Eddie Huang

Edwyn Charles Huang (born March 1, 1982)[1] is a Taiwanese-American author, chef, restaurateur, food personality, producer, and attorney.[2][3] He co-owns BaoHaus, a Gua-Bao restaurant in the East Village of Lower Manhattan.[4] Huang previously hosted Huang's World for Viceland. His autobiography, Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir, was later adapted into an ABC television series of the same name, the first season of which was narrated by himself.

Eddie Huang
Huang at a panel discussion
for TV show Fresh Off the Boat in 2015
Born
Edwyn Charles Huang

(1982-03-01) March 1, 1982
Washington, D.C., U.S.
CitizenshipAmerican
EducationUniversity of Pittsburgh
Rollins College (B.A.)
Yeshiva University (J.D.)
Occupation
  • Chef
  • Restaurateur
  • Author
  • Food personality
  • Attorney
  • Film director
Years active2009–present
Known forBaoHaus (Manhattan restaurant)
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir
Fresh Off the Boat
Huang's World
Eddie Huang
Traditional Chinese黃頤銘
Simplified Chinese黄颐铭

Early life and education

Huang was born in Washington, D.C., to Jessica and Louis Huang, who were immigrants from Taiwan.[5] They were both waishengren of Taiwan, the ancestral homes of his father and mother were in Hunan and Shandong of Mainland China, respectively.[6] Huang was raised in Washington, DC; Silver Spring, Maryland; and northern Virginia,[7] but then moved to Orlando, Florida, where his father managed a successful group of steak and seafood restaurants, including "Atlantic Bay Seafood and Grill" and "Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse".[8] He appreciated African-American culture, especially hip-hop, at a young age.[8] He also frequently got into fights, getting arrested twice on assault charges while growing up.[9]

Huang attended high school in Orlando at Dr. Phillips High School. He also went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh and Rollins College,[10] graduating with a B.A. in English and Film from Rollins in 2004. At Rollins, he also won the Barbara Lawrence Alfond English Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Award, and was Sports and Humor editor for the school paper, The Sandspur. In 2008, Huang earned a J.D. from Yeshiva University Cardozo School of Law.[11] At Cardozo, Huang worked at the Innocence Project, served as President of the Minority Law Students Association and as Vice President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and also won a New York City Bar Association Minority Fellowship in 2006.[12][13]

Career

Huang's first job as an attorney was working in corporate law at the law firm Chadbourne & Parke in New York City. He worked as a summer associate in 2006 and 2007, then was hired as an associate in the firm's corporate department in 2008. Within a year, due to the financial crisis of 2007–08, Huang was laid off, and began working as a stand-up comic and marijuana dealer.[14]

Clothing designer

From 2006 to 2009, Huang ran a streetwear company called "Hoodman Clothing," initially called "Bergdorf Hoodman."[15][16] At Hoodman, Huang co-created clothing designs with Art Director Ning Juang, a graphic designer whom he had met in Taiwan.[17]

Chef and restaurateur

Huang was also interested in food as he had grown up watching his mother cook at home. He also learned cooking techniques from various chefs of different cultural backgrounds and cuisine styles that worked at his father's restaurants. He learned management and how to be a good expeditor: a restaurant employee who manages the communication of information and orders between the back and front of the restaurant, making sure that the food is prepared in the correct order as efficiently and rapidly as possible, and presented to the customer in the highest quality conditions. Working as an expeditor was a skill he learned from his father.[18] In 2011 Huang was named to the Chow 13, a list of influential people in food presented annually by Chow.com.[19][20]

Huang in New York City, January 13, 2013

Restaurants

In December 2009, Huang opened BaoHaus, a Taiwanese bun (割包) shop, in the Lower East Side section of Lower Manhattan.[21] In July 2011, he relocated his first shop to 238 East 14th Street in the East Village with an expanded menu.[22]

Another restaurant, Xiao Ye, was less successful and closed after poor reviews and controversy over its sales of Four Loko.[23] Sam Sifton, a reviewer for the New York Times awarded the restaurant zero (out of four) stars, and wrote that "if Mr. Huang spent even a third of the time cooking that he does writing funny blog posts and wry Twitter updates, posting hip-hop videos and responding to Internet friends, rivals, critics and customers, Xiao Ye might be one of the more interesting restaurants to open in New York City in the last few months."[24]

Author

Huang created the blog called Fresh Off the Boat and later published a memoir with Random House by the same name.[25] Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir was released in early 2013, receiving favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly[26] and The New York Times.[27]

Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China was published in 2016.

