Storm aka H.Berry who would just ICE those fools, literally.

What is the last thing you searched for on google?
"Chela - Zero" -- I met Chelsea at a party a couple years ago when she was visiting LA from Melbourne and we've been friends since. I'm so proud of what she's accomplished and can't wait to see where her career takes her next. I've been watching the video for "Zero" non-stop because well, HAVE YOU SEEN HER DANCE MOVES?

If you could talk to your high school self, what would say?
"Dear High School Anthony, TAKE CERAMICS". Better yet, "Dear Current Self, TAKE CERAMICS". 

What is the best thing or meal you ever ate?
I've been privileged to have had some really, incredibly delicious food in my life. So this question is just wrong, Elaine! There's too many to list! But, honestly, Spamsilog just really does it for me. That's my favorite for life. 

What is a memorable project that you are working on or have worked on?
PATAO is the center of everything I do now. It's a project I started to honor the life of my grandmother who passed away many years. Her spirit in life inspired me and even in her absence she continues to do so.