Cover Art by Seohui Chi
WEEKLY WELCOME
Korean American host and producer Arnold Byun welcomes Asian American restaurateurs, chefs, founders, and tastemakers to share conversations and insights on culinary entrepreneurship, hyphenated identity, and food culture.
ALL EPISODES
63
Keegan Fong
Keegan Fong is the Founder of Woon, serving “homestyle Chinese food” in Los Angeles inspired by recipes from “Mama Fong.” It’s a gateway restaurant for those that have both enjoyed Chinese food growing up and for those desiring to explore in depth about Chinese cuisine. Keegan has created a comfortably modern environment minus the stuffiness plus the friendliness to serve his favorite childhood dishes.
62
Deau & Joy
Deau Arpapornnopparat and Joy Yuon are the power couple and Co-Founders behind LA's buzziest Thai restaurant, Holy Basil. Both hail from Bangkok, but boast different stories on how their paths eventually converged at the now-closed Chandara as cashier and bartender, respectively. We dive into their origin stories and converse about the issue of substitutions and modifying orders in Thai restaurants.
61
Katy Noochlaor
Katy Noochlaor is the Co-Owner and operator of 20+ year Thai street food Tuk Tuk in Sawtelle, robust wine and casual Thai fare Same Same in Silver Lake, and the multigenerational dining institution Chao Krung in Fairfax. We speak on her newly relocated and updated Tuk Tuk as well as the importance in reclaiming Thai food.
60
Eric Tjahyadi
Eric Tjahyadi is a Co-Owner in his family owned Southeast Asian restaurant Bone Kettle in Old Town Pasadena. During the day, Eric is also the VP, Head of Global Ad Sales at Sony Music. There have been many challenges in this self-funded, family venture. Through it all, it's still here and after conversing with Eric, it's easy to see why.
59
Vanda Asapahu
Vanda Asapahu is a second generation restaurant owner of Ayara Thai, a Thai institution in Westchester, LA nearing two decades of operation. Family owned and operated in every sense, we dive into the dynamics of working with family, the harmful notion of “cheap Asian food,” and what’s next for the Asapahu family.
58
Adrienne Borlongan
Bartender-turned-ice cream shop owner Adrienne Borlongan is the Co-Founder of Wanderlust Creamery — artisanal ice cream inspired by the founders’ feelings of wanderlust, every flavor is a love letter to the places they’ve been, the places they long to visit, and childhood memories.
57
Ria Dolly Barbosa
Ria Dolly Barbosa is the Executive Chef and VP of Culinary at Peso Hospitality. Their first restaurant Petite Peso serves thoughtful, comforting Filipino food in DTLA. We chronicle her immigrant experience from the Philippines to running the popular Sqirl to eventually meeting her now business partners through Instagram.
56
Rica Leon
Rica Leon is the Co-Owner/CEO of Chifa in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles ― a restaurant that features Cantonese, Peruvian, and Taiwanese cooking. It's inspired by Rica's mom Wendy "Popo" who emigrated from Hong Kong to Lima, Peru with her family. Rica's story is a full circle story about grit, perseverance, and the American dream.
55
Justin Pichetrungsi
Justin Pichetrungsi is the second generation owner of Anajak Thai Cuisine in Sherman Oaks. We chat about challenges of multigenerational restaurant ownership, the expression of Thai cuisine, how "Thai Taco Tuesday (TTT)" came to be, his use of social media, and how he came returning to run the family business.
54
Lien Ta is the Co-Owner and operator of LA restaurants Here’s Looking at You and All Day Baby. In addition, she’s a Co-Founder of Regarding Her, a national non-profit driven by women restaurateurs on a mission to empower and advance all women identifying food and drink entrepreneurs.
53
Leo Lee
Leo Lee is the Co-Owner and Chef of RiceBox, a Cantonese BBQ concept in DTLA. We revisit the early days to surviving through COVID, having a baby during these tumultuous times and how they've continued to put family and employees first and foremost.
52
Jimin Kim & Sandy Han
Jimin and Sandy are the husband-and-wife duo behind Saikai Ramen Bar in LA’s Koreatown, serving up some of the best bowls you’ll find in the city alongside a LA-inspired rotation of yakitori and appetizers.
51
Tuan Lee
Tuan Lee is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vervet, farm-to-can sparkling cocktails celebrating the global cultures of LA.
50
Corey Chow
Corey Chow is the Chef de Cuisine at Per Se, a 3-Michelin starred restaurant in New York City from Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. In a decade, he rose the ranks of Per Se from a Commis to Chef de Cuisine and now even as a co-author of The French Laundry, Per Se cookbook.
49
Lydia Lin
Lydia is the Co-Owner of Steep in LA’s Chinatown. We converse on her concept and definition of a “modern tea room,” how they approach tea ceremonies, her trips to China to source directly, the sensation of being tea drunk, and navigating her business through COVID-19.
48
Jing Gao
We touch on Jing's personal journey and her return and reclamation of her birth name. Her discovery at the natural food expo with zero diversity in both people and product lead her to ultimately pursuing a CPG company of her dreams and she continues to turn biases on its head.
