Meet the AAPI Chefs and Winemakers Headlining the Upcoming AAPI Food & Wine: NYC

What began as a small gathering in Oregon to connect Asian American winemakers and chefs has grown into a national platform celebrating fermentation and community.

When Lois Cho, executive director and founder of the AAPI Food & Wine Festival, announced her plans for an edition of the event in New York City, she sparked speculation about which industry professionals would be featured. With its Oregonian beginnings, the Willamette Valley festival hosts Asian American and Pacific Islander winemakers and chefs from around the state — but the talent slate for the NYC event remained largely a mystery.

Now we know, and AAPI Food & Wine: NYC is set to showcase a lineup of AAPI-identifying winemakers, sommeliers, chefs, and other culinary creatives from across the country. NYC’s food and beverage scene has a global reach, and the event aims to spotlight Asian American talent in food and wine culture to that captive audience.

Cho sees the New York event as part of a broader vision to bring the festival to cities across the country, sharing the creativity and excellence brewing in Oregon with new audiences. “We’re not just expanding representation,” she says. “We’re helping redefine what wine culture can look like when it is an inclusive and rooted community.”

The first venue for AAPI Food & Wine: NYC is Hana Makgeolli, where owner Alice Jun will invite guests into the tasting room at her Korean rice wine brewery in Brooklyn. Jun says she and Cho have been friends for a few years, as they were both among the first Korean Americans to make strides in the wine community. In 2023, Jun and Lois and Dave Cho were honored together as Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker honorees.

“That’s when Lois first mentioned this idea to me,” Jun recounts. Jun recounts meeting the Chos at the Future 40 reception and their foresight. Jun remembers them saying, “One day, we’ll meet again in New York for this.” That early vision has since taken shape as a celebration of Korean American excellence in fermentation and culinary storytelling. 

The weekend opens in Brooklyn, where Hana Makgeolli and CHO Wines will pour alongside dishes by chef Peter Cho of Han Oak and Jeju in Portland, Ore. “Peter is a legend and an icon within the Korean method,” she says. 

Peter Cho of Han Oak.

Out of all the event’s elements, Jun says she’s particularly excited about serving Korean rice wine and celebrating its almost 2,000 years of documented history. “The style that we make is naturally fermented using all organic grass, the traditional starter, and it’s without additives,” she says. “It’s truly the old-fashioned way.”  

Two other locations participating in AAPI Food & Wine: NYC are Atoboy — Friday night’s venue — and Naro, Saturday’s home. Yoonsoo Park, head chef at Naro, will be serving food at both restaurants. Atoboy and Naro are part of NA:EUN Hospitality, sister restaurants to the Michelin-starred Atomix, which was named No. 1 on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The group is owned by Junghyun and Ellia Park, who are proud hosts of this year’s events.

Junghyun and Ellia Park of NA:EUN Hospitality.

“I’ll be showcasing Korean cuisine in two different ways, so attendees can see two different styles of Korean food,” he says.

Though Park grew up in Korea, he hadn’t worked in a Korean restaurant until he moved to the U.S. He got his feet wet at kitchens focused on French and Nordic cuisines in Seoul, Copenhagen, and London, but after a decade honing his craft, Park began to wonder if his upbringing would be reflected in his next venture.

“I was thinking, ‘If I’m going to open my own restaurant, will I follow my own heritage or my experience in places like London or Copenhagen?’” he says.

A job at the Korean powerhouse Atomix — sister restaurant to Atoboy — opened up in Manhattan, and Park seized the opportunity, moving to NYC. Now at Naro, he’s still pushing himself to meld Korean ingredients and techniques with the Eurocentric cooking he trained in.

“We do a Korean flavor-focused menu at Naro, but we are still bringing in other techniques and approaches to food that influenced my career back in Europe,” he says. Naro offers a distinctly Asian American perspective, melding traditional Asian flavor experiences with European technique in a way that reflects the evolution of modern American dining.

