Event: Chinatown Table: Food, Culture, and Community in New York City
Thursday, August 6 at 111 Broadway in the Financial District.
Doors open 6:00 | Talk 6:30-7:30 | Book Signing 7:30-8:00 pm
Every neighborhood has its stories. In Chinatown, many of them are told around the table—in steaming bowls of noodles, handwritten recipes, bustling dining rooms, and family kitchens where traditions are preserved, adapted, and passed from one generation to the next. More than a destination for great food, Chinatown is one of New York’s last living immigrant neighborhoods—a place where the American story is still being written, even as its future grows increasingly uncertain.
Join award-winning cookbook author and Chinatown advocate Grace Young for a conversation with chefs and authors whose lives and work are deeply rooted in this remarkable neighborhood: Annie Shi, owner of Lei Wine Bar, the first NYC Chinatown restaurant to win a competitive Beard Award; Calvin Eng, chef and owner of Bonnie's; and Kaitlin Leung, co-creator of The Woks of Life. Together, they'll reflect on the restaurants, markets, and home kitchens that have shaped New York's Chinatown, exploring how food serves as a living archive of memory, migration, resilience, and belonging.
Part celebration, part love letter, the evening will also offer a guide to experiencing Chinatown through the eyes of those who know it best, as the panelists share favorite shops, hidden gems, enduring institutions, and the places they return to again and again. Whether you're a devoted regular or a curious newcomer, you'll leave with a deeper understanding of the neighborhood's extraordinary culinary landscape—and why supporting Chinatown today ensures it will continue to thrive for generations to come.
A book signing will follow the conversation.
Non-alcoholic beverages generously provided by Sober in Central Park
Tickets are non-refundable. You will not receive a physical ticket. Your name will be on a list at the door. This event will not be recorded.
Please note that this event is at 111 Broadway (corner of Thames St) at the NYC Food Stories by Kitchen Arts & Letters pop-up store.
