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Delivery with Heart MoonlynnTsai and Yin Chang are feedingChinatown’s most vulnerable.By Oset BabürSign up for our newsletter, tune in to Kat Kinsman’s Communal Table podcast, and read more stories like this at foodandwine.com/fwpro.KEEP UP WITH F&W PROMOONLYNN TSAI, New York City–based chef and restau-
rateur, and Yin Chang, actress and host of the 88 Cups of
Tea podcast, didn’t plan to spend most of 2020 serving
20,000 meals to the elderly in Chinatown, Brooklyn, and
Queens. But as they watched and experienced horrific
displays of racism against Asian Americans, as well as
the colossal hits in business local restaurants were suf-
fering due to COVID-19, they felt it was a critical time to
launch their community relief initiative, now known as
Heart of Dinner.
At first, the couple planned to run donation-based
recurring food tours led by chefs and food writers to bring
visitors into Chinatown. “Literally the day after we got
everything set up, COVID was declared a pandemic,” says
Tsai. “We were hearing news of food insecurity and about
the elderly being harassed on the streets here in Chinatown.
So we thought, OK, instead of sitting around, what can we
do with the resources we have? After finding out that therewas a need for food for the elderly, we
bought ingredients to start to cook
hot meals out of our own savings.”
Months into their effort, Tsai and
Chang don’t yet have a permanent
space for Heart of Dinner —but that
hasn’t slowed them down. Initially, they
cooked from their apartment kitchen; later, food
stylist Judy Kim lent out her studio space. Hospitality
industry partners like Golden Diner (a F&W 2020 Best New
Restaurant), Bessou, and Saigon Social have contributed
comforting, classic meals like pan-fried tofu and shallots
and brown rice porridge with stir-fried eggs and tomatoes.
Deliveries often include groceries and dried goods; hand-
written notes with illustrated messages of love and support
are also a core part of the initiative’s deliveries, with thou-
sands of cards written by volunteers as far as Taiwan,
Canada, and Europe. “We just got a letter in right now, and
this lady, she drew flowers from all 50 states to show that
we’re all in this together. It’s beautiful,” Chang says.
Chang admits that the duo did not expect to be cooking
meals long past July. “We thought that the government
would step in a little more. But when we were circling
back with all the organizations, they were like, ‘Um, actu-
ally the demand is even higher now because funds from
the government are drying up. Are you able to push
through?’” Although both she and Tsai have full-time
jobs, the logistics of the initiative—from teaming up with
local organizations to identify those in need to matching
delivery volunteers with recipients—trickle into every day
of the week. Having raised over $100,000 for meal dona-
tions via GoFundMe as of press time, Heart of Dinner has
since pushed its goal to $150,000.
Now, they’re working with a lawyer to secure 501(c)(3)
status for Heart of Dinner. “We’ll now get an Instagram
DM from someone saying, like, ‘Hey, my grandma lives
in New York City. I’m in Minnesota and unable to reach
her. She refuses my help, but I have a feeling that she may
accept your guys’ help. This is her address, and she doesn’t
have anyone taking care of her.’ That’s how we’ve taken
them under our wing,” says Chang.PITCH IN
Follow Chang and
Tsai’s journey to
feed Chinatown’s
elderly on Instagram
@heartofdinner.Tsai (left) and Chang
spend hours each day over-
seeing deliveries of meals
and handwritten notes.PHOTOGRAPHY:^
ANDREWN
GUYEN