Chinese Food Fight Club

Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. You can find us elsewhere on the internet at Instagram and you can watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention in this video:
• Junzi Kitchen
• Lucas Sin
• Book: Land of Fish and Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop
• Book: Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop
• Book: The Globalization of Chinese Food
• Book: The Food of China
• Book: Food in Chinese Culture
• Marissa Hermer
• Shazam
• Book: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
• Seoul Sausage

Andy Wang has written regularly about restaurants and bars for Food & Wine, Los Angeles Magazine, Robb Report and Observer. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Zagat Stories, Las Vegas Weekly, Vegas Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Yahoo Travel, Taste, Ocean Drive and many other publications. He is co-host of LA Food Gang on Clubhouse. Andy was previously the real estate and travel editor at the New York Post. A former dot-com entrepreneur, he wrote the first New York Times stories about both Google and blogs.

Danica Lo was, most recently, the chief content officer of Tatler Asia, where she led print and digital teams in eight markets: Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Previously, she led digital editorial teams at some of the largest consumer lifestyle media brands in the United States, including Food & Wine, WWD, Glamour, and Epicurious. A native New Yorker and former Wilhelmina plus-size model, she holds degrees from the University of Oxford, Dartmouth College, and London's Central Saint Martins.

Lydia and Leo Lee opened RiceBox in 2018 and quickly turned their tiny restaurant into a game-changing standard-bearer for contemporary Cantonese barbecue, including what Los Angeles magazine named as the city's best char siu in 2020. The success of RiceBox involves a family recipe from a Hong Kong restaurant that Lydia's grandfather owned. But the restaurant's ascension is also largely due to Leo's cooking experience and creativity, which has led to innovations like merging Cantonese roast pork with porchetta. Leo was born and raised in Mexicali, Mexico, where his parents had a Chinese restaurant. He then graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in New York and worked at the Patina Restaurant Group in LA before opening RiceBox with Lydia, who grew up in Hong Kong and Vancouver. The Lees are also new parents, who had their son, Ari, during the pandemic.

Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. You can find us elsewhere on the internet at Instagram and you can watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention in this video:
• Los Angeles magazine's Best of LA 2020
• LA Food Gang's Clubhouse fundraiser and Pop Off LA events
• The Culinary Institute of America
• Patina Restaurant Group
• Anti-Asian hate incidents experienced by restaurants and other small businesses
• The Chinese community in Mexicali
• The San Gabriel Valley
• RiceBox's holiday baked chicken
• Chrissy Teigen and the power of her Instagram posts
• Yu Tsai
• Phil Rosenthal
• Bling Empire
• Delicious Food Corner
• Alice's Kitchen
• Golden Deli
• Ms. Chi and Shirley Chung

In this episode of Chinese Food Fight Club, we talk with fishmonger Liwei Liao, the dry-aged fish king of Los Angeles. Born in Taiwan and raised in Bayside, Queens, Liao studied engineering at UCLA before launching The Boba Truck at the height of the social-media-food-truck convergence in 2008. In 2018, Liao opened The Joint, a sustainable seafood market and coffee shop in Sherman Oaks where his motto is #freshisboring. Here, Liao tells us why he's a champion of dry aged fish, and talks about his childhood growing up in Queens, New York.

Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. You can find us elsewhere on the internet at Instagram and you can watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention in this video:
• The Joint's $320 Temaki Box
• Alley Pond Park in Bayside, Queens
• Bronx High School of Science
• Damian, Los Angeles
• Paul Bartolotta
• Jon Yao's Kato in Los Angeles
• Father's Office in Los Angeles
• The Brother's Sushi in Los Angeles
• Anajak Thai in Los Angeles
• Rustic Canyon in Los Angeles
• Sea Stephanie Fish
• Ora King Salmon

Hi! Welcome to our first Chinese Food Fight Club podcast Hot Topics episode—where we discuss things we've learned from recent guests, things we've been thinking about, and what we've been up to, and how it all relates to being a first-generation Asian American and a third-culture kid.

Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. You can find us elsewhere on the internet at Instagram and you can watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention in this video:
• Mian restaurant, Los Angeles
• Fly by Jing Sichuan sauces
• Szechuan Grandma, Long Island
• Junzi Kitchen, New York
• Shirley Chung's Ms Chi on Goldbelly
• Xi'an Famous Foods on Goldbelly
• Jon Yao's Kato restaurant, Los Angeles
• Anthony Bourdain at Xi'an Famous Foods
• Robot pony for children
• Parkour robot
• Damien Hirst's NFT initiative

Andy Wang has written regularly about restaurants and bars for Food & Wine, Los Angeles Magazine, Robb Report and Observer. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Zagat Stories, Las Vegas Weekly, Vegas Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Yahoo Travel, Taste, Ocean Drive and many other publications. He is co-host of LA Food Gang on Clubhouse. Andy was previously the real estate and travel editor at the New York Post. A former dot-com entrepreneur, he wrote the first New York Times stories about both Google and blogs.

