ROSA RODRIGUEZ | SWEETS COLLECTION: RECIPE FOR A RECIPE | SPRING 2019

PRIYA KRISHNA | AN APPETITE FOR ADVENTURE | FALL 2019

2020 has presented us with an almost endless series of choices, while sometimes simultaneously leaving us feeling there are few viable options. Many of us are doing a lot of thinking about who gets to choose and which choices get our collective attention. This season’s installment of Voices From the Kitchen captures beautiful, personal stories that speak to this unique moment. Our storytellers will look at "choices" through the lens of food, taking this theme in every direction— from timely stories that look at choices that arise for all of us during a worldwide pandemic to looking just a few months down the road at the critically important elections.

+ Lauren Whitehead

Lauren Whitehead is a writer, performer and dramaturg. Her writings have been published in Apogee Journal, Winter Tangerine, and in selected anthologies including BreakBeat Poets Vol 2.: Black Girl Magic. She has performed her work across the country including at The Sundance Film Festival, The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the Apollo Theater. Lauren is an Assistant Arts Professor of Drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

+ Jennifer 8 Lee

Jenny 8. Lee is co-founder and CEO of the literary studio Plympton and author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. A former reporter for the New York Times, she has produced documentaries, including “The Search for General Tso," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Jenny is the co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council for Media, Entertainment and Culture, a vice-chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, the co-founder of Emojicon and the founder of Emojination.

+ Esther Elia

Esther Elia is an illustrator, painter and sculptural furniture maker, whose work focuses on family folklore and explores themes of her Assyrian heritage. Esther’s work has been featured throughout the Bay Area, including at the Institute of Advanced Uncertainty + Minnesota Street Project, the SF Arts Commission Side By Side In the World Exhibit, and The Diaspora In Bloom Exhibit in San Jose.

+ Elizabeth McConaughy-Oliver

Elizabeth McConaughy-Oliver is a freelance illustrator, painter, cartoonist, graphic designer and branding artist in the Bay Area. She works in vibrant colors and likes to explore different mediums. She has created the art for musical artists EPs, branding for Thai New Year SF in Little Saigon, and illustrations for The Battery SF. Her first show was at Minna Street Gallery in August 2019.

+ Jia Tolentino

Jia Tolentino is a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror. Formerly, she was the deputy editor at Jezebel and a contributing editor at the Hairpin. She grew up in Texas, went to University of Virginia, and got her MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine and Pitchfork, among other places.

+ Aileen Suzara

As an activist, educator, and chef, Aileen Suzara has committed herself to fostering sustainable, community-driven food systems. Her San Francisco-based business Sariwa Kitchen honors the vibrant stories and flavors of her Filipina roots. Aileen is furthering her work in food justice as a Castanea fellow.

+ Rinee Shah

Rinee Shah is a creative director and illustrator in Brooklyn. She’s created illustrations for Apple, The New York Time, Facebook, IDEO, Simon & Schuster and The Knot, among many others. The author of The Made-Up Word Project and a writer for SF’s premiere sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster. Rinee has also created a web series for Spotify and was the creative director of Snapchat’s first global TV campaign.

+ Amanda Ray

Amanda Ray is a content creator and videographer. She has worked on Emmy Award winning content such as Warriors Ground episodes for the Golden State Warriors. You can often see her filming during Warriors games at Chase Center. She’s happiest when going on adventures, eating good food or storytelling through a camera lens.

+ Rachel Levin

Rachel Levin has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Outside, Eater, as its first San Francisco restaurant critic, and The San Francisco Chronicle, where she writes a column about restaurant regulars. She is the author of Look Big: And Other Tips For Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds (Ten Speed) and coauthor of Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews, published in March by Chronicle Books. Steamed: A Catharsis Cookbook for Getting Dinner (and Your Feelings) on the Table comes out next spring.

+ Noah Cho

Noah Cho is a columnist for Catapult. His work has also appeared in NPR’s CodeSwitch, Shondaland, The Atlantic and The Toast. He teaches middle school English.

+ Chris Colin

Chris Colin has written about billionaires, endangered pasta, Obama’s Irish roots, solitary confinement and more for the NewYorker.com, Wired, the New York Times Magazine, Saveur, Pop-Up Magazine and other publications. He’s a contributing writer for California Sunday Magazine and Afar, and the author of several books. Since March he’s been publishing Six Feet of Separation, a pandemic newspaper by and for young people around the country.

+ Vanessa Lim

Vanessa Lim is a Singapore-born independent illustrator and designer. Her experience spans across self-initiated projects to commercial projects for multinational brands and independent boutique brands.

+ Desire LaCap

Desire LaCap, founder and principal of Lacapture, is a storyteller, videographer, filmmaker and producer. She produced the documentary “Doubts to Success” and the series “Art in Many Forms." Her motivating worldview is to bring visions to life and continue to inspire.

+ George McCalman

George McCalman is an artist and creative director based in San Francisco. His design studio, McCalmanCo, brands companies and organizations. He is a culture columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. His first book, which he is illustrating and designing, called Illustrated Black History, will be published fall 2021 by Harper Collins.

+ Mayukh Sen

Mayukh Sen is a James Beard Award-winning writer in New York who covers film, food, and books. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. He teaches food journalism at NYU.

His first book, on immigrant food in America, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton & Company in fall 2021.

+ Nic Jay Aulston

Nic Jay Aulston - Nic Jay Aulston – is part of a team the runs Bicis Del Pueblo (www.bicisdelpueblo.com) and makes maps that focus on equity, justice, and representations of disenfranchised communities (www.naulston.com).

+ Lyssa Park

Lyssa Park is an illustrator based in Las Vegas who creates colorful illustrations and cartoons inspired by daily encounters, family relationships, and animals. Her work was selected for the 2019 Society of Illustrators Student competition and she was shortlisted for the 2019 Nami International Picture Book Concours.

+ Iris Chang

Iris Chiang is an illustrator and designer based in the Bay Area. She uses digital techniques to create work centered around her Taiwanese heritage, love for nature, or just about anything she finds inspiring. Her work has been featured in 3/3 Magazine, Pittville Press, among other publications.