Dine like the Presidents
VIEW EVENT DETAILSThe 10th Ambassador Burton Levin Lecture Series
Dinner Dialogue with White House State Dinner Guest Chef ANITA LO, Annisa, New York City
Reception 6:30pm;
Dinner, Dialogue and Special Performance 7:30 - 9:30pm
Dress Code: Black Tie / National Costume
Disappointed that you were not on Obama’s State Dinner guest list in honor of President Xi Jinping? Not to worry! Asia Society Hong Kong Center will be joining forces with White House Guest Chef Anita Lo to re-stage the same exquisite dinner. Do not let this rare opportunity slip!
You are cordially invited to join us for an exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experience to dine like the Presidents!
In September 2015, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama invited renowned Chef Anita Lo to the White House as the guest chef for the state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping. The decor for the expansive East Room was conceptualized by Lady Michelle Obama, it included a 16-foot silk scroll depicting two roses that the White House says were meant to symbolize 'a complete meeting of the minds.' Chef Lo was the first ever female chef asked to collaborate with the White House chefs on a state dinner. To pay tribute to this exciting occasion and bring a taste of the mouthwatering menu to Hong Kong, a collaboration between AMMO’s chefs, Chef Jenn Louis from Portland and Chef Lo will take place to re-create the same dinner served to the First Families, and engage in a dialogue with Asia Society Executive Director S. Alice Mong, sharing anecdotes from Lo’s multicultural culinary journey from Birmingham, Michigan, to Paris, and the White House. The evening will also feature a special performance by Cantonese opera singer Li Pui-Yan and Soprano Joyce Wong.
Dinner Menu
Wild Mushroom Soup with Black Truffle
Butter Poached Lobster with Spinach, Shiitake and Leek Rice Noodle Rolls
Grilled Cannon of Lamb with Garlic Fried Milk and Chinese Broccoli
Poppyseed Bread and Butter Pudding with Meyer Lemon Curd Lychee Sorbet
Anita Lo, chef and owner of Annisa in New York City, is one of the most respected chefs in the country, earning numerous accolades for her inventive contemporary American cuisine that reflects her multicultural upbringing and classic French training. In 2000, Lo opened Annisa (whose name means ''women'' in Arabic), an intimate, upscale restaurant in Greenwich Village serving Contemporary American cuisine. It was an instant hit, earning rave reviews from critics. In June 2009, after nearly ten years in business, Annisa suffered an unfortunate blow—a fire destroyed the restaurant entirely. Lo decided to take some time to travel as plans for rebuilding Annisa got underway. She also appeared on the first season of Top Chef Masters where she battled her contemporaries on weekly challenges that tested their culinary prowess, and finished fourth out of 24 chefs. In April 2010, after a complete renovation of the original Barrow Street location, Lo reopened Annisa. She kept many of the same elements—clean design, welcoming atmosphere, small menu and a few signature dishes—but shook it up with new additions to the menu inspired by her recent travels. In February 2014, critic Pete Wells re-reviewed Annisa in The New York Times, bestowing the restaurant with a prestigious three stars, calling her food “remarkable” and “impressive,” and the restaurant “graceful and unfussy.
Jenn Louis is the executive chef and co-owner of two restaurants, Lincoln and Sunshine Tavern, as well as owner of Culinary Artistry, a full service catering business. She has appeared on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, and her work has been featured in various publications including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit. Louis was named one of Food & Wine’s “Best New Chefs” in 2012, and her sophisticated, seasonally-focused cooking style has earnsed her nominations as a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation Award of Best Chef: Northwest in 2010 and 2011. After graduating from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, Louis traveled throughout Europe and North and South America. Upon her return to California, she learned of a job opening from a close friend cooking for an Outward Bound base camp deep in the North Carolina woods. Louis landed the job and after a few short weeks at the camp, she had an epiphany that cooking was her passion and could lead to a successful and fulfilling life-long career – something she had never considered before. Louis followed this dream all the way to the Western Culinary Institute of Portland, and shortly after began working as a line cook at the prominent Portland restaurant, Wildwood.
Li Pui Yan was born in New York from a family of Cantonese opera heritage, a graduate from Wellesley College, Li has been taught by numerous famed Cantonese opera performers. Since her debut as principal actress in Floral Princess (Youth Edition) 《帝女花》(青年版) in 2007, she has performed for the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Chinese Opera Festival, Macau Arts Festival as well as the benefit inaugural performance at Asia Society Hong Kong Center’s Miller Theatre. Her repertoire ranges from classics to new productions such as Deling and the Empress Dowager Ci Xi 《德齡與慈禧》and Arrant Revenge 《王子復仇記》, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Recently, through working with artists from other disciplines, such as Ming Wong and Mariko Mori, she is inspired to further explore the cross-disciplinary potential of this traditional art form. Aside from performing, Li is devoted to the English translation of Cantonese opera librettos and has served on the Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee in Hong Kong for three terms.
Joyce Wah-Sheung Wong was hailed by the South Florida Classical Review for her “sweetly sung portrayal of Suor Genevieffa”. She made her professional debut as Barbarina in Opera Hong Kong’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro. This performance was followed by roles as Harry in Albert Herring at Intermezzo Young Artist Program, and as Yvette (Gigi u/s) in her equity debut in Miss Saigon at The Media Theater, Philadelphia. Most recently she has appeared in Don Carlo as Voice from Heaven; as Suor Genevieffa in Suor Angelica with Miami Lyric Opera; and as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a portrayal in which the South China Morning Post succinctly described as “brave with a confident voice to match”. An enthusiasm to creatively expand, Wong performed Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Seoul 2009. Followed by singing Papagena in Opera Hong Kong and Norwegian Opera’s joint production, Die Zauberflöte, scheduled to begin first in Hong Kong and then in Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. She has won third place in Yokohama International Music Competition. Currently, she is a young artist with Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Program. Wong is a graduate of Westminster Choir College and Boston University.
Event Details
Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty