We are excited to announce the launch of our 4 part series called Flavors of San José.
We will talk with local chefs about their food journey in San Jose and learn a family recipe that you can make right in your own home.
Our Food Guide
Trami Cron - Trami is the founder of Chopsticks Alley and author of VietnamEazy, a novel about Mothers, Daughters and Food.
She is passionate about the emergence of the VietNow culture in America. As a Vietnamese-American, she created Chopsticks Alley as a platform for the younger Vietnamese generation to have a space to express their point of views about news, business, art, food, and culture. She hopes this platform will also help to unite the Vietnamese Community all over the world.
Our Chefs
Episode 1 - Hết Sảy
READ MORE: Hết Sẩy: A Pop-Up Restaurant Exploring Stories Through Food
Bringing their stories and experiences to their dishes, Hết Sẩy delivers their platter with style. Residing in East San Jose, California, home cook couple Duy An and Hieu Le started Hết Sẩy, a pop-up store that offers a variety of delicious food from baked goods to savory dishes such as Crab and pork ‘chả giò’ fried rolls, all combined with seasonal California ingredients and traditional Vietnamese flavors they grew up with. Distinguished by its bright, colorful food, Hết Sẩy stand out as a place to share stories through love of food….FULL BLOG HERE
Episode 2 - Barya Kitchen
Barya Kitchen is described as a Filipino pop-up started by a group of friends who share the same passion for modern-style Filipino cuisine in the Bay Area. A controversial topic in the culinary world is the idea of authenticity and its definition and the palatability of the food to groups unfamiliar with the cuisine. Often times, this applies more heavily for chefs of color who have immigrated outside of their ethnic origin. In the documentary, ULAM: Main Dish, this is discussed in regards to the marketability of Filipino food. Is it still ‘authentic’ if the dish is altered to appease to white and non-Filipino consumers? Who is to say the alteration itself is not a natural progression in the evolution of Filipino food? For Reyes, he envisions the creation of any dish as a way to “bridge the gap” between the chef and the consumer. He believes this is also experienced with first (and so forth) generations of Filipino-Americans whether or not they were already familiar with the Filipino culture and heritage. READ MORE HERE
Episode 3 - Bertha Aguinaga, Veggielution Eastside Grown Fellow
Each year, Veggielution’s Eastside Grown program connects 20-30 local food entrepreneurs and residents to each other and to infrastructure and resources that increase social connection, knowledge, and economic mobility. In partnership with the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the City of San José, SOMOS Mayfair, Work 2 Future, and other key stakeholders, we work to propose process and policy change solutions to address the specific obstacles and challenges mobile vendors face. We aim to mitigate the impact of unpermitted vendors by offering them alternative economic pathways.
Learn more about our Eastside Grown Program
Episode 4 - Sammie Ngar, Famous Lao Papaya Restaurant
As the only Lao restaurant in San Jose, Famous Lao Papaya Restaurant is here to capture the appetite of the community with our unique and authentic home-style cooking.
Here at Famous Lao Papaya Restaurant, we are known for our traditional high-quality dishes made from scratch, handmade fresh noodles, all-natural ingredient sausages and our authentic Lao style papaya salad. Everything is prepared to order and made to perfection.
Order online from them here: https://www.laopapayasj.com/s/order
