Business Spotlight
News
We’re excited to spotlight New Kam Man! New Kam Man’s roots date back to the 1970s when it was established by a group of Hong Kong immigrants as the first self-service Chinese supermarket in the area. It now has a breadth of offerings including hot food, packaged goods, beauty products, home goods, and more.
Meet Sen Saigon, a new restaurant that opened in February 2024! Owners An Nguyen Hawks and Erik Dornbush Hawks intially started Sen Saigon when they hosted a tasting menu event in February 2023 with a group of friends. Since then, the two have thrown themselves into launching the restaurant full time to the NYC community!
Catching up with Longevity Fund recipient, Jason Liu of Soft Swerve (and check out pics of their new location)!
We’re excited to spotlight Lily’s Vegan Pantry! Lily’s Vegan Pantry is a family-owned business that was established in 1995, and is actually the first vegan grocery store in Chinatown. Lily Ng currently owns and runs the store, which was opened by her parents when they came to the United States from Taiwan 40 years ago.
We’re excited to spotlight Artbean Coffee Roasters! The shop was started by husband-and-wife-duo Spencer Okada and Khanh Tran in July 2020. They wanted to marry their love of art and coffee together. Step into their shop and you can taste the coffee they roast themselves, and purchase art from local artists.
We’re excited to spotlight Pinklady Cheese Tart! Owner Jean Lim’s inspiration behind her dessert shop arose when she visited Japan and Malaysia and saw how popular cheese tart desserts were. However, these delightful treats weren’t readily available in NYC. Jean got to work learning the craft by watching YouTube videos by a Japanese chef.
Owner Clement Yu started Stanley’s Claw Machines in Chinatown after he and his family visited Asia and saw the arcade stores that delighted his wife and son. The business has a storefront at 60 Mulberry Street where you can play the arcade games to win curated prizes.
We’re excited to spotlight Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles, a beloved Chinatown noodle shop that serves northern-style Chinese dishes including noodles, soups, and dumplings. Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles was started by Liu Li Di when he moved to the United States in 2007.
Meet Ashley and Jeff of The ABC Digest, which is celebrating the world’s flavors, from A to Z! Ashley and Jeff created The ABC Digest book collection to get kids (and grownups!) excited about celebrating the world’s cultures and foods.
Island Spa & Sauna is a 30,000 sq. ft. modernized Korean day spa with amenities ranging from saunas & hot baths, as well as services catered to fulfill all your self-care needs. The team at Island Spa & Sauna has generously donated to Welcome to Chinatown, helping support our programming for our beloved Chinatown businesses.
Celebrating inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Amazing! Book party with Maia and Alex Shibutani
Meet Ben and Thomas of Dae Tea! Dae, a lifestyle tea brand, (better known as Hwa Gung Tea 華 剛 茶 業 in Taiwan), traces its roots back to 1918 when the family business first laid its foundation in Taiwan and opened their modest tea shop a few years later in 1923.
We’re excited to spotlight Longevity Fund grant recipient ABCDE! Any Body’s Custom Design Embroidery makes custom embroidery for local Chinatown businesses, fraternities, sororities, and more.
Meet Kelly Bit of SUBLIMA Jewelry! SUBLIMA is Kelly’s brand of artful and sustainable jewelry that she hand makes in New York by carving wax prototypes, which are molded and casted into recycled brass and sterling silver.
Welcome to the latest installment of our “A Day in Chinatown with…” series, where our fellow New Yorkers (or NYC fanatics) share their favorite Chinatown spots with us. Today, we’re spotlighting Angela Dimayuga! Angela Dimayuga (she/they) is a New York City based chef, cultural producer and transdisciplinary artist.
Potluck Club is a Cantonese-American restaurant serving newish takes on old classics in an impressively designed space that sparks nostalgia and memories. The restaurant is a homage to Chinatown and its small businesses, which the co-owners frequented while growing up in the neighborhood.
We’re excited to spotlight Longevity Fund grant recipient Noodle Village! Noodle Village is a family-owned Hong Kong-style eatery run by Rosie and George Lee, serving Cantonese noodle dishes, soup dumplings & congee. The restaurant is known for its delicious xiao long bao soup dumplings.
Loe Lee is an award-winning art director & illustrator in New York City who designed Welcome to Chinatown’s 2023 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) theme and painted five large-scale murals for our Care for Chinatown neighborhood revitalization program.
Zhou Rui Xian (周瑞賢 ) who, with his wife, owns and runs Ewa Trading Company, a tea and Chinese medicine and herbs shop. All sorts of people, from Chinatown and beyond, depend on Mr. Zhou’s business to support their health and well-being.
Michele Wong McSween created Gordon & Li Li to introduce her three sons to Mandarin Chinese and provide them with a deeper appreciation for their culture and heritage.
As the oldest family-run tofu shop in NYC, Fong On was first started in 1933 in the basement of 43 Mott St by Paul Eng’s grandfather. In ‘68, Fong On moved to 46 Mott St and changed its name to Fong Inn Too in 1986 when Paul’s brothers took over the business.
88rising’s Head in the Clouds Festival is coming to NYC this May! Check out the 88⬆ team’s fave spots in Manhattan Chinatown.
Marilyn started Popadelics to create innovative snacks that harness the benefits of mushrooms and other underloved veggies—all while supporting social causes. Our 88 East Fair and Lunar New Year Fair featured the Popadelics mushroom snacks for our Meet Chinatown scavenger hunt!
The Revolutionary Mushroom was created by Mel Xu, a queer Chinese American artist, farmer and community organizer from Lenapehoking, or so-called Queens, NY. They create art nourishing our Mother Earth, our most marginalized communities, and ourselves.
Yu and Me Books is a bookstore, cafe, bar, and community space founded by Lucy Yu. Lucy’s dream was to create a home that she never found in a bookstore growing up. The bookstore elevates the strong, diverse voices of the AAPI community, with a focus on immigrant stories.
Welcome to Chinatown spoke with Sagar Shakya, owner of Shakya Trading. For three generations, his family has painstakingly created a variety of Buddhist cultural and religious goods, singing bowls, jewelry, and gifts.
In 1978, Albert Lam and his wife opened their custom suit and tailoring shop on Lafayette Street. Since then, they have have been serving generations of local Chinatown residents as well as built up a national reputation. Read on to learn more about how the business has been faring during COVID and why Albert decided to apply to the Longevity Fund.
Each day we are driven by the incredible stories of resilience and ingenuity demonstrated by the Chinatown community. We invite you to share in the celebration of these businesses, and the numerous others not captured on camera.
Apply to be a vendor or workshop leader at Welcome to Chinatown’s Lunar New Year Fair in 2023!
Meet Yoori, owner of the new K-Kimbap – a new spot located insdie Mott Street Eatery!