James Beard Taste America 2023: We take the world with us
The World: Future Ancestors Tarot Deck, by Alexa Villanueva of Lexa Luna Studio
“Let us grow a strong foundation to support the world we leave behind — we are future ancestors.”
Thank you for attending Taste America 2023 in Seattle, we were so happy to represent Archipelago and serve you our bibingka. Our dish is made with purple potato and one of our prized agricultural products - ginger from Kamayan farms. Taste America is a special event that we are honored to have been a part of. As Archipelago, we take on the Beard Foundation’s mission of “Good Food for Good” with deepest sincerity and a heavy responsibility. As some of you may know from dining with us, we pride ourselves in being not like any other restaurant. To work in food is to do no harm, to nourish your neighbors, and to cherish that brief moment of deep trust and connection one may have with a stranger. Through a continuous reflection on our core concepts at Archipelago - identity, culture, and empowerment - we were called to use our platform at Taste America to bring awareness and reflection to global humanitarian issues and stories that are inseparable to our philosophy as culinarians. At Taste America 2023 we remember that America itself must be exemplifying a standard for humanitarian rights, democratic ideals, and engagements for dialogue.
We are a restaurant that can capture flows of creativity from all avenues - as represented by featuring our artist-partner Alexa Villanueva, who supplies much of our space with her ceramics. Beyond plateware, her future ancestors tarot deck affords its users a meditation on the legacies our lives will leave behind. Tragically, global affairs in the conflict between the Israeli Army and the militant wing of Hamas have resulted in thousands of lives cut short, and the severance of ancestral communities, traditions, and feelings of belonging and safety. We, like many of you, find ourselves unable to pull ourselves away from the horrific events unfolding and being reported on. As many of our team members are parents, we are empathizing with grief for the truly unimaginable occurrence of losing a child.
Further, our identities as Filipino/a/x Americans also lend a specific context to these events as we learned, with deep sadness, the tragic deaths of three Filipino overseas workers in Israel. Just recently, our team learned too about the heroic actions of Carmilla Figueras Jesalva, a Filipina care worker who negotiated with Hamas for the safety of her 95 year old employer. Still with anger and caution, we wait for the safe passage of 136 Filipinos currently trapped in Gaza. In these moments with tremendous loss of life and ongoing geopolitical repercussions, we remember the power of food and our belief of food as a human right to anchor us. To practice true hospitality, we must be able to face the struggles of distant strangers as if they are our own kin. We are appalled that in this world of plenty, scarcity is imposed. While we build our craft around the pursuit of deliciousness, storytelling, and cultural rekindling - many just like us are living with the reality that their futures will be taken away.
Our hospitality is not one that creates an environment that when a guest enters, the conflicts of the world melt away. Our team has always dared to share our collective histories, many of which are challenging. We believe our task as craftspeople is to create a space for the necessary brevity to engage headfirst within these moments of deep suffering. To invite a pause only to fortify the spirit to dive again into the next progression.
For this event tonight we are donating a portion of our stipend to Save the Children and World Central Kitchen. Further, for every plate taken we will match this engagement with a dollar donation to each organization. We also currently have an active fundraiser for Save the Children on our Instagram account if you wish to contribute more. Save the Children has been operating within Palestine since 1953, and has a global presence. Throughout this ongoing war, Save the Children has provided vital supplies - food, water, and hygiene products - to impacted children and families in Gaza. Further, they have provided key updates surrounding the war’s effects on children in the region and call urgently for a ceasefire from all parties. Jose Andres’ humanitarian vision of feeding anyone and everyone who needs food is put on display through World Central Kitchen’s awe inspiring logistics in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. Since 2010, World Central Kitchen has been responding to conflicts around the world with fresh, hot meals. In the words of Andres himself “when you need medical service you bring doctors and nurses…And if you have to feed people, you need professional chefs.” Both of these organizations have shown an unparalleled commitment to those affected by war through providing resources including shelter and food for the most vulnerable.
Lastly, we acknowledge the ways that ancestry is inseparable from food systems, and how important food is as an anchor into tradition. Just as we were able to recreate the texture of glutinous rice flour with purple potato, food systems workers in Israel and Palestine have been stewarding seeds, reviving recipes and food traditions, and sharing culinary knowledge with the next generation. We wanted to take a moment to highlight Vivien Sansour, an anthropologist and seed saver of Palestinian heirloom seed varietals. Her work and work like it provides cultural continuity, resilience in the face of climate change and conflict, and agricultural market opportunities for those with little or none.
For all of us at Archipelago, every day being leaders in hospitality is an opportunity to ask ourselves how we will step into our future ancestry. In moments of great challenge and global violence, we know we are called to respond.