Listening, Learning, and Eating: A C-ID Food Tour

On Monday, October 14, a handful of Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Affinity Group members went on a food tour of Chinatown-International District, led by docents Aolani and Anny from the Wing Luke Museum. This special tour gets participants walking, eating, thinking, and reflecting in known and lesser-known eateries within the C-ID with our knowledgeable guides leading the way. It's a "progressive dinner" (or safari supper) format with stops organized by the Museum that can vary due to taste, food restrictions, and guide preferences.

Our tour started in the Museum's Tateuchi Story Theatre, where we snacked on some roast pork from Kau Kau BBQ Restaurant while listening to a brief history of the C-ID and the Museum in front of a massive scrim preserved from Japantown, which used to be more than 70 blocks, stretching from 4th Ave S to 23rd Ave S! (Japantown was more than 70 blocks large, not the scrim…)

The first restaurant stop on the tour was at Tai Tung Restaurant, the oldest Chinese restaurant in Seattle and former go-to restaurant for Bruce Lee. As we piled fried chicken wings (which were fried at such a high temperature that no breading was necessary to get the crisp exterior) and beef ho fun noodles onto our plates, we engaged in a deep conversation about community engagement (or the lack thereof) with the C-ID community. How street parking was limited and costly, leaving long-time residents little room for their vehicles while not seeing any benefits from the high parking rates or stadium attendees; and the planning of the light rail extension without comprehensive community input.

On top of that, the limited community engagement that did happen with the C-ID community, made up of various Asian groups (including Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino residents) and Pacific Islanders, lacked a crucial aspect: communicating in a way that the residents of the neighborhood could understand.

Many community members are older or speak a language other than English (or both). So, the "usual" community outreach strategies failed to engage members properly. As SPU considers its mission of being community-centered and delivering equitable services, it's important that the Utility meets with the community in a way that uplifts all voices. SPU's partnership with bilingual community liaisons helps us accomplish this. How SPU and other government agencies interact with restaurants came easily to mind as we were eating such delicious food.

The next stop on the tour was at Ocean Star, where we were served pan fried chow mein and pan fried pork buns (that's right, not steamed!). The conversation topic over this portion of the tour was about how diverse Chinese food is, and how some of us grew up with a different concept of Chinese food due to the different regions of China that its immigrants were from. This was a good reminder that diversity has nuance, and to be sensitive to these subtle differences.

Gourmet Noodle Bowl was the last restaurant we visited. This time, instead of passing large plates around family-style, we each got a small platter of tempura green beans and wonton in hot oil. Since most of us were pretty stuffed by then, we decided to talk about lighter topics: planning for a lumpia fundraising sale at the beginning of November at select SPU sites. There was fierce debate over what goes into a quality lumpia and whether air frying the lumpia was acceptable.

We wrapped up the tour back at the Wing Luke Museum, where a variety of mochi donuts from Dochi were provided as dessert, and the most important part of the tour was revealed: attending this tour initiated attendees into becoming part of the Secret Supper Club. Anyone who joins a Wing Luke food tour is added to the mailing list for extra-special limited tours around exciting themes like helping test run (or more specifically eat!) a spicy-themed food tour. Once finalized, some of these tours may be open to the public.

As we went our separate ways with full bellies, we were reminded of how SPU plays an important role every day in the community. We provide essential services and environmental sustainability information, contributing to strong and vibrant Seattle neighborhoods. This tour also reminded us how critical it is to be thoughtful when engaging with Seattle's diverse communities, ensuring residents feel like they belong - because they do.