Weekly Welcome

Roni Mazumdar is the restaurateur behind The MasalaWala, Rahi, Adda Indian Canteen, and the soon to open, Dhamaka in the Essex Street Market. An engineer turned actor turned restaurateur; Roni has found tremendous success recently with Adda. Adda has gained critical acclaim, named on various best new restaurants lists such as the New York Times, Bon Appetit, Eater, and was a semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation.

From helping run his father's fruit cart in downtown Manhattan, Roni gained early experience in hospitality and guest interactions. Roni went onto a successful engineering career, which blossomed into opening his first restaurant as a retirement gift to his father, The MasalaWala.

Roni soon realized in operating an Indian restaurant, how under appreciated and under represented Indian cuisine was in New York City. This episode delves into his first restaurant entrepreneurial lessons from running The MasalaWala, the "biggest failure in his life" in having to close down Tapestry, and his eventual calling to demystify Indian cuisine. 

Nicole Ponseca is the restaurateur and co-owner of the Filipino restaurants Maharlika and Jeepney in the East Village in NYC as well as the author of the 2019 James Beard Award Finalist cookbook, I Am A Filipino. A former advertising executive turned restaurateur, Nicole's coming-of-age story is familiar perhaps to other Filipino-Americans having been born to a military dad and nurse mom. 

Moving to New York with $75 to her name and to advance her career in advertising, she soon realized her calling to represent her Filipino heritage and culture. While working in advertising, she moonlighted as a dishwasher, busser, runner, and server. 

A childhood memory of shame in watching her father eat with his bare hands would only later become the saving grace for her restaurant Jeepney which opened during Hurricane Sandy. This episode delves into the origin stories of both restaurants as well as tackling self-identity in relation to restaurant entrepreneurship.

Thanaruek "Eh" Laoraowirodge, is the Founder & Owner of Somtum Der, an Isan regional Thai restaurant that is now in over 7 locations worldwide. Born in the countryside in the Isan region in Thailand, Eh would later go on to major in economics in Bangkok and at NYU. With his friends, he returned home to Thailand to open Minibar Royale -- a French bistro inspired by his time in New York.

What started initially as an excuse to spend more time in the city in Bangkok away from the countryside turned into a prolific career where Eh has established a name for himself in Thailand with his Supanniga Group, home to the Somtum Der brand as well as Supanniga Eating Room and EAT (Eat All Thai).

Eh comes full circle when deciding to expand Somtum Der overseas into NYC; bringing a part of his culture and cuisine to the Alphabet City neighborhood in the East Village. It opens to wide acclaim, even garnering the coveted Michelin Star in 2016.

Kyo Pang is the Chef-Owner of Kopitiam, a Malaysian restaurant located on the Lower East Side in NYC. Kyo has been named Eater's Best Chef of the Year in 2018 and was a semi-finalist for Best Chef: New York City in 2019 from the James Beard Foundation.

Kopitiam, despite its accolades and critical success, is not an overnight sensation. In fact, before reopening in 2018 in its current location; it existed as a hole-in-the-wall stall in Chinatown that eventually had to close due to a drastic rent hike.

In this episode, we discover Kyo's upbringing in Penang, Malaysia, growing up in a family restaurant business, early discriminations she faced while working in NYC as a bartender and club promoter, to the eventful meeting with her current business partner, Moonlyn Tsai, to open Kopitiam 2.0.

Eric Sze is the Chef & Owner of 886, a Taiwanese restaurant on St. Marks Place in NYC. The name is an homage to Taiwan's country code, +886. It's a restaurant that celebrates Taiwanese culture and showcases a roster of dishes that Eric grew up with in Taiwan.

From turning down a full-time job offer in operations from David Chang's Momofuku restaurant group to starting his own food delivery start-up, Scallion Foods ― Eric has come a long way in his culinary career.

In this episode, we share insights into growing up in Taiwan and how a class at NYU inspired Eric to dive further into his Taiwanese roots that has now manifested into a successful restaurant in Manhattan.

Jimmy Ly is the Chef-Owner of Madame Vo and Madame Vo BBQ in the East Village. Jimmy and his wife, Yen Vo (for which the restaurants are named after), have certainly changed the conversation of Vietnamese restaurants in NYC. Once nonexistent, there are now a new wave of places to grab your pho or even BBQ fix. 

Growing up in Chinatown to immigrant parents who owned a dim sum restaurant and a nail salon, Jimmy learned early on about entrepreneurship and hard work. His fateful meeting with his wife and their disdain for the lack of Vietnamese restaurant options spurred the opening of Madame Vo. 

In this episode, we dive into the origin story of Madame Vo, the SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker) effect, and the loses along the way for Jimmy that have now turned into anything but wins.

Lucas Sin, Culinary Director of Junzi Kitchen, a chain of Chinese fast-casual restaurants, joins us to share his upbringing in Hong Kong, his takes on regional Chinese cooking, as well as his opinions on the ever controversial word in the modern culinary world ― "authentic."

A graduate of Yale University, Lucas met the Co-Founders of Junzi in New Haven, Connecticut. With a mission and purpose to change the perception and narrative of Chinese food, he set out to do exactly that.

Lucas started his culinary experience running a pop-up as a 16 year-old in an abandoned newspaper factory on the outskirts of Hong Kong and hasn't looked back since.

Simon Kim is a Korean-American restaurateur ― the owner of Cote Korean Steakhouse in NYC. Cote, also Korean for "flower," is the first ever Michelin-starred Korean barbecue restaurant.

From his parents serendipitously running a Korean restaurant in Tribeca in the 90's to studying hospitality at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and running restaurants for other famed restaurateurs and chefs such as Steve Hanson (Blue Fin), Jean-Georges (The Mark), and Thomas Keller (Bouchon Bakery); Simon's story is that of a vibrant flower, one that has to go through struggles to become actualized.

This episode features behind the scenes stories of his NYC upbringing to opening his first restaurant, Piora, in the West Village and of course, Cote Korean Steakhouse.

Representation is something that's lacking to host and producer Arnold Byun as an Asian-American. This season sets out to include 9 different Asian-American restaurateurs and chef-owners. It will tell their trials and tribulations to ultimately finding success in realizing that at the end of the day, it's about being who they are and creating spaces that are unapologetic and an extension of themselves as a person.

Since 1993, market makers Urbanspace NYC have been crafting and curating the most beautiful holiday market, food halls, and pop-ups in iconic locations such as Union Square, Columbus Circle, Times Square, Bryant Park, and much more. We sit down with Market Director, Emily Soukas, to chronicle her journey from NYU to Admin Assistant to now overseeing and green lighting multiple projects and properties with Urbanspace. Learn how the curation happens, her stories of controlled chaos of holiday pop-ups, and how ultimately the very vendors she works for inspires her to continue to push everyday. 

Visit Urbanspace on the web or stop by the permanent indoor food halls, 570 Lex and Vanderbilt. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.