Fresh International Market and Ineffable Cà Phê aiming for May 30 soft opening in Point Breeze.

Photo via Ineffable Cà Phê. 

Fresh International Market and Ineffable Cà Phê are aiming for a May 30 soft opening, if all goes according to the latest plan. Fresh International Market, a US-based chain of Asian grocery stores, was first announced for Pittsburgh in March 2023 with a Summer 2024 target, and the 23,000 square foot store would be among the largest Asian groceries in the region. The Vietnamese coffee shop Ineffable Cà Phê, which currently has a spot in Lawrenceville, was later linked to the site, as Fresh International Market locations often have a bakery---such as Paris Baguette, in other spots---inside. From a February 2025 Pittsburgh Magazine article ahead of its latest potential opening date earlier this year:

Known for its unique selection of international ingredients and authentic Asian cuisine, Fresh International Market imports products from more than 28 countries. This will be the 10th location, with stores located in Illinois, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Indiana, North Carolina and Florida. The first store was founded in Lansing, Michigan in 2011 by Bowen Kou; the company is now headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Also opening at Rockwell is the second location of Ineffable CaPhe, a Lawrenceville coffee shop offering a variety of Asian items such as bubble tea, banh mi sandwiches and rice bowls, Al Lardo, Rockwell Park’s principal, said in an interview. It will operate out of the grocery store rather than being a separate tenant at Rockwell.

He noted his family’s roots are in Wilkinsburg, where his wife’s family had a business for 80 years and his father owned rental properties. He told the Business Times that he looks forward to the new opportunity that the store will bring to residents in Wilkinsburg as well as Homewood to be able to buy healthy and fresh foods that are affordably priced.

“The location [of the Fresh International Market] is especially good because of the busway,” Lardo said in an interview. which is just a half-mile walk from Rockwell Park. “There’s a lot of people who don’t have cars in Wilkinsburg.”

The store will open at 7511 Thomas Blvd. (map), located roughly a block from the East End Food Co-op and Construction Junction. While this will be the region's first Fresh International Market, though the chain was loosely linked to Pittsburgh in 2021 as a finalist for the former Hill District Shop n' Save location that was later occupied, and vacated, by Salem's Market.

Both Fresh International Market (see here) and Ineffable Cà Phê (see here) are hiring.

"We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes resume at Carnegie Library in Oakland, Saturdays from June 14.

Photo via the Korea Tourism Organization.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch in Oakland will resume its free "We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes Saturdays from June 14 through August 16, after finishing its most recent session on May 17.

Concert film Ado SPECIAL LIVE "Shinzou" in Cinemas in Pittsburgh, May 28.

The Ado concert film SPECIAL LIVE "Shinzou" in Cinemas will play in Pittsburgh on May 28.

In 2020, on the eve of her 18th birthday, Ado sent shockwaves through the music industry with the release of her debut song "Usseewa," a record-breaking hit that cemented her reputation as a revolutionary artist. She continued her rise with chart-topping tracks such as "Gira Gira" and "Odo." In 2022, she was chosen to perform a total of seven songs including the theme song for the renowned anime film "ONE PIECE FILM RED," further solidifying her status as a top-tier artist. Beyond anime, she has contributed theme songs to various films and TV dramas and in 2023, her song "Show" marked a two-year consecutive collaboration with Universal Studios Japan, proving her unwavering popularity. Ado has also actively pursued live performances, achieving a national arena tour in just two years with shows such as "Kigeki," "Campanella," "Shinkirou," "Mars," "Shinzou," and "Profile of Mona Lisa." Her success has extended beyond Japan, captivating audiences worldwide with her first-ever global tour, "Wish." Now, in celebration of her second world tour "Hibana," which marks the largest-scale global tour by a Japanese artist, the legendary solo live concert "Ado SPECIAL LIVE 2024 'Shinzou,'" which drew 140,000 attendees over two days and left audiences in awe, is set to hit select theaters as a theatrical release: "Ado SPECIAL LIVE 'Shinzou' in Cinema"! For the first time, a recording of Ado's solo live performance will be screened in theaters. The audio has been remastered for cinematic release, bringing a newly enhanced "Shinzou" to the big screen!

This concert film will not only be released in Japan but will also have a global theatrical release, bringing "Shinzou" to fans around the world who have been eagerly awaiting the "Hibana" tour! The concert's immersive atmosphere will be recreated through a large-scale cinematic experience with 5.1ch surround sound, while the Dolby Atmos® edition will provide an unparalleled, deeply immersive audio experience. Experience this 140-minute spectacle of world-class performances in the ultimate audiovisual environment.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront at 7:00 pm and tickets are available online.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Night, September 3 at PNC Park as Pirates play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

September 3 is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Night at PNC Park as the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Several local groups are organizing outings, including the Japan Association of Greater Pittsburgh and Taiwan Aloha (which is looking to organize an annual Taiwan Community Day at the ballpark), though members of the general public can also purchase tickets and be eligible for an AAPI Pirates hat.

Experience a unique blend of sports, culture, and community during AAPI Heritage Night at PNC Park!

