Plate by Plate 2023 Recap

Every year, each Project by Project chapter hosts their signature fundraising event Plate by Plate, and this year our New York chapter hosted ours on November 11 at Chelsea Industrial in New York City to much fanfare. As an entirely volunteer-run organization, the Project by Project NYC team spends months in preparation to hold this event.

Marketing team of Project by Project NY on the red carpet

There were 400+ guests in attendance at the tasting benefit, dressed in black tie and supporting our cause of increasing education access. During the three hours of the event, they enjoyed the 40+ food and beverage vendors, the silent auction, performances, photo booth, and the opportunity to learn more about the nonprofits we support. This year’s Plate by Plate was sponsored by our corporate partners Ares, Coffee Meets Bagel, and several others, and the proceeds benefited our partner Chinatown Youth Initiatives (CYI).

VIP guests received gift bags and chef tastings. One of the VIP chefs, Chef Wallace Wong, has been on shows, such as Top Chef Canada, Chopped Canada, and Fridge Wars. He also holds the Guinness World Record for the most slices of cucumber in 30 seconds, and gave that performance of cucumber slicing for the guests during Plate by Plate. Another VIP chef, Chef Nicole Ponseca, is a Filipina entrepreneur and the author of a James Beard-nominated cookbook. Our final chef, Chef Ali Saboor, is the former chef at the Persian restaurant Sofreh and prepared his world-class lamb loin for guests.

Chef Wallace Wong prepares dishes for his VIP tasting table

For all the guests, they began by walking down our red carpet and having professional photos snapped. They then were greeted with plenty of food and beverage vendors to choose from top restaurants in New York City. Some food vendors included Thalassa, Top Thai Vintage, Fish Cheeks, Pecking House, Burmese Bites. Some beverage vendors included 50 Lan, Grace Street, Lunar Seltzer, Asahi, and a full cocktail bar courtesy of Amami and Beam Suntory. 

Lunar Seltzer was one of the 30+ vendors in attendance who donated their time and food / beverages

Though the unlimited food and beverage is the main draw, the entertainment was just as captivating. Our keynote performance was LA-based singer-songwriter Katherine Ho, known for her Mandarin cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” in the 2018 blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians. She performed “Yellow” in addition to several of her new releases. Other performances included award-winning magician Kevin Li and Chinese yoyo from Ted Lam.

Katherine Ho performing for the audience at PbP NY

We also had some VIP guests in attendance who spoke on stage. Actor Hudson Yang, known as the lead of Fresh off the Boat playing Eddie Huang, announced he is hosting a new cooking show called “Order Up.” Jeff Yang, AAPI writer and Hudson’s father, announced his new book, The Golden Screen: The Movies that Made Asian America. Actor James Chen, known for shows like The Walking Dead and Iron Fist, also returned to Plate by Plate. 

There was no shortage of activity at this year’s Plate by Plate. Guests bid on the silent auction with items such as a trip to Mexico, whiskey classes at the Flatiron Room, and Patagonia backpacks. They took home keepsakes from the photo booth. They could speak to leaders of nonprofits at Chinatown Youth Initiative and CAN International. 

See you at the next Plate by Plate!

You can download your photo booth photos here and your red carpet photos here.