Join the Chinese American Museum DC on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 - 7:15-8:15 pm EST (4:15-5:15 pm PST)
for a conversation on The Life and Legacy of Culinary Great, Cecilia Chiang.

Emigrating from China to San Francisco in 1960, Cecilia has been lauded as the first to introduce and make accessible Northern style Mandarin Chinese cuisine to all Americans. Her culinary prowess and career success made Cecilia the standard for Mandarin cuisine and a beloved name throughout the culinary world.

Hear how friends of Cecilia and culinary minds are upholding her legacy of authenticity and hard work, from supporting heritage Chinese restaurants in New York City, to applying Cecilia’s methods of resilience and creativity in the kitchens of San Francisco.

To join in our discussion are cookbook author and Chinatown advocate, Grace Young, hospitality/culinary careerist and owner of Basuku cheesecake, Charles Chen, and pastry chef owner of B. Patisserie in San Francisco, Belinda Leong. This online event is free with registration at www.chineseamericanmuseum.org/Cecilia.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021 – 7:15-8:15 pm EST (4:15-5:15 pm PST)

Grace Young

Named the “poet laureate of the wok” by food historian Betty Fussell, Grace Young has devoted her career to demystifying the ancient cooking utensil for use in contemporary kitchens. An award-winning cookbook author, culinary historian, and filmmaker, Grace has been a fierce advocate for Chinatown, never more so than in her recent video series Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories, —produced in collaboration with videographer Dan Ahn and Poster House—which documents the toll of the pandemic on NYC’s Chinese community. In 2020 the series was shown at the Smithsonian for the Youth Summit and Food History Gala. She is also partnering with the James Beard Foundation on an Instagram campaign to #savechineserestaurants all across the country. Grace is the recipient of James Beard Awards for her Wok Therapist comedy video and her cookbook Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge. She has won five IACP awards including the prestigious 2019 Culinary Classics Award for The Breath of a Wok, (the “youngest” cookbook to be inducted into the Cookbook Hall of Fame).

Belinda Leong, B. Patisserie

Belinda Leong began and honed her skills as a pastry chef over eight years at Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco.  She moved to Europe staging at Pierre Herme in Paris, Bubo in Barcelona, In de Wulf in Belgium, and the two Michelin starred Noma in Copenhagen. Returning to the Bay Area, she became pastry chef at Manresa in Los Gatos. While at Manresa, Belinda decided to introduce her pastries to the public through "pop-ups" and partnerships with select coffee shops. San Francisco Magazine named her 2012’s Best Pastry Chef of the Year. The success of her "pop-ups" encouraged Belinda to focus solely on b. Patisserie, which opened to critical acclaim in February 2013.  In recognition of her work, she became a James Beard Best Pastry Chef 2014 Finalist and Outstanding Baker Finalist in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.  She won the James Beard Outstanding Baker Award in 2018. 

Charles Chen

Charles has 20+ years of food and beverage experience and was also born into a restaurant family. He has spent the last 13 years operating and opening some of the best restaurants in the Bay Area ranging from high volume bakeries to Michelin-starred tasting menus. A few years ago, Charles left operations for consulting and since has worked on projects in Seoul, Tokyo and San Francisco. With the start of the pandemic, Charles has made a successful pivot launching his own cheesecake brand, Basuku, which has been recognized by the SF Chronicle, NY Times and Food and Wine Magazine.

Through his time working in restaurants in San Francisco, he was fortunate enough to meet Cecilia Chiang who would become a mentor and grandmother-like figure for him. The initial connection started via conversing in Mandarin, but later they connect through food, Chinese culture and the restaurant business. Often you could find them together enjoying Chinese dinners and gossiping about the industry.

The Chinese American Museum DC is dedicated to telling the story of the Chinese American experience. To learn more about the museum, our upcoming events, or how you can get involved visit our website at www.chineseamericanmuseum.org.