Join us in celebrating the AAPI community on September 3rd as the Pirates take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. This special offer includes an exclusive Pirates co-branded AAPI hat and loaded value, good to use on concessions and merchandise on the day of the game. Also, a portion of each ticket will be donated to a local AAPI charity!

The game is notable because the Dodgers feature three star Japanese players---Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki---and because Sophiyah Liu, Taiwan's first female baseball umpire, will throw out the first pitch.

Free beginner-level Chinese classes at Carnegie Library in East Liberty, Saturdays from June 21.

via Khun Hans Photography (Creative Commons)


The Carnegie Library branch in East Liberty will start a free "We Learn: Beginner-Level Chinese Language" class on Saturdays from June 21.

Welcome to the Chinese language learning circle! This is a beginner-level class, so you do not need to have any prior experience with the language. The focus will be on basic spoken Mandarin, but we might also learn some things about the writing system if there is enough interest.

Course materials we'll use

Course materials will be provided by Mango Languages, which is available for free through the library. We will also add other materials according to the learners' interests.

Registration is required. Classes are held from 3:00 to 4:00 pm in Meeting Room 2 over eight weeks, and the library is located at 130 S. Whitfield St. (map).

Comedian Fumi Abe in Pittsburgh, July 18.

Japanese-American comedian Fumi Abe will perform at the Bottlerocket Social Hall on July 18.

Fumi Abe is a Japanese-American stand-up comedian/writer based in Los Angeles who recently made his TV debut on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

He has written for NPR’s “Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!”, was part of the 2020 Comedy Central Digital Creators Program, and is currently a staff writer on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

He produces and hosts a comedy podcast titled "Asian Not Asian", which was most recently included in Vulture’s Comedy Podcast Roundup as well as The AV Club’s Podcast series highlights.

The show starts at 8:00 pm and tickets are available online. Bottlerocket Social Hall is located at 1226 Arlington Ave. in the Allentown neighborhood (map).

1985 Akira Kurosawa film Ran (乱) in Pittsburgh, from May 24.

The 1985 Akira Kurosawa film Ran (乱) will play in Pittsburgh from May 24 through June 4, part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's occasional International Art House Classics series.

The 1985 New York Film Festival opened with Akira Kurosawa’s astonishing medieval epic, inspired by the life of Mori Motonari, a 16th-century warlord with three sons. It was only after he began writing that the filmmaker started to see parallels with King Lear. It took a decade for Kurosawa to bring his grand conception to the screen—he actually painted storyboards of every shot along the way, and made another great film, Kagemusha, as a dry run. The finished work he eventually gave us is, to put it mildly, a mind-blowing experience. Tatsuya Nakadai is the warlord, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, and Daisuke Ryu are his sons, Mieko Harada is the terrifying Lady Kaede, the score is by Toru Takemitsu, but the dominant force looming over every single element of this film, down to the smallest detail, is Kurosawa himself. The color palette of Ran is unlike that of any other movie made before or since, as you’ll see in this newly restored version.

It plays in Japanese with English subtitles at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) and tickets are available online.

2016 film A Silent Voice (聲の形) at Rangos Giant Cinema, May 23.

The 2016 film A Silent Voice (聲の形) will play at the Rangos Giant Cinema on May 23, the third installment of its "Ani-May" series.

Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again…until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behavior, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late…?

“A Silent Voice” is a film that transcends genre, with a story that audiences from all walks of life can relate. The heartfelt and beautifully animated journey of redemption, forgiveness, and adolescence comes to The Rangos Giant Cinema on Fri., May 23 at 7 p.m.

The cost is $10 for museum members and $12 for non-members. The movie starts at 7:00 pm, and the theater is inside The Carnegie Science Center, which is located at 1 Allegheny Ave. on the North Shore (map).

DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye in Pittsburgh, from June 6.

The Japanese animated movie DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye will play in Pittsburgh from June 6.

In celebration of the return of DAN DA DAN, the theatrical premiere, releasing as DAN DA DAN: EVIL EYE, kicks off the thrillingly eerie EVIL EYE arc, which began in the last episode of the first season. The DAN DA DAN: EVIL EYE theatrical event screens last season’s start of the EVIL EYE arc, along with the first three episodes of the new second season, in addition to an exclusive interview with series co-directors Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Gongora. DAN DA DAN follows Momo, a high school girl from a family of spirit mediums, and her classmate Okarun, an occult geek. In this new arc, Momo and Okarun set out on their latest adventure, traveling to a hot springs town home rented by Jiji, Momo’s childhood friend and former crush, with the goal to solve the mystery surrounding his family. When they arrive, strange locals derail their investigation before it can begin, and the group soon learns there’s more lurking under the surface of the town than they could possibly have imagined.

It is scheduled to play locally, so far, at the Cinemark theater in Robinson and the AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, and tickets are available online.

keshi's July 23 show in Pittsburgh cancelled.

Vietnamese-American singer-songwriter keshi's July 23 show at Stage AE has recently been cancelled due to low ticket sales.

There’s a few shows that’ll be coming down (detroit, columbus, pittsburgh, philadelphia, denver, & phoenix) because we weren’t able to sell enough tickets. As much as I wanted to play for y’all we weren’t able to make it happen this time around, but I’ll do my best to come back for you in the future. You’ll be automatically refunded within 30 days.