We celebrated Project by Project’s 25th anniversary and kicked off our gala season with the return of our premier annual tasting benefit, Plate by Plate, on October 15th!

Plate by Plate raises awareness and capital for a variety of underrepresented social issues within the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, featuring star chefs, top-rated restaurants, and beverages from all across New York City. And after suspending our traditional tasting benefit event for two years due to the pandemic, we were back and better than ever, ready to celebrate 25 years of illuminating stories with our partners and community.

This year’s sold-out gala was attended by over 500 people in support of the AAPI community and businesses, and included a red carpet, live entertainment, an interactive art installation, and a silent auction featuring items from our generous donors: a.kitchen+bar, Airbnb for Disney, Area 53, Asian Boss Girl Podcast, Brooklyn Food, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Bruce Cost, Central Rock, CLE Cosmetics, Cousins Paintball, Covry, Emilie Heathe, Enchanted Fairies, High Street, Homiah, Justin Wu/Hungry Artist NY, Lait, League of Kitchens, Lo & Sons, L'Oréal, Lunar Hard Seltzer, Marquee, McKittrick Hotel, MeloncholyCo, Mimochai Studio, Mochi Kids, Modo Yoga, Moshi, MOYU™, Mr. Bing, MUGI Pottery, Night In, Omsom, Partake Foods, Pawena Studio, Pink Moon, Popadelics, Recoup Beverage, Inc., Ren, Rumble Boxing Gym, Sarah Flint, Sky Ting, SoJo Spa Club, Stephen Taylor Portrait, Sundays, TerraSimply, Thalassa, The Cliffs, Top of the Rock, Ugly, Veeray da Dhaba, Yoga Agora, and Yoga Common Studio.

But the crown jewel was our food and drink tastings—we had partner tables from 37 incredible vendors: 5ive Spice, Amami, Asahi, Bokksu, Bruce Cost, Burger & Lobster, Despaña, El Jimador, Fish Cheeks, Grace Street, Health Ade Kombucha, House of Suntory, Hummy, Kenbishi Sake, Kikori Whiskey, Kikusu Junmai Ginjo, Koval, Kulu Desserts, Lunar, Mao’s Bao, Moshi, Mr. Bing, Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, Pacific International Liquor, Popadelics, Recoup, Sanzo, Singha, Smoove Ice Cream, Soft Swerve, Sool, Spot Dessert Bar, Thalassa, Veeray da Dhaba, and World Sake Imports. Guests were given tickets to vote on their favorite vendors, and at the end of the night, Amami’s seafood taco was awarded Best Food and Moshi’s Sparkling Yuzu Seltzer the Best Drink.

BEST DISH WINNER: AMAMI

BEST DRINK WINNER: MOSHI

The event also included special Chef’s Tasting sessions for our VIP guests, hosted by our star chef Graciel Caces, a two-time James Beard-nominated culinary producer, food stylist, and chef from the Philippines. Graciel has worked for The Food Network, Cooking Channel, Bravo, TLC, and PBS—an active member of the AAPI culinary community, she also hosts cooking segments on “The Sweet Life with Lucy Torres,” teaches recreational cooking classes, and develops recipes in her spare time. The Chef’s Tasting menu comprised spicy shrimp rolls, cold spicy noodles, and salami fried rice and was prepared live for our VIPs.

The entertainment program featured remarks from PbP NY President Dow Kim, Rain Haus, and PbP’s Board, and live performances by rapper Bohan Phoenix and DJ Estioco + Asian Creative Network.

We invited some prominent figures from the Asian American community and were honored that the Mott Street Girls, @eggdressesup, @vivecachow, @tiffqian, @omsom, @foodbabynyc, @bunvoyaage, @appeelingeats, @photographeats, @whatsgoinganhh, @oksarahpan, @theserenagoh, @julia.fei, @lavivienyc, and Sarah Belle Lin were in attendance! Some members of our LA and SF chapters attended as well, all the way from California. We thank all of you so much for raising awareness of such important issues and uplifting the AAPI community.

It was a wonderful night filled with food, drinks, and music, and we were so touched to see the overwhelming outpouring of support of and for Project by Project and the AAPI community at large. It is truly emblematic of the strength and richness of the AAPI community, and a reminder that we are stronger than ever, even after what we’ve endured for the past two years.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors and partners: Acceleration Partners, VICI, Deloitte, Gold House, and Trader Joe's.

And lastly, some shoutouts to our extraordinary 2022 Steering Committee:

• To our President, Dow Kim, for your tireless leadership in keeping the team focused, motivated, and having fun

• To our Finance Director, Amy Wong, for managing the budget and keeping us all on track

• To our Fundraising team—Kelvin Ma, Terrence Chan, Anthony Wu, Lila Yang, and Bonnie Chen—for securing the most silent auction items in PbP history

• To our Marketing team—Shuana Yap, Elsa Lin, Alvin Wong, and Amy Yang—for their impressive social media presence and influencer outreach that helped make Plate by Plate a sold-out event

• To our Operations team—Ed Chow, Marisa Li, and Justin Nguyen—for putting all of the logistical puzzle pieces together and making sure everything ran smoothly

• To our Outreach team—Jeany Zhao, Caitlin Ju, Linh Nguyen, Berton Wang, Andrew Yip, Ashley Lam, and Cassie Dai—for creating a beautiful art display and galvanizing our community

• To our Team & Leadership team—Jason Chen, Nancy Wong, Alvin Fung, and Ling Zhou—for cultivating an engaged and supportive team

• And lastly, to our absolutely incredible Events team—Sharron Chu, Amy Chen, Charles Lee, Bradtna Lou, Jamie Soohoo, and David Zhao—for exceeding all expectations for our most ambitious event yet!

Congrats to our whole New York chapter for a wildly successful gala! And thank you a million to our lovely external volunteers who kindly gave up their Saturdays to help us with this massive endeavor—we could not have done it without you.

If you missed this one, follow us on our Instagram for updates about our events, or apply to be a part of our awesome Steering Committee next season. Project by Project New York wishes you a happy holiday and a wonderful new year—see you in 2023! 🥂