Food, Memory, and Migration

​Some of the most powerful stories begin around the dining table. 🥢

​Join AAJA New York for an evening exploring how food writing helps us understand identity, memory, migration, family history, and culture. From recipes passed down through generations to reporting on the communities behind our favorite dishes, food can tell stories that reach far beyond what's on the plate.

​We're excited to welcome:
Eric Kim, food columnist, The New York Times, author of Korean American
Jill Damatac, 2026 James Beard Award nominee and author of Dirty Kitchen
Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter, Eater
Moderated by Tina Wang, culture critic and AAJA NY President.

​Whether you're a journalist, writer, foodie, or simply curious about the stories behind what we eat, join us for a conversation on how food writing preserves memory, challenges stereotypes, and deepens our understanding of ourselves and one another.

​Food will be served. The event is made possible with our generous partner Nunu Fine Art.

​Agenda
5:00–6:00 p.m. — Check-in and gallery viewing
6:00–7:00 p.m. — Panel and Q&A
7:00–8:00 p.m. — Open networking, with food served

​About Speakers

​Eric Kim is a New York Times food columnist and essayist born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His debut cookbook, Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home (Clarkson Potter, 2022), was an instant New York Times Best Seller. A former digital manager for the Food Network and contributing editor for Saveur magazine, he now hosts regular videos on NYT Cooking’s YouTube channel and writes a monthly column for The New York Times’ Food section. His collection of essays, Spaghetti Junction, is forthcoming from Crown Publishing. He lives in New York City with his rescue dog, Q.

​Bettina Makalintal is a senior reporter at Eater, covering national trends in dining and food culture. She was born in the Philippines, raised outside Philadelphia, and currently lives in Brooklyn. Previously, she was an associate print editor at Bon Appétit and a staff writer at Vice’s Munchies.

​Jill Damatac is the author of Dirty Kitchen, a Filipino American food memoir of 22 years undocumented in the United States, published by One Signal/Simon & Schuster in 2025. She is a 2026 James Beard Foundation Book Award nominee for Literary Writing and is a 2026 Haymarket Books and Mellon Foundation Writing Freedom Fellow. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Nation, British Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar.  She teaches creative writing at Harvard University’s Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health. Now documented, she lives in Manhattan with her dog, Gus

​Xintian Tina Wang is an award-winning arts and culture journalist whose work has appeared in TIME, HuffPost, NBC News, ELLE, ARTNews, and Observer. Her work has been recognized by the Gracie Awards, United Nations Correspondents Association, Gold House, and Boston Short Film Festival. As president of the Asian American Journalists Association’s New York Chapter, she leads programs advancing media equity.