Enjoyed Getting Together with Family and Friends and Many Special Dinners

JAN, FEB, JUN, SEP, OCT: Elaine Lai invited Mom & I, Sharon, Tony, Teddy, & Tommy Lee, and my Cornell friend Gligor Taskovich, to dinner at her house in Bedford, and again at NYC’s tony Hakkasan with Jackson & Minalie Hsieh, to celebrate the western and Chinese New Years. We enjoyed fishing at the twin lakes of Elaine’s house, catching huge bluegills and largemouth bass that we took to Central Seafood where they cleaned and cooked the deliciously fresh fish for us at many dinners, including those for: Mom’s neighbors Jay & Jean Glassman and Drs. Miller & Fass who had restored her health; her longtime work colleague Stu Neill and his wife; and good friends Henry Shum, Chester Mah, and James & Elizabeth Wong.

JAN, MAR, APR, JUN, AUG: In NYC as Marney & Joe Thomas’ guest at Kelleri Taverna. Cornell’s Asian Alumni Assn Banquet, honoring Ginger So, as Henry Shum’s guest. Patty Tang’s guest at her 20th Anniv. Gala for the American Friends of the Shanghai Museum in the Morgan Library. I caught Karen and her colleague Kaylie Abela in from Boston, and Sacha Craddock in from London, for lunch at the Cornell Club. Ray Chen’s dinner at Taste of Hong Kong for food writer Daniel Young & family in from London. Always a treat to see my 103-year-old godmother Aileen Pei in her apartment with Zang Toi, Mom, & Patty.

WINE TASTING DINNERS - MAY, NOV: Joined young foodie friends Katie Chio & Adam Einhorn, Bethia Wolf & Andy Dehus, and Bear & Kristen Braumoeller at Rigsby’s Kitchen for Silas Caeton’s first Cellar Selection Dinner as Executive Chef. (Alas, it was a brief tenure as Rigsby’s closed on Nov. 8 due to a huge rent hike.) Hermitage wine tasting at The Refectory featuring 7 luscious wines paired with Chef Richard Blondin’s exquisite food. Mom & I joined C.C. & Harriet Tung, Tom & Pat Shiah and others as Hamburg & Miranda Tang’s guests for NYC’s famed Four Seasons Restaurant’s lavish Bordeaux wine tasting reception and dinner with 14 wines. (Sadly, this historic NYC restaurant will also be closing due to a big rent hike.)

JAN, MAY, JUN, AUG, OCT: Pop-up dinners by some of Columbus’ most interesting chefs at Kate Djupe’s The Commissary that “connects those who love to cook with those who love to eat” - Avishar Barua & Silas Caeton (Veritas Tavern); Matt Heaggans (Flatiron Bar & Diner); Lara Pipia (Freedom a la Carte); Bill Glover (Gallerie Bar & Bistro). Other special dinners with: Tom Smith at Slow Food Columbus’ Taste of the Midwest Dinner at the Worthington Inn; Plate’s Alfonso Contrisciani at SFC’s Shake the Hand that Feeds You VIII at Folsom Pine Farm; with Angela Liu at Flatiron for Matt Heaggans’ Tiger Mushroom Farms Dinner; Bill Glover at Gallerie for his James Beard House Dinner and SFC’s Taste of the Midwest II Dinner.