Daniel Kouba
Raising awareness and throwing a great party: (from left) Alice Choi, Jo Um, Joyce Cullen and Francesca Hong.
Jo Um started using the phrase “public display of Asianess” when she was in college as a lighthearted way to show pride for her Korean heritage. After she co-launched Saints Madison Juice Co. with business partner Joyce Cullen, who is Chinese American, they started using the phrase on social media, where it soon became a hashtag used by other Asian Americans in the local food scene.
“It’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek, a play on the phrase ‘public display of affection,” says Um, adding that Madison’s Asian American community often doesn’t get the promotion and visibility it deserves. “Why are we hiding? We’re really proud of being Asian.”
Um and Cullen are teaming up with Francesca Hong of Morris Ramen and food blogger Alice Choi for a food-focused event, Public Display of Asianess, on May 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot of the Saints Madison shop at 821 Williamson St. Timed to coincide with Asian Pacific American Heritage month, the party will feature culinary collaborations from some of Madison’s finest Asian American chefs.
“We have always noticed that there’s a lack of awareness and attention directed at this subset of the community,” Cullen says. “We’re a bit of an anomaly in the business community.”
The menu will be a mix of Asian-fusion cuisines from a variety of chefs: Jamie Hoang of Sujeo will serve a rice bowl with beef and vegetables similar to bibimbap, Thomas Vue of Morris Ramen is bringing Vietnamese-style spring rolls; Choi will be making kimbap (a Korean version of sushi). Hahri Shin, a food blogger who does pop-up dinners and hopes to open a Korean restaurant in Madison, is serving Korean fried chicken. Hong’s mother is also making kimbap, and Um’s mother is making Korean-style spicy pork belly. Underground Food Collective and Mijo Frozen Treets will also bring dishes, and Saints Madison’s cold-pressed juice will be available. Organizers are asking for a donation of $2 to $5 per dish.
The event is also a fundraiser for the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, a nonprofit medical center founded to address the disproportionately high rates of hepatitis B and liver cancer among Asians and Asian Americans. Um’s father died in February from liver cancer, and she’s been raising money in his honor.
Hong, co-chef and co-owner of Morris Ramen, didn’t even realize there was an Asian Pacific American Heritage month until Um asked her to get involved with the event. But she says it’s a great opportunity to shine a light on the local community — and to throw a great party.
“It starts a conversation about what is Asianess, what does it mean to us,” Hong says of the event’s theme. “All of us have such different experiences and upbringings. The label ‘Asianess’ gives us the freedom to make our ethnicity our own.”