Danica Lo was, most recently, the chief content officer of Tatler Asia, where she led print and digital teams in eight markets: Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Previously, she led digital editorial teams at some of the largest consumer lifestyle media brands in the United States, including Food & Wine, WWD, Glamour, and Epicurious. A native New Yorker and former Wilhelmina plus-size model, she holds degrees from the University of Oxford, Dartmouth College, and London's Central Saint Martins.

Crystal Coser is President of Bites & Bashes, a Los Angeles catering and events company with clients that have included President Clinton, Apple, Nike, Harry Winston, Facebook, Uber, Beats by Dre, Porsche and countless celebrities. Crystal and her mother/business partner, chef Julie Coser, also run the Bites & Bashes Cafe in LA's South Bay. Crystal was previously the associate editor of Eater LA. She worked at Hollywood experiential marketing firm NVE producing celebrity and corporate events before becoming the Director of Brand Strategy and Creative Director at age 25.

Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. You can find us elsewhere on the internet at Instagram and you can watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention in this video:
• Beats by Dre at Coachella
• Seth MacFarlane's holiday party
• LA Food Gang and Pop Off LA
• Napkin Killa
• Angler San Francisco
• Joshua Skenes
• Olive-fed wagyu
• El Farolito
• Emeril Lagasse
• Zahav
• Animal
• Let's Eat Together Clubhouse fundraiser
• Smorgasburg LA
• Saucy Chick Rotisserie
• Spoon by H
• Anajak Thai
• Crafted Kitchen
• Roy Choi's Kogi
• David Chang's Majordomo
• Off Their Plate
• Petite Peso
• Burmese Please!
• Eater LA
• Luv2Eat Thai
• Charles Olalia and RiceBar
• Myung Dong Kyoja
• El Flamin Taco
• The Mozzaplex

Shirley Chung was born and raised in Beijing and immigrated to the United States for college. She worked in Silicon Valley before enrolling at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Chung has worked for Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy, and Mario Batali—she opened CarneVino in Los Angeles as Chef de Cuisine for the Batali Group; the restaurant garnered multiple international awards for Best Steak House. She was a finalist on season 11 of Top Chef in New Orleans and was the runner up in season 14. Her newest restaurant concept is Ms Chi Cafe, which is located in Culver City.

Caryl Chinn spent 16 years in New York, where she was the Senior Special Events Director at Bon Appetit magazine. She later worked for brands such as American Express, Godiva Chocolate, and the New York Yankees. She collaborated with festival founder Lee Schrager on the establishment of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival and produced the first four years of the festival, which, to date, has raised millions of dollars fo charity. In 2010, Chinn founded Caryl Chinn Culinary Consulting. She is on the Advisory Board of C-CAP LA (Careers through Culinary Arts Program), and is on the Culinary Council for the Food Bank for New York City. Chinn graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a BA in History.

About us: Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

Thank you so much for watching! Please like and subscribe for future episodes! You can listen to the Chinese Food Fight Club podcast on your favorite podcast platform—such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify—and you can find us elsewhere online on Instagram and at chinesefoodfightclub.com. You can also watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention:
• Dumpling Mafia NFT
• Westfield Santa Anita mall
• Qing Dao Bread Food
• China Poblano by Jose Andres
• Las Vegas Chinatown Plaza
• Chengdu Taste Las Vegas
• James Beard Foundation Awards
• New York Wine & Food Festival
• Pop Off LA fundraiser
• Moo's Craft Barbecue
• Ricebox
• Anajak Thai

Former Legend chef Ding Gen Wang's food is available at Chef Wang in New Hyde Park, Long Island.

About us: Chinese Food Fight Club is a multimedia platform and consultancy inspired by a dining club created by Andy Wang and Danica Lo at Legend in New York City in 2011. Our mission is to connect the Chinese-American community with other Asian communities while amplifying the stories of Asian and Asian-American creators, chefs, artists, activists, policy-makers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

Thank you so much for watching! Please like and subscribe for future episodes! You can listen to the Chinese Food Fight Club podcast on your favorite podcast platform—such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify—and you can find us elsewhere online on Instagram and at chinesefoodfightclub.com. You can also watch these episodes on YouTube.

Stuff we mention in this video:
• How Chinese Food Fight Club started
• Working with David Landsel at the New York Post
• Szechuan Gourmet
• Wu Liang Ye
• Margon
• Midtown Lunch
• Chowhound
• David Chang's Twitter account
• Momofuku
• Garrett Snyder on Northern Thai Food Club
• Josh Wesson
• Jeff Zalaznick of Major Food Group and Carbone
• Catch
• Eater New York
• Legend in the New York Times
• Dumpling Mafia and the Dumpling Mafia NFTs with Shirley Chung and Caryl Chinn
• LA Food Gang with Crystal Coser
• Napkin Killa
• Yu Bo
• RiceBox
• Daniel Dae Kim's activism
• The Dolar Shop
• Lao Gan Ma
• Fly By Jing