On November 21, a sold out crowd gathered at Hugo House for the event Voices Rising — Seattle: What’s Next for Asian American Foodies. After some food, drinks and schmoozing, the event got started with an ASMR hand exercise.
“Through this exercise, we will examine and reflect on our current life in the spirit of collective cooking and self care,” said artist Yixuan Pan, as she asked participants to spread their fingers as far apart as they could.
She then asked them to breathe, remember ancestors who worked on the railroads and reflect on actor Jeremy Allen White’s juicy arms.
It set the tone for an event that was an entertaining, offbeat, and thought provoking exploration of the role food and cooking plays in Asian American cultural and personal resilience. Along with the ASMR exercise, it included panels, readings and even some foodie trivia.
What’s Next for Asian American Foodies was hosted by the Serica Initiative, a New York-based nonprofit raising awareness of the Asian diaspora in America — brought to Seattle by Daniel Tam-Claiborne, the organization’s deputy director, who lives in the city.
It was designed as a celebration of the Seattle food scene and the power of food, said Tam-Claiborne. “There’s still incredible blowback happening from the pandemic,” he said. “There’s still so much discrimination and xenophobia and anti-Asian hate. So this idea that, you know: What is the way forward? Culinary diplomacy is a really great opportunity to broaden people’s minds and understandings.”
The first panel of the evening was a dialogue with moderator Tan Vinh, host of the NPR podcast Seattle Eats with Tan Vinh and food writer for the Seattle Times, and three restauranteurs: Melissa Miranda, owner and chef of Musang and Kilig; Rachel Yang, owner and chef of Revel and Joule; and Karuna Long, owner and chef of Sophon and Oliver’s Twist.
The panel began with a discussion of the Chinatown International-District (CID), which the panelists agreed was failing to bounce back after the pandemic when other Seattle neighborhoods had.
A young generation of business owners are the “heart of the revitalization,” said Miranda. She opened up Kilig in the neighborhood in 2023, because “there’s so much [in the CID] that’s a part of me. I want to hold on to those memories.”
“How come it falls on Asian Americans or folks in the CID to have to combat these issues and problems?” she asked. “That’s the biggest thing I find in the CID that is so hard… Where are the people to help us? But it always comes to community, who ends up helping each other.”
While the pandemic contributed to challenges in the CID, it led to personal rediscovery for some. Long said the pandemic caused him to reconnect with his mom and his culture, which led to him opening Sophon, named one of the country’s 20 best new restaurants by Bon Apetit, in February 2024.
The second panel, again moderated by Vinh, also explored how COVID-19 led to personal rediscovery. With a focus on food writing and content creation, the panelists were Kat Lieu, founder of Subtle Asian Baking; Ken Tran, content creator at feedthepudge.com; and Hsiao-Ching Chou and Meilee Chou Riddle, mother-daughter co-authors of Feasts of Good Fortune.
Tran, who was out of work at the beginning of the pandemic, posted a cooking video every day for three months. Lieu started Subtle Asian Baking when she was missing the Cantonese cooking of her mother, who lives New York City.
Subtle Asian Baking grew into a social media group where members not only bake but also support the community. They came together to raise over $100,000 for organizations like Asian Counseling and Referral Service, the Wing Luke Museum, and more during the pandemic.
Long said it was special to gather with other Asian Americans, when many of the industry spaces he’s been in haven’t had much representation.
“It was a beautiful experience to be surrounded by so many people who have similar stories culturally… and there’s a lot of intersectionality amongst all of our stories,” he said. “There was a closeness that that was found in that community.”
It also gave him the chance to honor those who inspired his culinary journey.
“It was very special to be on stage and share that moment with two pioneering women in this industry, because it’s akin to the love and appreciation that I have for my mom and the matriarchy.”
Tam-Claiborne said he hopes that the success of What’s Next for Asian American Foodies means there will be Serica Initiative events in Seattle in the future.
