2018 Festival

The 2018 food festival, curated by Phoebe Tran & Angeline Gragasin, was a gathering place for Asian chefs to explore the effects of globalization, colonization, and appropriation over time.

Participating chefs and restaurants included: Bunker, Dawa’s, Dotory, Kreung Cambodia, Po-Po’s, Randwiches, While In Kathmandu, The Little One, and Taj Mah Balls.

As a focal point of our outdoor dining hall, we partnered with Print All Over Me to commission Chinese Cooking the American Way, a site-specific installation by Alison Kuo, curated by Media Farzin.

The 2018 Film Festival showcased indie and cult films exploring Asian identity through growing, making, and of course eating food. Curated by Angeline Gragasin & Farihah Zaman, co-presented by UnionDocs.

Feature films included: The Search for General Tso (Ian Cheney, 2014) Eat Drink Man Woman (Ang Lee, 1994), Jiro Dreams of Sushi (David Gelb, 2011), and Off the Menu (Grace Lee, 2015). We also screened live action and animated short films by Shireen Seno, Megan Mylan, Alison S. M. Kobayashi, Alexa Lim Haas, Yoni Brook & Musa Syeed, Georgia Fu, Baku Hashimoto, Sarmad Masud, and Felicity Morgan-Rhind.

In 2018, we gathered a vibrant community of fermenters, food entrepreneurs, and writers for a series of conversations on topics such as Asian American Fermentation, Authentically What? Hybridized Chinese Food in History & Today, From Ayurveda to Tikka Masala: Perspectives on Indian American Cuisine, and Tiger Moms & Asian Fetishes: Gender & Tradition at the Table. Curated by Phoebe Tran.

Speakers included: Chitra Agrawal (Brooklyn Delhi), Lindsay Arakawa, Sabrina Chen, (JaynesBeard) Chris Cheung, (East Wind Snackshop), Jenny Dorsey, Anshu Dua (The Chaat Company), Ken Fornataro (Cultures.group), Jenny Gao, Matt Jager (The Cleaver Quarterly), Peter J. Kim, MOFAD, Mara King (Ozuké), Priya Krishna, Mitchell Kuga, Lien Lin (Bricolage), Harry Rosenblum (Feast Yr Ears), Mayukh Sen, Khushbu Shah, Rich Shih, Lucas Sin, Ann Yonetani, NYrture, and Farihah Zaman.

The 2018 Marketplace began as a space for Asian artists, makers, and creatives to share their crafts, curated by Phoebe Tran.

The marketplace featured work by: Banana Magazine, Far-Near/Forbabies, Kajal Magazine, Lost in the Sauce, Ness Lee/Sad Art Store, One More Again Jewelry, Rooted NYC, Slant’d, and Wing on Wo & Co.

Throughout the day, guest DJs spun live sets featuring everything from K-pop to Bollywood funk to lo-fi house, and more. In the evening, we capped things off with an all-night afterparty hosted by the iconic queer Asian collective Bubble T, and a popup karaoke club courtesy of Chino Grande (FKA A+KTV).

Participating DJs included: Monolithic, Playhouse, Shy Daikon, Chopstixmami, Skype Williams, DJ Hi-Chu, Tito Vida, and Stevie Huynh. The After Party featured drag performances by Bibingka Mama, Bichon, and Sina.