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Restaurants and chefs across the country are rallying to raise awareness of racism and violence against the Asian-American community and working to unite people through dining and takeout food.
To mark Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate and the restaurant reservation website Resy have launched in a few cities a dinner series by a coalition of AAPI and ally chefs. The series, birthed in Washington, D.C., is headed to Detroit this weekend.
Dinners will be available every Sunday for three weeks beginning Sunday, May 16. Each week, five chefs will contribute one course each to a five-course takeout meal that will be picked up at Bunny Bunny, a multiregional Chinese restaurant in Eastern Market, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Each dinner for two will be $150 (excluding tax). Chefs will be reimbursed for their dishes, with $95 from each meal to be donated to local AAPI organizations. Local restaurants participating include Flowers of Vietnam, Grey Ghost, Coop, Midnight Temple, Miss Kim, Marrow, Dr. Sushi, Mink, Takoi, Bangkok 96, Warda Patisserie, and the Goblin.
“We are incredibly excited to be able to bring this event to Detroit and proud that so many of our colleagues are willing to stand up with other chefs around the country to fight against AAPI hate,” says Justin Tootla, a co-owner and chef at Bunny Bunny. “We hope these events will continue to bring awareness to the communities who have been historically marginalized and in recent months targets of violence and discrimination.”
Since its launch as a one-off in D.C., the dinner has expanded as a series in New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Detroit.
Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition started to document anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic, said it received 6,603 self reports of anti-Asian hate incidents between March 2020 and March 2021. That number was 3,795 in February 2021.
A large percentage of incidents reported took place in public streets and parks (37.8 percent) and in businesses (32.2 percent). Michigan ranks 20th in the nation by reports. Most hate crimes, however, are never reported to police, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The Michigan Senate in March adopted a resolution by Sen. Stephanie Chang, a Democrat from Detroit, condemning hate crimes and rhetoric against Asian Americans and encouraging Michiganders to report them.
The lineup
Sunday, May 16
Five-course takeout menu for two, featuring dishes from Marrow, Bunny Bunny, Coop, Flowers of Vietnam, and Folk
Reserve a meal here
Sunday, May 23
Five-course takeout menu for two, featuring dishes from Grey Ghost, Dr. Sushi, the Goblin, Takoi, and Mink
Reserve here
Sunday, May 30
Five-course takeout menu for two, featuring dishes from Midnight Temple, Miss Kim, Warda Patisserie, Tropic Tacos, and Bangkok 96
Reserve here
• Stop AAPI Hate [Official]