Television

Huang hosted Cheap Bites on the Cooking Channel at the end of 2011 and also appeared on several episodes of Unique Eats before leaving the Cooking Channel for Viceland, where he hosts a recurring segment, also called Fresh Off the Boat, which was later developed into an hour-long show and renamed Huang's World. In 2014, Huang was the host of Snack Off on MTV. The show featured Huang, mentoring contestants participating in challenges that determine who can whip up the tastiest treats using random ingredients like fish sticks, canned oysters, chocolate and much more.[8][28]

Fresh Off the Boat

In 2014, ABC ordered a television series based on his book, also titled Fresh Off the Boat, starring Randall Park and Constance Wu, with Hudson Yang playing Eddie.[29] The show debuted with two preview episodes on February 4, 2015, and premiered in its prime time slot on February 10, 2015.[30]

Huang was outspoken in his criticism of the development process of the show, writing a lengthy essay about his concern that his vision for the show was compromised.[31][32] Huang has said that he does not watch the show, because he thinks that the storyline after the pilot episode is not what he wrote in his memoir.[33]

Film

In August 2019, it was announced Huang would direct and write Boogie, starring Taylor Takahashi, Pamelyn Chee, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Mike Moh, Dave East, Perry Yung, Alexa Mareka and Taylour Paige, with Focus Features distributing.[34][35]

Controversies

In 2012, Huang was named a 2013 TED Fellow.[14] He later had his TED fellowship revoked for not attending every event of the conference, per the fellowship agreement.[36] He went on to compare TED to a "Scientology summer camp".[37][38]

Huang drew criticism in May 2015 for comments he made about black women during an interview on Real Time With Bill Maher. He said "I feel like Asian men have been emasculated so much in America that we're basically treated like Black women." Later he engaged in a Twitter exchange on his account @MrEddieHuang with @BlackGirlDanger where he defended his comments, which were called "misogynoir". Huang then tweeted "are we dating cause you wildin. lol" and offered to take her out on a date.[39][40]

Huang has also drawn criticism for his appropriation of African-American culture.[41] Huang has stated: "I’ve devoted myself to speaking about people owning their own cultures that they’ve created, that they came over with, and educating people about the foundational values in culture."[42] Nevertheless, The New York Times referred to Huang as "a walking mixtape of postmodern cultural appropriation."[43] Some have claimed that Huang exhibits "misogynistic language and attitudes", non-conventional English speech and dress, and experiences with police which indicate an "adoption of a hip hop influenced persona."[44]

Works and publications
  • Huang, Eddie. Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2013; ISBN 978-0-679-64488-0
  • Huang, Eddie. Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China. New York : Spiegel & Grau, [2016]
  • Huang's World (Viceland) 2016[45]
gollark: Besides, some radiation is good for them, helps keep mutation rates up.
gollark: The fish will be fine if it's spread out enough. Probably.
gollark: Liquefy nuclear waste and dilute it with lots of water, then spray it into large tracts of the ocean from planes.
gollark: I fully support the disassembly of Mercury into solar panels and nice computers.
gollark: Why not just email your trash to other people?

