Eddie Huang’s 2010 Restaurant Xiao Ye Was Important

Eddie is back cooking in NYC, but he’s always been here.

Eddie Huang’s Xiao Ye in 2010. Photo: Joshua Bright.

I’ve been thinking about Eddie Huang more than usual. I was doing prep for our instant-classic conversation on This Is TASTE that dropped this week and reading some of his latest writing on his Substack,

Canal Street Dreams

. His yarn about the homeless creative director in St. Vartan Park backs up into some meaty topics, like Aperol Spritz economics, Gramicci hiking pants, and ICE. It’s free-form and goes down smooth like a third Long Island Iced Tea (another topic examined), and it takes me to his Based FOB blog days. He’s got the gift.

The blog was, for many of us writing about food in the late 2000s, a revelation. Who was this guy? Some of us had been to Baohaus on the Lower East Side, wrote nice things about the food, and always looped David Chang into the conversation because we couldn’t help ourselves. Eddie and Chang beefed a bit, and it lit up Eater and Grub Street for a brief time. There was the opening of a second Baohaus on 14th Street, the closing of the original that led to NYC’s first introduction to the Pok Pok fish sauce wings (a podium food for me), and a failed restaurant, Xiao Ye, that got “faired” by Sam Sifton. It was a restaurant I reviewed a little more positively, but not much. I missed a number of things—more on that later.

But Eddie Huang has never really left my mind since he packed up his knives in NYC. He has written two memoirs. The second, Double Cup Love, is seriously underrated and describes an American (Huang) living a wild life in Chengdu with his brother and a pop-up restaurant crew. You wanted to be in that crew after reading the book. There was the Vice era, which will be much covered in Huang’s forthcoming doc Vice Is Broke (out in July from Mubi). And there was Boogie, a film Eddie directed that I liked and had hoped would be followed up quickly. I remember following Eddie’s IG during the darkest days of the pandemic, him posting away while living in Taiwan and hinting about a movie project in the works. I was hoping it would be made. He told me on the podcast that there’s still a shot.

Eddie recording This Is TASTE in June.

But Eddie wasn’t on my mind because of his rising status—the Bill Simmons interview booking is a sign that things have changed—and a hot BFA page. Eddie was out there in LA, but Eddie was also in New York City—not physically (he was hosting BBQs in Malibu), but in the restaurants that started to pop. They were restaurants run by ambitious Asian American chefs and operators that channeled the Baohaus and Xiao Ye energy that was clearly way ahead of its time. Restaurants built not just on cooking the delicious and uncompromising flavors of an Asian homeland but done with style and with high decibels—and sometimes smoking the loud between seatings. Cooking that at times challenged the norm but in 2025 has become widely adored by New Yorkers. Contrary to the headlines about French new wave trends, Asian restaurants are still NYC’s most exciting.

Xiao Ye crawled so that Uncle Boons and Thai Diner could walk. Xiao Ye crawled so that Kisa could walk. Xiao Ye crawled so that Bonnie’s could walk. Xiao Ye crawled so that Saigon Social could walk. Xiao Ye crawled so that Dhamaka could walk. Xiao Ye crawled so that Golden Diner could walk. Xiao Ye crawled so that Mắm, Naks, and Ha’s Snack Bar could walk.

I don’t remember my meals at Xiao Ye, let alone the review I wrote. There was a Three Cups, One Fish joke dish and a cocktail with 50 Cent’s Vitaminwater that might have been good. One dish was called “poontang potstickers.” Another was called “concubine cucumbers.” As Eddie told me on the podcast, the vibes might have been a little strong, but that’s the thing: This long-forgotten restaurant was a pioneer. Eddie Huang was a pioneer. And now he’s back cooking in NYC. Gazebo looks really, really promising, and the chef is clearly looking to open something permanently—and NYC will be all the better for it. David Chang even dipped into the comments. The beef is long dead, and the vibes are, indeed, quite strong.

---

Instant Jook from Gamsa Foods

Earlier this week, I was at the Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC. I interviewed the Hot Ones creators about their consumer packaged goods and food service business (it’s big) and had a great conversation with Alyssa Vescio, senior VP of merchandising at Whole Foods Market. I enjoyed walking the floor to catch up with friends in the game, but mostly to meet the founders selling their big ideas, science fair–style.

There’s always a lot to report back on, but from the first day, I was super into this instant jook from Gamsa Foods, which they are calling oatmeal. Savory breakfast items that lean into the popular macros (protein, gluten-free, low-calorie; it’s all here) are definitely a trend that I’ve seen emerging, and founder Sarah Hwang has some really sharp branding and positioning.