BY GEORGE HAJJAR AND RON TANNER
Moonlynn Tsai and Yin Chang are making a
difference for elderly Asian Americans in New
York City—one meal at a time. That's a lot of
differences as their organization, the Heart of
Dinner Foundation, surpassed 100,000 meals
served in early 2022.
The partners' (in life and in business)
original venture was a supper club opened
in 2015 to bring together "lonely and
alone" people. Chang is a filmmaker who
played Nelly Yuki in Gossip Girl as well as
the creative director for the podcast 88
Cups of Tea. Tsai is a Taiwanese-American
restaurateur who had opened Pine & Crane
in Los Angeles and Kopitiam in New York City,
among other ventures.
Everything changed in February 2020
as the pandemic became a focal point of
the news and President Trump called it the
"China virus." Acts of hate were directed
at Asian Americans, especially the elderly.
Restaurants closed. People were isolated
in their apartments without access to food,
family, or friends.
Tsai, who was 35 at the time, and Chang,
who turned 35 in 2022, began preparing
meals for the elderly. They enlisted individual
and restaurant partners, such as Saigon
Social, Bessou, and Partybus Bakery. Each
meal prepared should "remind you of your
grandparents," says Tsai.
But that was not enough. Chang recalls
that her busy parents often expressed love
by leaving notes to her around their Queens
home. So Heart of Dinner includes a note of
affection and encouragement with each meal
served—in the language of the recipient.
Tsai and Chang were named the 2021
Women of the Year by Glamour. They are
expanding beyond New York City as food
professionals and caring volunteers across
the U.S. embrace their vision.—Ron Tanner
PHOTOS: HEART OF DINNER
Yin Chang and
Moonlynn Tsai
CO-FOUNDERS, HEART
OF DINNER FOUNDATION
35
UNDER
breakout talent
to watch
S
pecialty Food's 2022 class of 12 Under 35: Breakout Talent to Watch
includes young food professionals dedicated to social justice and
philanthropic endeavors, food makers who are reducing waste, providing
fair wages, and even reinventing a mature category, and specialty grocers
who are bringing foods with which they closely identify, to the masses.
Following are profiles of these up-and-coming changemakers.
FALL 2022 15
