Librarians, their friends and family members celebrated the Lunar New Year on February 15, 2019 with a multi-course feast at the Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant located in Chinatown, San Francisco. Attendees are pictured above, and include (from right to left): (Outer ring) Sherise Kimura,University of San Francisco (USF); Nora Franco, National Library of Medicine; Sarah Stone, SFPL; Jenny Yap, Berkeley City College; Jaena Rae Cabrera, San Francisco Public Library (SFPL); Annie Pho, USF; Pat Toney, Oakland Public Library; Bruce Bengtson; Brian Huynh, SFPL; Steven Chin; Janet Tom, SFPL; Jerry Dear, SFPL; Kirstie Harless, SFPL; Kyoko Tamaki; (Inner ring) Jane Watanabe; Stephanie Carlson; Kiyoko Shiosaki, UC Berkeley; Lyra Lew; Sally Whitehead; Ana Pavon, Oakland Public Library; and Ruby Stein. Not pictured are Florence Espiritu, Diablo Valley College; Vickie Lew; and Raisa Donato.
Janet Tom from the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) arranged for a delicious and healthy 10-course vegetarian meal. Entrees included vegetarian shark fin soup; steamed vegetable dumplings; lettuce wraps with shredded mushrooms, soy chicken, and tofu; taro, pumpkin, soy chicken in coconut sauce; string beans with veggie chicken in black bean sauce; eggplant with veggie sea bass; bean curd rolls with vegetables; tofu with mushrooms and broccoli; vegetable vermicelli noodles; and spinach & pine nuts fried rice.
As a bonus, for dessert, the restaurant gave us sesame balls, round pastries that expand when deep fried, symbolizing expanding fortunes when eaten for good luck. Vicki Lew also distributed her stash of good luck candy, including packets of nostalgic Haw Flakes that reminded many of their childhoods, when they pretended the flakes were miniature slices of salami or communion wafers.
Attendance exceeded expectations, despite the gray and misty weather. Twenty four people showed up, taking over three tables in the restaurant. The diverse combination of library staff and people with other backgrounds yielded a wide spectrum of conversations beyond the typical library technical talk. Topics included people’s travels to Oaxaca and China, Malaysia’s special blue rice dish (the coloring comes from the petals of butterfly-pea flowers), and how Janet Tom is famous among the attendees due to her work on an episode of Top Chef where she provided research on Medieval-Era foods.
Submitted by Brian Hyun and Janet Tom. Editing assistance provided by Molly Higgins.