Feast Meets West – Details, episodes & analysis

Eric Tran didn’t set out to open a restaurant during a pandemic, but here we are. Eric took over the lease for Falansai and now operates the Bushwick restaurant as a reimagined 2.0 version, making his interpretation of delicious Vietnamese dishes with a focus on whole animal butchery and seasonally and locally sourced ingredients. We talk about the food, what it was like to open with a takeout and delivery focus to start, and what’s in store for Falansai as the city reopens.

Photo Courtesy of Adam Friedlander

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Early last year, Eric Huang left his sous chef position at Eleven Madison Park to open his own restaurant. However, the pandemic forced Eric to switch gears. It led him back to his family's restaurant, Peking House, where he started Pecking House—a delivery concept for chili fried chicken dinners, so successful it has an 8-week long waitlist. Tune in to hear Eric talk about his new culinary path, one that he never expected but is far more rewarding and fun than he ever thought it would be.

Photo Courtesy of Daniel Brennan

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We chat with Matt Le-Khac and Jimmy Tran of Bolero. Located in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Bolero features a hyper-seasonal menu that emphasizes the rare fresh herbs that form the foundation of Vietnamese cuisine — sourced from Matt’s family farm and showcased in the restaurant’s Vietnamese Tea Garden. The Bolero team will use the Northeast Corridor to bring awareness to lost traditions.

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Joanne Kwong, President of Pearl River Mart, the iconic NYC “friendship store” specializing in Asian goods since 1971, joins us to chat about her favorite Asian snacks! We find out what the best selling classics are at the store, as well as what’s new and trending. Joanne will also speak to the history and progression of the Pearl River brand, and give us a sneak peek of the soon-to-be opened fourth location dedicated to Asian foods.

Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets available now at heritageradionetwork.org/gala.

Photo courtesy of An Rong Xu.

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Sink into artisinal tofu with Paul Eng, heir to a tofu dynasty. Since 1933, the Chinatown specialty tofu shop Fong On has been run by the Eng family. Prior to coming back to the family business, Paul embarked on a series of other careers over the span of 25 years that led him to music, design, art direction, advertising and photography. Paul has now rebooted the shop for both long-time customers as well as a younger generation.

Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets available now at heritageradionetwork.org/gala.

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Paul Chen of Fan Fried Rice and Layla Chen of Maya Bed Stuy join us to discuss the topic of rice as a comfort food. They also share some parallel experiences as shop owners that specialize in a rice dish that pays respect to their heritage: for Paul it’s fried rice and for Layla it’s congee, their approach in combining tradition and modernity on their respective menus, and setting up shop in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn.

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Simone Tong, Chef-Owner, and Emmeline Zhao, GM and Partner, of Little Tong, Little Tong Noodle Shop, and the soon-to-be opened Silver Apricot talk to us about their culinary progression from introducing mixian at Little Tong to showcasing what it means to be Chinese-American today at Silver Apricot. We'll chat about this coming of age for Chinese-American food--a clear distinction from the American-Chinese food born out of economic necessity.

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There are countless dishes that you should be adding miso to beyond the omnipresent soup! Maiko Kyogoku and Emily Yuen, the dynamic duo behind Bessou, join us in the studio to tell us about all the different miso varietals and how to use them so you can add more umami magic to your life.

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We are chatting with Ali Azimov of Lagman House about his family's restaurant, and introducing our listeners to Dungan cuisine. As Ligaya Mishan pointed out in The New York Times, "Lagman House is likely the first and only restaurant in the city to offer the food of the Dungans, Chinese Muslims descended from seventh-century Arab and Persian Silk Road traders who married Han Chinese." Doron Wong of River and Hills Hospitality Group will also join us to share his experiences cooking and eating in Kazakhstan.

Photo courtesy of Lagman House.

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We talk about the experience of bringing popular ramen concepts from Japan to New York. For both Tonchin and Ichiran, highly regarded ramen restaurants from Japan, NYC was the first destination for their US expansion. Anan and Toui Sugeno, the brothers behind Tonchin New York, and Annie Chen, the Assistant Manager of Restaurant Operations at ICHIRAN NY join us in the studio.

It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate

Image courtesy Greg Rhein Photography for Ichiran USA.

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