See also

References
  1. "Eddie Charles Huang - United States Public Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  2. "Attorney Directory - Edwyn C. Huang". New York State Unified Court System. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  3. Huang, Eddie (January 23, 2013). "IAmA Eddie Huang (cook, author, host of Fresh Off the Boat)". Reddit. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  4. Ozersky, Josh (February 23, 2011). "Why Food Personality Eddie Huang Is Still Going Strong". Time. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  5. Martin, Rachel (January 29, 2013). "'Fresh Off The Boat' And Serving Up Asian Culture" (Audio interview). Weekend Edition. NPR. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  6. Huang, Eddie (2013). Fresh off the boat : a memoir. New York: Spiegel & Grau. ISBN 978-0812983357. OCLC 868029333.
  7. Marx, Rebecca (April 8, 2010). "Chatting With Baohaus' Eddie Huang About Crackhaus, Cheeto-Fried Chicken, and "Chefs Slapping Each Other on the Ass in the Press"". Village Voice. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  8. Garner, Dwight (January 24, 2013). "Pork Buns Steamed in Bluster 'Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  9. Cutolo, Ruby (December 14, 2012). "Off The Boat, But On The Grid: PW Talks With Eddie Huang". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  10. Garner, Dwight (January 24, 2013). "Pork Buns Steamed in Bluster 'Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir,' by Eddie Huang". New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  11. Schuster, Dana (March 15, 2011). "Q&A: Six Seconds With... Eddie Huang is the new Anthony Bourdain". New York Post. Archived from the original on March 14, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  12. James Rickman, Eddie Huang and Jeezy on Racism, America and Bossing Up, PAPER Magazine, http://www.papermag.com/2015/04/eddie_huang_jeezy_fresh_off_the_boat.php
  13. Eddie Huang, Fresh Off the Boat, page 211
  14. Stein, Joshua David (January 23, 2013). "Chef Who Refuses to Be Defined by His Wok". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  15. TSS Crew (December 1, 2008). "Hoodman Clothing". UPROXX. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  16. Koch, Macy (May 11, 2012). "Eddie Huang: "I'm about getting paper, but I need a 'why'"". Silicon Prairie News. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  17. Paine, Jake (June 20, 2007). "Hoodman Clothing: Politics as Usual". AllHipHop. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  18. Nordee, Emily (March 28, 2011). "Talking With Eddie Huang: The bad-boy restaurateur takes a Bao". Food Republic. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  19. "Error". CNN.
  20. Chowhound. "The 2011 CHOW 13".
  21. Turner, David Rap Snacks: Inside the Hip-Hop Restaurant Boom Rolling Stone. October 8, 2015
  22. "Eddie Huang Opening East Village Location of BaoHaus". New York Eater. July 14, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  23. Freeman, Nate (November 2010). "Xiao Ye, Eddie Huang's Bastion of Four Loko Has Shut Down". The New York Observer. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  24. Sifton, Sam (October 12, 2010). "Xiao Ye on the Lower East Side" – via NYTimes.com.
  25. "Fresh Off the Boat". The Pop Chef (blog). March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  26. "PW Pick: Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang". Publishers Weekly. January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  27. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. February 27, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  28. Banks, Alec (August 2, 2014). "Eddie Huang to Premiere 'Huang's World' on MUNCHIES". Highsnobiety. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  29. McDonald, Soraya Nadia (February 4, 2015). "Meet Eddie Huang, the memoirist who inspired 'Fresh Off the Boat'". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  30. Yang, Wesley (February 3, 2015). "Eddie Huang Against the World". The New York Times. Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  31. Huang, Eddie (February 4, 2015). "Bamboo-Ceiling TV". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  32. Goldberg, Lesley (February 4, 2015). "Eddie Huang Gives 'Fresh Off the Boat' a "B"; Pushes for Domestic Violence Arc". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  33. Jung, E. Alex (April 8, 2015). "Eddie Huang Is Still Angry His ABC Sitcom Is an ABC Sitcom". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  34. N'Duka, Amanda (August 26, 2019). "'Fresh off the Boat' Author Eddie Huang To Make Directorial Debut With 'Boogie' Film At Focus Features". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  35. Day-Ramos, Dino (September 13, 2019). "Eddie Huang's 'Boogie' Rounds Out Cast With Mike Moh, Dave East, Perry Yung, Taylour Paige and Alexa Mareka". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  36. "Inside TED: the smartest bubble in the world". The Verge. March 5, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  37. "TED Conference Exposed As Scientology-Style Cult". YouTube. February 7, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  38. "Eddie Huang Says TED Conferences Have Turned Into A "Scientology Cult" (video)". Political Blind Spot. June 24, 2013. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  39. Chu, Arthur (May 15, 2015). "Eddie Huang self-destructs: Why the "Fresh Off the Boat" author's descent into misogyny is so depressing". Salon.
  40. Ting, Jenevieve (May 11, 2015). "We Need to Talk About Eddie Huang's Misogyny". Ms.
  41. Chu, Arthur (May 13, 2015). "Dear Eddie Huang: You Don't Get to Tell Black People, or Other Asian People, How They Should Feel or Who They Should Be" – via AlterNet.
  42. "Eddie Huang Talks "New BaoHaus" and Race vs. Culture".
  43. Stein, Joshua David (January 23, 2013). "Eddie Huang Defies Description" – via NYTimes.com.
  44. Hioe, Brian (February 24, 2015). "Fresh Off the Boat and the Limits of Cultural Representation".
  45. Huang's World at viceland.com
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