Oakland's Tong's Cuisine permanently closes.

Via Google Maps.

On April 27, Oakland's Tong's Cuisine announced that it has permanently closed.



Tong's opened in 2011 at 228 Semple St. (map).

Volunteers needed for census phone bank.

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) Pittsburgh is recruiting volunteers for a census phone bank aimed at local API and Latinx communities.

APALA Pittsburgh and Casa San José are organizing for fair and just representation of the Latinx and API communities in the 2020 Census. We are hoping to make 300 calls by close-of-business this Thursday. If you're able to help, even with an hour of your time, we would really appreciate it. Can you help us?

Those interested and available should contact Kim Dinh at kimmytdinh@gmail.com.

Big plans for Pusadee's Garden.

Work has temporarily halted at the new space for Pusadee's Garden in Lawrenceville, though when it reopens the restaurant will nearly double in size. The popular Thai restaurant closed in 2017 for renovations, though signage is up at 5317 Butler St. and the original storefront at 5321, with an expanded outdoor dining area spanning the gap. NextPittsburgh wrote last month:

If you’ve taken a stroll through Lawrenceville lately, you’ve probably seen the sign and started salivating. Pusadee’s Garden is reopening this spring after sprucing up 5321 Butler St. The restaurant, known for its traditional Thai dishes — mmm, can’t you just taste the crab fried rice? — is also a feast for the eyes. Its patio is one of the prettiest in Pittsburgh.

It was named "Best Outdoor Dining" by the Pittsburgh City-Paper in 2017.

Pitt's first Chinese graduates.

Two of the first three petroleum engineering graduates in the United States were Chinese, and they were the first two Chinese students to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh back in 1915. As noted in a post on this topic last year, the Pitt Weekly profiled the four men who were en route to earn this degree:

PITT CHINESE TO BE PETROLEUM KINGS

Melican Chinese laundries and Chinese chop suey restaurants are common objects in our city life, and on most any corner we see the familiar sign 'Wa Lee Yee, Laundry" but did you ever stop to think that we will be soon buying our oil and gasoline from real Chinese pretroleum [sic] engineers?

Pitt has taken the lead in producing Chinese Knights of the oil can, and will, unless the unexpected happens, graduate two sons of the oriental country with the degree of petroleum engineer in June. This will be the first time for any university in the United States to offer the degree, so the men taking it will have a notable distinction.

The students who expect to take the degree of petroleum engineer are F.A. Johnson, Ben Avon, Pa; George W. Myers, Pittsburgh; Barin Ye Long, Changtu, China, and Chun Young Chan, Canton, China.

New restoration of 1991 movie Thousand Pieces of Gold playing online as part of Harris Theater's online programming, April 24 - May 8.

The 1991 movie Thousand Pieces of Gold, set in the 1880s and about a Chinese woman sold into servitude in the American West, will stream from April 24 through May 8 as part of the Harris Theater @ Home's online programming. Part of the proceeds from tickets will benefit the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Set in the 1880s, this film chronicles the journey of Lalu (Rosalind Chao), a Chinese woman whose financially desperate family sells her as a bride. She is sent to the United States, where she is bought by sleazy barkeep Hong King (Michael Paul Chan), who plans to make money off of Lalu by forcing her into a life of prostitution. Unwilling to submit to his demands, she begins her own successful business venture and captures the attention of the troubled but kindly Charlie (Chris Cooper).

Tickets are available online.

Profile on Japanese-American Pirates prospect Daniel Ross.

Millersville University's The Snapper profiles pitcher Daniel Ross, a senior for the Marauders and a 39th-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019.

Ross was excited to be here in Pennsylvania around his family, but it was also important that coach Jon Shehan sold him on the program. The toughest adjustment, however, was that he was from Japan and there were some major language barriers.

“There was a lot of language barriers and cultural barriers that didn’t click in immediately, but the language barrier kept me away from knowing people more and it was harder to understand people more,” Ross said.

Ross was concerned that the fact that he was still learning English might be a challenge or make it harder to get along with his teammates. But his language barrier wasn’t just holding him back off the field, it created on the field challenges as well. There are things about baseball that are universal, but Ross says in Japan players think differently.

“It’s a little bit different like how people think, baseball was a little differently. I don’t have any quick examples, but everything didn’t make sense or click for me right away,” Ross says.

Character Media and "Breaking The Model Minority Myth With Jasmine Cho’s Cookie Art."

Character Media talked with Pittsburgh baker, artist, and author Jasmine Cho earlier this month about her art, activities, and aims.

While reflecting on some of her more memorable cookie portraits, Cho explains that it wasn’t until 2017 that she intentionally made her cookies a political and historical statement. She had recently seen a photograph of an Asian man holding a sign in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. The sign read, “I am gay, Korean American, immigrant, rape survivor, still standing proud.” “I remember I thought, ‘Oh my gosh! I have to recreate this portrait,’” Cho says. “His name was Ben Dumond, and I remember his portrait in particular. You kind of lose yourself to this; it’s the process of making art, and as you do you reflect on this person’s story and the courage it took for him to post that publicly.” After the inspiration for Cho’s Revolutionary Art exhibit came together, her collection of 11 cookie portraits was on display at the Pittsburgh City-County Building in 2017 as well as other local public art venues. Cho feels a responsibility to honor the identities and the stories she’s able to share, and she has no intention of minimizing individuals’ contributions to the world. The cookie-making process also helps her release emotions into something that proactively goes towards helping her community.

City-Paper looks at Umami's new bento boxes.

Today's Pittsburgh City-Paper has a profile on Lawrenceville's Umami and it's new bento boxes.

On a normal night at Umami, choosing what to order from the menu is difficult, especially if you’re like me and want to try everything. The lengthy list covers everything from one-piece nigiri to bowls of ramen to plates of sashimi. It’s almost impossible to make a decision.

Umami’s bento solves this problem. The box, which changes daily, offers small bites of four dishes, giving diners a chance to try something from every side of the menu.

2019 Chinese film The Wild Goose Lake (南方车站的聚会) continues streaming via Parkway Theater.

The Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks is still streaming the 2019 Chinese film The Wild Goose Lake (南方车站的聚会) online, with 50% of the proceeds going to the theater. The distributor summarizes:

A gang leader on the run seeking redemption . . .
A girl in trouble risking everything to gain her freedom . . .
Both hunted on the hidden shores of The Wild Goose Lake.
They set a deadly gamble for what may be their last day.

Tickets are available online.

Counter space at 朝茶 TSAOCAA, Squirrel Hill.

A look inside 朝茶 TSAOCAA, a Taiwanese bubble tea chain opening in Squirrel Hill. Work started on the storefront at 5871 Forbes Ave. (map) in the fall. The chain has locations in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, among a few other places in the US, and this one will be run by the people who own New China House in Monroeville.