Jin Caldwell is coming to the festival from across the country. Along with her partner Kyurim “Q” Lee, Caldwell helms JinJu Patisserie in Portland, Ore., which won the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Bakery” in 2025, widely considered the top honor in the category and recognizing it as the best bakery in the United States that year. Caldwell says her friendship with Cho blossomed when Cho and her husband visited the Korean American bakery for the first time. The NYC festival will mark JinJu Patisserie’s first appearance at AAPI Food & Wine.

Kyurim “Q” Lee and Jin Caldwell of JinJu Patisserie.

“Having our name out there in a big city is exciting because New York is one of the major food destinations in the world,” Caldwell says. “So having this event in New York will be really great to promote AAPI in food and beverage.”

Joining Jun, Park, and Caldwell as featured talent is a lineup of acclaimed winemakers: Renée St-Amour of Hundred Suns Wine, Dr. Madaiah Revana of Alexana Winery, Sashi Moorman of Evening Land Vineyards, and Dave and Lois Cho of CHO Wines.

The culinary lineup will include chefs Earl Ninsom and Maya Erickson of Langbaan in Portland, Ore., the James Beard Award-winning restaurant recognized as Outstanding Restaurant in 2024, as well as Jhonel Faelnar of Atomix, Atoboy, and Naro in New York City, a leading voice in hospitality and beverage whose work at Atomix has helped the restaurant earn international acclaim, including recognition on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

Earl Nimson of Langbaan.

Jun, Park, and Caldwell all agree that one of the most exciting elements of AAPI Food & Wine: NYC is bringing West Coast AAPI talent to the East Coast. Jun laments that opportunities for collaboration like this are rare.

“For me, it’s about the cultural experience and that we can exchange together,” Park says. “I’m excited to experience new types of cuisines and different wines that I’ve never actually learned about before. I’m very open to adopting a lot of different techniques or ingredients from the amazing restaurants that are coming to the event.”

All of these chefs and winemakers will be featured at AAPI Food & Wine: NYC from March 19 to 21, 2026. Get your tickets here to experience AAPI Food & Wine: NYC, a unique opportunity to meet the Asian American chefs, winemakers and sommeliers leading their industries — all in one place.

Dave & Lois Cho — CHO Wines (Winemakers)
Alice Jun — Hana Makgeolli (Brewer) — 2021 New York International Wine Competition: Makgeolli Producer of the Year
Sashi Moorman — Evening Land Vineyards (Winemaker) — 2025 VinePair’s 50 Best Wines
Dr. Madaiah Revana — Alexana Winery (Winemaker)
Grant Coulter & Renée Saint-Amour— Hundred Suns Wine (Winemakers) — 2024 VinePair: Top 50 Wines of 2024
Peter Cho — Han Oak (Executive Chef) — 2024 James Beard Foundation Semifinalist: Outstanding Hospitality
Grace Kim — Atoboy (Executive Sous Chef)
Earl Ninsom — Langbaan (Chef + Restaurateur) — 2024 James Beard Foundation Award Winner: Outstanding Restaurant
Kyurim “Q” Lee & Jin Caldwell — JinJu Patisserie (Pastry Chefs) — 2025 James Beard Foundation Award Winner: Outstanding Bakery
Mark Nobello — Boro Brine (Executive Chef)
Junghyun “JP” Park — Atomix (Executive Chef) — 2025 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: Ranked #1 in North America
Yoonsoo Park — NARO (Assistant Culinary Director)
Luke Deardurff — NARO (Pastry Chef)
Nelson Diaz — NARO (Executive Sous Chef)
Maya Okada Erickson — Langbaan (Executive Pastry Chef) — 2024 James Beard Foundation Award Winner: Outstanding Restaurant
Kitsanaruk Ketkuaviriyanont — Langbaan (Executive Chef) — 2024 James Beard Foundation Award Winner: Outstanding Restaurant

This article is sponsored by AAPI Food & Wine: NYC.

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