Would You Like Something to Eat
By Cassie Sun | Contributor
Once, Anna Desai had no interest in working with food.
She’d grown up “working behind the counter of [her] parents’ Chop Suey restaurant in St. Louis,” but studied health and medicine in college, Desai said.
Still, she says that “as a restaurant kid, those real-life experiences taught [her] much about work ethic, service, and the importance of food in a community.”
Anna poses with a collection of mooncakes.
In the Fall of 2020, Desai found herself once again immersed in the food industry, though this time in an entirely different form.
@wouldyoulikesomethingtoeat is Desai’s instagram dedicated to “celebrating and championing Asian Americans in the food and beverage space,” said Desai. Her most recent project this past August, Over the Moon — Chicago #OTMChicago, was a mooncake drop featuring 12 limited edition mooncakes that sold out in 28 minutes.
The following interview with Desai has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why did you create @wouldyoulikesomethingtoeat?
There are a lot of misperceptions about Asian cuisine.
Usually, when you talk about Asian food, you rarely hear about the personal stories. And I think there's a lot of courage and triumph there, especially with first-generation or immigrant parents trying to make a living, providing food on the table for their family.
They go into the restaurant business, but there are not a lot of stories that are shared about that. And then you have the generation coming up after them who grew up also in the restaurant business, but they were directed by their parents to do something else. Something different.
But I'm seeing some people getting back to their roots and the food and sharing it in a different way. And I thought that was really beautiful. And so with my Instagram, I want to dedicate it to something beyond just food photos, but also personal stories and journeys into food.
@wouldyoulikesomethingtoeat is all about community and all that is beautiful and courageous about our culture and cuisine, while also honoring the heritage of our roots.
How did you know this is what you wanted to do?
A few years ago, while working for a food science association, I was part of a DEI committee that opened my perspectives about some of the disparities and inequities that exist in the food space.
Tying this back to my personal experiences working at a restaurant got me thinking about how Asian foods are viewed, perceived and often misrepresented. I wanted to create a space that goes beyond food photos and showcases the stories of the people who make them.
Who inspires you?
My children inspire me. I always ask the question, “What do I want to teach them? What have they not seen?”
There are flavors that can bridge different cultures and different generations. I'm inspired by my children, and I hope that they can also learn about their own culture from a more contemporary lens.
Whether it is teaching them about the Mid-Autumn Festival through mooncakes with flavors they identify with or doing a chocolate project highlighting AAPI woman chocolatiers from across the country (only 6.6% of chocolatiers are Asian), I am learning alongside with them.
You also hosted a Chocolate Collective featuring 12 Female Asian American Chocolatiers earlier this year. Where did the idea for that project come from?
My friend celebrated a birthday, and she's a huge chocoholic. And I remember having a piece of chocolate with her and I said, “you know what, there’s actually not a lot of Asian American women chocolatiers that I know of. I can probably count on less than 10 fingers how many I personally know, but there's gotta be more out there.”
And so I went down this rabbit hole from about October to January just researching the chocolate industry. Demographics of chocolatiers. I even spoke with the Fine Chocolate Industry Association to try to understand more demographic data, just looking looking for Asian American women chocolatiers, because often when you think of chocolatiers, you think of someone who's European, someone who's male. Oftentimes you're not thinking about minorities in the space.
That was kind of the inspiration to start this project. And a lot of the chocolatiers are doing something that no one else is doing. They're infusing flavors that they grew up with, blending between tradition and flavors that we grew up on here in America.
Do you feel that having an AANHPI identity made your work harder/easier? If so, how?
I feel that as an AANHPI woman, there is often a lot of “proving” you feel you must do.
Proving you are American enough, proving your worth when no one in the room looks like you—we carry the burdens of harmful stereotypes to this day.
Additionally, many of us who grew up with traditional upbringings but were raised here often feel wedged and battling between dual cultures and identity.
My hope is that more stories are shared about our lived experiences and what it means to be fully Asian and fully American.
What do you hope is the outcome of @wouldyoulikesomethingtoeat?
There are so many beautiful, courageous and heartfelt stories to be told about Asian Americans in the food and beverage space. Legacies that are passed from one generation to the next and stories of those who are returning back to food or are just getting started in new food ventures.
Through each post and project that I do, I hope that I am contributing in a positive way to building understanding and community.
