The sign at the entrance to Smoke Queen Barbecue in Garden Grove, Calif., spells out the word “Welcome” in four languages: English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese.

It’s a nod to both the diversity of this city in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, as well as to the remarkable story of how an Asian American woman became one of the best new barbecue pitmasters in the United States.

GUIDE: Houston's best barbecue joints

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Winnie Yee-Lakhani was born in Malaysia to a family of Chinese heritage and immigrated to Orange County when she was 6 years old. She grew up in nearby Placentia and graduated from UCLA with a degree in economics. After a brief stint in the corporate world, she went back to culinary school and joined the family business managing retail stores and franchise restaurants in nearby Anaheim, serving hotels and convention centers.

It all came to a halt in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic. The........

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