10.01-02.16 : KHANH HOANG : LONG BEACH, CA

"I don’t want to get out of bed but I know I must if I want to get all the prep for 2 events done. Check list. Why did i do this to myself??"

I first met the beautiful Khanh Hoang at an art party event in Long Beach I hosted with some friends from Music Tastes Good and other local art communities. While brainstorming our upcoming theme of "Dreams", we were throwing out different fellow creatives we wanted to to be featured and someone brought up their friend who did pop-up dinners and was a culinary creative. I've hosted quite a few of these art parties and have had a variety of different mediums from your standard songwriter to a puppet show with a raw chicken, but I'd never had someone from the culinary world present and show us just how elevated an art food-making is. Needless to say, I was very excited. That night, with ease and grace, she was able to feed 80 plus people (with extras to spare) with some divine traditional Palestinian cuisine. Truly impressive.

Company of Khanh, her pop-up dinner initiative, has a phenomenal vision for what she imagines for the contemporary dining experience :

At Company of Khanh, we have a deep appreciation for the satisfaction of a meal delicately prepared with imagination and nourishing values. We specialize in intimate and low-key gatherings for those who are curious and enthusiastic about food. Each event is unique to its location, guest list, cultural theme, and opportunity to make new friends.

The goal of our Pop-Ups is to cultivate the American palate to benefit from modernity through ethnic fares. Therefore, you will embark on a culinary involvement that embraces diversity; uniting flavors like Mexican, Italian, English, Persian, Greek, Cuban, Moroccan, Turkish, Ethiopian, Peruvian, Vietnamese and French cuisines, to name a few. The menus can be singularly themed, but are often merged and bonded by cultural resemblance to bring people from all backgrounds to the table.

Oh, and this isn't her only, or even primary gig. She's also a nurse and a student, though she's continued to grow her Pop-Up dinner business while balancing these things:

Recently, I have been energized by different aspects of my community. I strive to be part of promoting diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability by doing what I know best; bringing people together with food. Due to my schedule with work and school, I made a goal to host one Pop-Up a season to start. Now that I have reached that goal successfully, my team and I are looking forward to new collaborations. I hope to incorporate (in no order) a series of Women’s Empowerment Dinners; A Teaching Kitchen with talented featured co-hosts in art, healing, aromatherapy, and other limitless possibilities; and also, Pide and Adjarskis with Joe Corso’s outdoor Earth Oven. I welcome opportunities to work with those that wish to contribute to our goals, and together we can build a better society.

So get your own little cup of spirulina/matcha/chai/pistachio milk hot goodness and drool over the incoming foodie lingo from this badass lady:

 

 

 

Click HERE to check out an interview with Khanh about her vision for the future of food in hospitals and beyond.