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The [French] Connection
A late night culinary chat, an Eid street fair, Vietnamese writers of the diaspora, and a community print festival
Working in the art world had its ridiculous moments, but every once and a while, the scales tipped in your favor. I was running late to catch a flight when my boss sat me down. The Paris office was inefficient: could I fly last minute to France to train the team? Once in Paris, the team took me out for a leisurely lunch, explained that the office was closed the next day, and invited me to a party. If I made an impact, it was on my last (and only) full business day: To keep things efficient, the department head declared that we'd order either an appetizer or a dessert with our lunch course.
Learn about French culinary influence here in the Bay, celebrate Eid in the TL, enjoy a student film festival, and hear musician Laurel live.
Mélange: Asian Chefs with French Flair Influencing Bay Area Cuisine
Category: Culinary
Date: Saturday, April 5th @ 10:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Asian Art Museum (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Yes, you read correctly: this event starts at 10:30. At night. Villa Albertine SF, KQED, the Asian Art Museum, SF Public Library, and Circuit Network have organized the Night of Ideas 2025: (un)Common Ground to bring the city to life long after SF millennial bedtimes. The events taking place from 7pm to 1am include talks ranging from “Universal Museums and the Ethics of Cultural Artifacts” to “Trans Voices and Reentry After Incarceration.” Chefs of Asian-descent from institutions like Tarts de Feybesse in Oakland and Abacá in SF will take the stage for “Mélange” and discuss the French influence on their approach to cuisine.
No word on pastry samples, so plan your midnight snacks accordingly.
Laurel (Concert)
Category: Music
Date: Monday, April 7th @ 8pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Brick & Mortar Music Hall (SF)
Price Range: $23 (at the door) // $33 (online)
Why I Care: “Scream Drive Faster”: is that (a) my inner rage when stuck on the Bay Bridge (b) one of my top 10 songs of 2022 or (c) all of the above. British musician Laurel is the artist behind the song that returns year after year to my Spotify Wrapped playlist and is performing at Brick & Mortar Music Hall. Her music has elements of a darker and more soulful Florence + the Machine, with her most recent release comfortably earning the label of NSFW. Fingers crossed she performs her cover of Jungle’s “Happy Man,” because I can never get enough Jungle.
West Berkeley Community Print Festival 2025
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, April 5th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Kala Art Gallery & Community Classroom (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Kala Art Institute is hosting their annual community print festival. Festivities include a screen printing demo, studio tours, community art workshops, and the opportunity to purchase artists’ works. The institute is showing its softer side with a quilting workshop to support the Trans community, and the resulting quilts will join a traveling exhibition for Trans visibility.
The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora Launch Party
Category: Literary
Date: Saturday, April 12th at 6:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Mechanics’ Institute (SF)
Price Range: $15 ($5 for Mechanics Institute members)
Why I Care: Next month marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora shepherds thirty-seven writers into dialogue on what displacement, family history, militarism, and their artistic practice means to them. The book aims to bring Vietnamese authors from the diaspora into one work of literature, and the launch party will have writers such as Viet Thanh Nguyen of The Sympathizer and Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai of The Mountains Sing in attendance to commemorate its publication.
Tenderloin Eid Street Fair
Category: Culinary & Music
Date: Saturday, April 5th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Jones Street & Golden Gate Avenue (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Because the Tenderloin deserves a glow-up. SF Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, his district’s first Muslim American representative, has worked with community organizers to throw the neighborhood’s Tenderloin Eid Street Fair. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, which also means the end of fasting, culminating in festivities filled with food and revelry. This festival will include henna, pony rides, local vendors like Yemeni Kabab, and a performance by Palestinian rapper MC Abdul.
Bonus points to anyone that sends me a selfie from a pony.
Rosewater: An Artist/Maker Showcase
Category: Art & Music
Date: Saturday, April 5th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: couchdate (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Diasporic representation continues at couchdate, where artists and musicians of South Asian and African descent will come together for their Saturday showcase called rosewater. The event, co-organized with creative collective undefined, will feature the works of 10 different artists alongside a slate of daytime DJs so attendees can peruse to the beat. The event’s featured artist is Jasmine Singh Rosado, whose work leverages color, light, and unconventional materials to engage her audience.
BAMPFA Student Committee Film Festival
Category: Film
Date: Friday, April 4th @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: The BAMPFA Student Committee gives me hope that the future of art won’t just be Ghibli-style AI portraits. The group’s UC Berkeley students organize museum events, art workshops, marketing, and tours for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) and are coming out of the shadows to present their own short films this Friday. Subjects include a space explorer who travels the universe collecting flowers, a new take on a Latin-American folktale, and a documentary on a survivor of the 1991 Oakland hills fires.
My favorite synopsis: “Chaos ensues when a cat is left home alone for a few hours.” Close second: “In Michael and Silas Rob a House, Michael and Silas rob a house.”
Next Drop: Monday, April 14th