OUR PAST EVENTS
An archive of our panel discussions, special tastings, and symposia starting from our founding in 2007. Our weekend-long food festival attracted up hundreds of attendees and our panel discussions typically attract up to 150. Our events sell out often.
Please browse our history and click for videos, audio, recipes, and more.
September 2012
2012 SYMPOSIUM
Exploring Asian & Latin American cross-cultural foods and experiences
September 17, 23, 2012
Ferry Building and Women’s Building in San Francisco
From lomo saltado to jerk chow mein, Brazilian sushi to Korean tacos — learn about culinary exchanges old and new between Asia and Latin America.
Join us for an enlightening conversation with culinary experts, artists, and scholars about the melding of Asian and Latin American flavors in restaurants and markets, in our homes and on the streets.
August 2011
PANEL DISCUSSION
Talkin ‘Bout My Generation: Young Chefs Re-Inventing Asian Cuisine
Monday, August 22, 2011, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
San Francisco Ferry Building, 2nd Floor
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco
Join us for an exciting evening with “second-generation” Chefs/Restaurateurs and culinary innovators who are challenging our ideas of "inheriting" cuisines and culture, and pushing the concept of Asian restaurants to new horizons.
April 2011
Food as Medicine: Cuisine, Curatives & Culture (sold out!)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 6:30–9:00 pm
San Francisco Ferry Building, 2nd Floor
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco
From humble garlic and ginger to shimmering reishi mushrooms, vivid wolfberries, and knobby bitter melon, many Asian ingredients carry powerful healing properties. As scientific studies reaffirm Chinese Traditional Medicine and India’s Ayurveda system, food and beverage companies unveil esoterically flavored waters, confections, smoothies, and other trend-setting products. (Turmeric-holy basil-winter cherry chocolate, anyone?) For generations, though, Chinese and Indian cooks have valued seasonal ingredients, mind-body balance, and individualized health needs as much as flavor and texture when preparing meals.
[ Read more, full audio and Recipe ]
September 2010
PANEL DISCUSSION
(sold out!)
Thursday, August 19, 2010 | 5:00-9:00 pm
San Francisco Asian Art Museum
To celebrate the 2010 World Expo currently running in Shanghai and to highlight the last week of the Asian Art Museum’s historic Shanghai exhibition, the Asian Culinary Forum and the JCC-East Bay are delighted to present a panel discussion on the history of Shanghai’s Jews and their culinary experiences.
Join us for this fascination conversation about Jews exploring new flavors in China and about the culinary repercussions for Jewish families after their sojourn in Shanghai ended. Inna Mink and Dianne Jacob will share evocative stories about Jewish communities recreating familiar foods under trying circumstances during the first half of the twentieth century. Inna will share her experiences as a child in an Ashkenazi family living in this “Paris of the East,” while Dianne will speak about her observant Iraqi-Jewish family’s culinary traditions, which included Indian-Jewish, British and Chinese foods. Linda Frank will moderate, a question and answer session will follow the discussion, and small samples of Shanghai street foods will be available for tasting.
August 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010 | 5:00-9:00 pm
San Francisco Asian Art Museum
One of the most famous culinary regions in China is Shanghai. Its rich Yangtze Delta is a lush garden for vegetables and fruit, and its cuisine is assertively flavored, expressing a flair characteristic of the city itself. Sumptuous, velvety meat and fish are braised with soy sauce, sugar, and a touch of vinegar – this treatment is a Shanghai specialty. Not to be overlooked in Shanghai’s gastronomic repertoire are “drunken dishes,” where food is marinated in wine. The museum has paired with the Asian Culinary Forum for a feature talk on Shanghai cuisine and a demonstration of making "drunken chicken."
Chef Nei and Chef Yan will discuss and demo three special dishes: vegetarian goose with bean curd and rice wine, pickled cucumber in Huang Chiew wine, and the famous “drunken chicken” with Shaoxing wine. Savor signature Shanghai bites made with Shaoxing wine, toast with a drink from the cash bar, and tour the special exhibition.
May 2010
Filipino Flavors (sold out!)
Saturday, May 15 to Sunday, May 16
The International Culinary School at
The Art Institute of California-San Francisco
Join the Asian Culinary Forum in the heart of San Francisco for an exciting, weekend-long celebration of the foods of the Philippines.
We’ve gathered a highly seasoned, perfectly spiced blend of chefs, scholars, writers, winemakers and musicians for two days of special events. Focus on the topic closest to your heart or indulge in an all-weekend, all-symposium pass.
June 2009
SCHOLARLY PANEL DISCUSSION
June 24, 2009
San Francisco Ferry Building
Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen, insisted that: "Peace will come to the world when people have enough to eat."
Campers, students, busy families, and well-dressed salary workers have all benefitted from the easy goodness of ramen. Its countless incarnations—mild, sour, spicy, covered in broth or swirled in curry—have traveled around the world.
Come join the conversation with:
Andy Raskin, author, The Ramen King and I
George Solt, assistant professor of history, New York University
Thy Tran (moderator), director, Asian Culinary Forum
October 2008
2008 FESTIVAL + SYMPOSIUM
Asian Food Beyond Borders (sold out!)
A two-day public Asian food festival with tours, demos, classes, and talks exploring a multitude of facets of Asian cuisines. Followed by an intimate, one-day scholarly symposium at the San Francisco Ferry Building.
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FESTIVAL
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•The Six Asian Flavors (tastings)
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•Chinatown Culinary Walk (tour)
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•Chutneys, Kimchi, and Sambal (class)
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•The Politics and Practicalities of Rice (panel discussion)
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•Master Wine and Food Pairing (tasting class)
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•Meals, Meaning, and Memory in Asian Diasporas (panel discussion)
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•What is This? Experts Deciphering the Unfamiliar (food clinic)
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•Delights of South India (demo)
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SYMPOSIUM
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•Keynote: Madhur Jaffrey on “What Is Asia?”
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•Panel Discussion: Experience and Expression in Asian Foodways
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•Roundtable: Narratives for the Next Generation
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•Presentation: Roy Fong on “The Changing Traditions of Tea”
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•The Last Bite: Martin Yan on “New Frontiers of Cooking”
July 2008
(sold out!)
Join us for a provocative conversation with celebrated San Francisco chefs. They’ll share how they developed their signature styles and how their personal and professional experiences have shaped their vision of Asian cuisine. We’re honored to have on our panel:
Kelly Degala, executive chef, Pres a Vi and Va de Vi
Eric Gower, author, Breakaway Cook
Michelle Mah, formerly executive chef, Ponzu
Kirti Pant, executive chef, Junnoon
Charles Phan, executive chef, Slanted Door
Linda Carucci (moderator), chef director, International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco
(sold out!)
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