47
Johnny Lee
Lee ran the kitchens at Sticky Rice and Eggslut in Grand Central Market before finally creating his own pop-up; which was so successful at the peak of the pandemic that it evolved into his brick and mortar restaurant located in the Far East Plaza in LA’s Chinatown.
46
Jenny Dorsey
Jenny Dorsey is a bi-coastal chef, food writer, speaker, and social entrepreneur. We dig into her backstory and discuss topics like the need to exercise creative muscle, hospitality being based off of a slave labor society, white and asian fragility, and changing the food narrative.
45
David Kuo
David Kuo is Chef/Owner of Little Fatty, a Taiwanese soul food restaurant located in Mar Vista, California. A California native whose passion for cooking and food was influenced by his family's traditional cooking as well as watching Food Network & Iron Chef growing up.
44
Ryan Wong
Ryan Wong is Chef/Owner of Needle, a Cantonese restaurant in Silver Lake, California. He’s got a chef’s conviction to carry on his Hong Kong heritage. Formerly a substitute teacher moonlighting as a guitarist in a rock-alt band, to washing dishes at a Sheraton Hotel, to finally cooking food he has connections to.
43
Keizo Shimamoto
Keizo Shimamoto is living the ramen dream — from the first Tokyo-style shoyu ramen as a picky eater, trying over 600 bowls of ramen in a year while running his ramen blog, to becoming a first-time business owner with a viral food sensation that was the ramen burger.
42
Sean Ro & Kevin Wong
A story of how two Asian American friends who sat in the back of their Calculus class birthed the idea of an Asian American craft hard seltzer and launched in the middle of a global pandemic.
41
Matthew Jung-Quillen
Matthew runs all business-related matters at Sey Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster based out in Brooklyn. Originally a dentist, Matthew has developed a newfound passion for coffee and has paved his own path in becoming involved in the most talked about coffee roasteries in the US.
40
Kyungmoon Kim
Kyungmoon is a certified Master Sommelier and a CIA graduate who began his career at Jungsik, a 2-Michelin starred Korean restaurant in Seoul and NYC. Now, he aims to showcase and share his home country and the wide variety of sool (Korean alcoholic beverages) it has to offer.
39
Alice Jun
Alice is a Korean-American producing makgeolli in her very own brewery out in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We touch exclusively on how she’s cultivated such an interest and admiration for makgeolli and how right now is the perfect time to introduce the beverage.
38
Carol Pak
Carol is a Korean-American and founder of Makku, dubbed “America’s first craft makgeolli.” Makgeolli is the lesser-known alcoholic choice in comparison to the widely popular soju. However, it is considered Korea’s oldest. Carol decided to take this old-school beverage and bring it to market for a modern audience.
37
Sandro Roco
Sandro is a Queens-born Filipino-American who has started Sanzo: a new kind of sparkling water offering that celebrates Asian flavors. We speak on his unique journey that’s lead him to work on his dream of filling grocery shelves with a product that best represents him and his community.
36
Kevin Liang
Kevin grew up in the family grocery business in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Now, he oversees SAFG that calls some of the chefs we’ve had as clients. With the pandemic, Kevin has pivoted from serving restaurants to now also offering hard to find Asian products for the general public.
35
Claire Sprouse
Claire is a Filipino-American bar owner of Hunky Dory in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Originally, an all-day cocktail bar, coffee shop, and restaurant; Claire explains to us how she’s pivoted and decided against returning for indoor dining.
34
Elizabeth Yee
In collaboration with Send Chinatown Love, we feature Elizabeth from Tonii's Fresh Rice Noodle to share her family's story, connections to Chinatown, and the importance of family legacy.
33
Alice Liu
In collaboration with Send Chinatown Love, we feature Alice from Grand Tea & Imports: a Chinatown staple for folks looking for tea blends, spiritual goods, and niche Chinese cultural items.
32
Ling Song
Ling is the Seller Empathy Lead at Send Chinatown Love (SCL), an organization that provides an online platform to low-tech, cash-only, Asian-owned small businesses that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
31
Hannah Wong
Formerly of Van Da, Hannah is opening street-food inspired Haema in Brooklyn. We speak on reimagining restaurants as a community-driven third place, accessible to the neighborhood via mutual aid and tier-based pricing.
30
Eric Huang
A former Sous Chef at Eleven Madison Park, Eric is setting out to open his own restaurant Anzhu. We touch on cultural appropriation in food, the lack of Asian representation, and changing the perception of Chinese cuisine in NYC.
29
Ben Hon
Ben Hon is behind the influential @stuffbeneats. With many of our guests being mutual friends, we invited Ben to speak about using our social platforms to showcase and highlight restaurants in a time where they desperately need support.
28
Linus Kim
Linus is the Chef-Owner of Linus BBQ in Seoul, South Korea. Located in a foreigner-friendly neighborhood of Itaewon, it has underwent an unfortunate scapegoat incident in response to COVID-19. We capture his emotions and thoughts.
27
Helen affirmed her passion for food through her time at Daniel Boulud’s eponymous Restaurant Daniel. Now, she joins a new wave of Vietnamese-American chefs hoping to contribute her take on her prideful cuisine and culture.
