LIFESTYLE

July 4th is the first ‘food’ holiday of the year, when Americans of all stripes and colors gather to celebrate the revolutionary origins of this nation. It’s a day where the complexity of American identity melds with patriotic parades and glorious fireworks. Food is how we seal our shared bonds and remember our common purpose.

Anita Lo is the chef and owner of the successful New York restaurant Annisa and serves as consulting chef for Rickshaw Dumpling Bar. Lo comes from a second generation Chinese-American family that fostered her passion for eating and cooking. While earning a degree in French at Columbia University, she studied at Reid Hall – Columbia's French language institute in Paris and decided to return to Paris to study cooking. She received her degree at the prestigious Ecole Ritz-Escoffier.

Art Next Gallery is pleased to present the recent work of Sun Liang, who currently lives and works in Shanghai. Born in 1957, Sun graduated from the Shanghai Light Industry College in 1982; he now works at the Art College of Shanghai Science and Technology. He has had numerous solo exhibitions, including “Imagination” and “Contrasts & Contradictions,” both in 2005 at Contrasts Gallery. He has also shown in London, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo.

Craig Koketsu fostered his passion for precision, knowledge, and flavor by working with acclaimed chefs from diverse backgrounds at some of America's top restaurants. Chef Koketsu grew up in a Japanese-American family in San Jose, California and has fond memories of enjoying handmade Tofu as a child. He has since developed a deep appreciation of this versatile Japanese comfort food. Rich in anti-oxidants known as isoflavones, tofu has been linked to numerous health benefits including improved bone and heart health and even maintaining a healthy weight.

Several months ago, a palm reader once warned me that I was going to lose a large sum of money in the near future. I scoffed at this but I canceled a hair-removing consultation that could subsequently result in my spending hundreds of dollars. Little did I know that I still couldn’t escape fate.

The Japanese have a very distinct stereotype towards foreigners: the Japanese take baths and foreigners take showers. Although there are many foreigners who beg to differ, the term "bath" is much different in Japan than it is anywhere else in the world.

With a brand new year ahead of us, we often look forward to our paid vacations and summer getaways - ”I know I do. If Japan is a future destination of yours, I have some great advice and a list of must-see places.

If you love great, authentic India food, in an intimate setting, with accommodating and friendly waiters, then you need to head to Dhaba on Lexington and 27th. Located in “Curry Hill” and modeled after dishes that are popular on the other side of the pond, these dishes have a unique Anglo-Indian flavor.

San Francisco's Asian Art Museum opened up its latest exhibition, The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, on February 20, 2009 with Buddhist ritual observances led by Bhutanese monks currently in residence, as well as a ribbon cutting ceremony. The exhibition is the first of its kind to focus on Bhutan's Buddhist culture, with many of the objects on display remaining in ritual use in temples and monasteries and having never before been accessible to a Western audience until now.