Weekly Welcome

Ryan Wong is Chef/Owner of Needle, a Cantonese restaurant in Silver Lake, California. He’s got a chef’s conviction to carry on his Hong Kong heritage. Formerly a substitute teacher moonlighting as a guitarist in a rock-alt band, to washing dishes at a Sheraton Hotel, to finally cooking food he has connections to.

We launched a new digital magazine! Prix Fixe for Youth was born as a charity dinner, a prix-fixe tasting menu to benefit Apex for Youth. Now, with the inability to host these spontaneous, communal events for the time being, we’ve adapted PFFY into a magazine featuring 26 restaurants we love and the tenacious people behind them. Every $2 per copy benefits Apex. Get your copy now at withwarmwelcome.com/magazine! 

In this particular episode, we speak with our friend and supporter Sean Wang, an Associate Board member of Apex for Youth. Sean shares the ways in which the organization empowers the youth through its mentoring, tutoring, and athletics programs and how you can get involved at apexforyouth.org/volunteer.

Keizo Shimamoto is living the ramen dream — from the first Tokyo-style shoyu ramen as a picky eater, trying over 600 bowls of ramen in a year while running his ramen blog, to becoming a first-time business owner with a viral food sensation that was the ramen burger. Keizo's had quite a career; he's paid his dues in the original Ivan Ramen and Bassanova in Tokyo. We document his ups and downs; highs and lows, as he makes a hard decision this year to shut his businesses in NYC and relocate back home to California, where he grew up.

A story of how two Asian-American friends who sat in the back of their Calculus class birthed the idea of an Asian-American craft hard seltzer and launched in the middle of a global pandemic. Lunar is the first and only Asian-American craft hard seltzer. Born and raised in NYC, their seltzers are made from premium, authentic Asian ingredients sourced from the motherland. They've taken the fruits most emblematic of their childhood - trips back to Asia, their parents cutting fruit for us while we do homework, and even their “lunchbox moments” - and crafted unique recipes to unapologetically celebrate those experiences of Asian-Americana.  Each can is filtered multiple times for each flavor—all real, natural ingredients—to shine its brightest. More info at www.drinklunar.com or follow on Instagram @drinklunar.

Matthew runs all business-related matters at Sey Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster based out in Brooklyn. Originally a dentist, Matthew has developed a newfound passion for coffee and has paved his own path in becoming involved in the most talked about coffee roasteries in the US.

Kyungmoon is a certified Master Sommelier and a CIA graduate who began his career at Jungsik, a 2-Michelin starred Korean restaurant in Seoul and NYC. Now, he aims to showcase and share the wide variety of sool (Korean alcoholic beverages) it has to offer through his own importing company. Where to find his imported K-Sool here: https://www.woorisoul.com/wheretofind. Follow KMS Imports on Instagram @woorisoul_nyc.

Alice is a Korean-American producing her own makgeolli in her very own brewery out in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We touch exclusively on how she’s cultivated such an interest and admiration for makgeolli and how right now is the perfect time to introduce the beverage. Website: https://www.hanamakgeolli.com

Carol Pak is the founder of Makku, dubbed “America’s first craft makgeolli.” Makgeolli is the lesser-known alcoholic choice in comparison to the widely popular soju. However, it is considered Korea’s oldest. Carol decided to take this old-school beverage and bring it to market for a modern audience.

Sandro is a Queens-born Filipino-American who has started Sanzo: a new kind of sparkling water offering that celebrates Asian flavors. We speak on his unique journey that’s lead him to work on his dream of filling grocery shelves with a product that best represents him and his community.

Kevin Liang grew up in the family grocery business in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Now, he oversees Southeast Asia Food Group (SAFG) that calls some of the chefs we’ve had as clients. With the pandemic, Kevin has pivoted from serving restaurants to now also offering hard to find Asian products for the general public.