26
Jenn Saesue
Jenn’s Thai-American identity paired with an extensive experience within the industry has led to the critical and commercial success of contemporary “pad thai free zone” Thai restaurant, Fish Cheeks.
25
Peter Tondreau
Bar Suzette, Bangkok Bar, Very Fresh Noodles, Le Song, Tings
A 10-year restaurant vet operating multiple concepts from creperies to noodle shops within food halls such as Urbanspace and Chelsea Market. Lessons in how teamwork and collaboration births successful concepts.
24
Sarah Lee
Sarah’s experiences range from catering to managing restaurants to marketing a Korean celebrity chef. She ultimately brought her favorite Korean comfort food, kimbap, stateside with a spin offering sauces and pickles.
23
Erika Chou
Growing up in North Carolina meant a number of “embarrassing” home-cooked lunches that were different from her peers. This would soon change as Erika shifted from fashion production to introducing regional Yunnan cuisine to NYC.
22
Dennis Ngo
A Texan-native, Dennis initially ventured into a consulting career in financial services. A fateful move to NYC, an entry-level dishwasher role, and an eventual walkout of his entire kitchen staff just scratch the surface in Dennis’ story of tenacity.
21
Calvin Eng
Brooklyn born and bred, Calvin’s first encounter with food occurred in the family kitchen and working at a deli. He drifted far from his Cantonese roots only to arrive at a newfound appreciation for his heritage and culture.
20
Steve's childhood in the Bay Area involved opening shifts at coffee shops to a career initially in worker cooperatives. After a reunion in Paris with a high school friend, Oxalis was born.
19
Jae Lee
From a ramen line cook to picking up the late Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential to opening Executive Chef at Momosan, Jae’s journey is cemented in hustle and hard work.
18
Simone Tong
Not many Chefs in the restaurant industry can claim to have been a competitive poker player, work retail at Louis Vuitton, and start an English school in China.
17
Early beginnings raised by a loving grandma who would pack her lunch everyday to eventually fulfilling a dream to open a restaurant that brought Korean cuisine into the international stage.
16
A fearlessly, independent entrepreneur early on, a pharmacy degree turned into a psychology degree to a stint at Food Network to her own concept in the coveted Chelsea Market.
15
Jenny Kwak
In the business of educating guests on Korean cuisine and culture in NYC for over two decades, Jenny documents her journey from Dok Suni to opening her first solo venture, Haenyeo.
14
Ochi Latjuba
Ochi grew up in Indonesia; where her mother ran a catering business. She went onto studying at CIA and attaining experiences at Daniel Boulud's Feast and Fetes and Thomas Keller's Per Se.
13
Maiko has not had a linear or direct path; she worked in children's publishing, on Sesame Street, to famed artist Takashi Murakami's right hand before operating her own restaurant.
12
Yen Ngo
From the earliest and fondest food memories in Vietnam to an engineering career moonlighting as a deli waitress to starting a catering company, Yen's story is singular and special.
11
Moonlynn Tsai
Moonlynn’s take on unique staffing of high school students at Kopitiam and gentrification as a restaurant on the converging borderline in rapidly developing Chinatown and the Lower East Side.
10
Amelie Kang
Former Eater Young Gun and recently minted Forbes 30 Under 30, Amelie grew up in Beijing, standing on a stool watching her grandma pick persimmons, peach, and pear from her garden.
9
Sakura Yagi
While New York does not have an official Japantown like Koreatown or Chinatown, Sakura and her family have created their own little impressive community of Japanese restaurants.
8
Roni Mazumdar
Masalawala, Rahi, & Adda
From helping run his father's fruit cart in downtown Manhattan, Roni soon realized how under appreciated and under represented Indian cuisine was in New York City.
7
Nicole Ponseca
A childhood memory of shame in watching her father eat with his bare hands would only later become the saving grace for her restaurant Jeepney which opened during Hurricane Sandy.
6
Thanaruek Laoraowirodge
What started initially as an excuse to spend more time in the city in Bangkok away from the countryside turned into a prolific career where Eh has established a name for himself in Thailand.
5
Kyo Pang
We discover Kyo's upbringing in Penang, Malaysia, growing up in a family restaurant business, early discriminations she faced while working in NYC as a bartender and club promoter.
4
Eric Sze
From turning down a full-time job offer in operations from David Chang's Momofuku group to how a class at NYU inspired Eric to dive further into his Taiwanese roots that became 886.
3
Jimmy Ly
Growing up in Chinatown to immigrant parents, Jimmy’s fateful meeting with his wife and their disdain for the lack of Vietnamese restaurant options spurred the opening of Madame Vo.
2
Lucas Sin
Lucas started his culinary experience running a pop-up as a 16 year-old in an abandoned newspaper factory on the outskirts of Hong Kong and hasn't looked back since.
1
Simon Kim
From his parents serendipitously running a Korean restaurant in Tribeca in the 90's to behind the scenes stories of opening his first restaurant, Piora, and of course, Cote Korean Steakhouse.