Continental meals
New "passport" tracks your tour of Austin's AAPI food scene with deals, matched donations, and a prize
The Austin Asian Community Health Initiative (AACHI) is fundraising while sending Austinites to AAPI-owned restaurants and bars.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and we do mean month. Not just a day to eat dumplings, this is a 31-day opportunity to think about and support our AAPI neighbors, and one organization is extending that with a year-round initiative. We may need an official document to keep track of all that. Thankfully, this "passport" doesn't take much to obtain.
In addition to providing a great resource for figuring out where to eat (off Google Maps, for once), the Family Style: Austin Asian Restaurant Passport also organizes coupons from 30 local restaurants for more than $300 in deals. The $45 book encourages local foodie support at AAPI-owned businesses while also supporting the Austin Asian Community Health Initiative (AACHI), which uses proceeds from the sales to improve healthcare access to its community in Central Texas.
This is the inaugural year for the annual initiative, and it will stretch all the way to April 30, 2024, when this passport expires. Since deals start on May 1, there are never any gaps — this passport just became the new normal for local diners who love a deal.
It's also a good bit of padding to make sure diners have time to get all their stamps for a prize, but it is still a race. The first person to finish their book will win a 10-person, three-course meal at Qi Austin, an upscale farm-to-table Chinese restaurant. (Chef Ling Qi Wu started Ling Kitchen, a current Tastemaker Awards semi-finalist in the fan-voted Best New Restaurant category, on a similar 10-person dining idea.)
Just this month, a few of the participants have opted in for an additional challenge: specialty cocktails made with Tito's Handmade Vodka. The Peached Tortilla, Sazan Ramen, and Oseyo are mixing up their contributions, and Tito’s is pledging $1 from every cocktail to AACHI, up to $2,500.
"When we think about public health and healthy lives for everyone, community comes to mind," said AACHI executive director Hailey Easley in a press release. "One of the biggest ways that communities come together is through food and culture. While the passport holder tastes what some of Austin's Asian businesses have to offer, proceeds from the sales of the passport go toward keeping AACHI's life-saving programs alive and growing so we can continue our work and help more clients receive equitable healthcare in all the ways that impact their well-being.”
The diversity that makes the passport and this food scene interesting also sometimes complicates the community support AAPI organizations need to offer, with different languages, immigration histories, and social structures to uphold. That's even before issues with transportation access and income. AACHI has a broad job that includes logistical problem solving within its Community Health Navigation (CHN) Program, as well as a therapist directory and a reporting system for racism related to COVID-19, among other initiatives.
Passports ($45), which will be delivered by mail, are available at familystyleatx.com.
Participating Restaurants:
- Asahi Imports
- Bisous
- Carabao Express
- Chinatown Restaurant
- Cho Sushi Japanese Fusion
- Dosa Shack
- East Side King
- Epic Poke
- Fierce Whiskers Distillery
- Fil N’ Viet
- Hotpot Alley
- House of Three Gorges
- Komé Sushi Kitchen
- NG Cafe
- Oseyo Restaurant
- OTOSHI
- Pokeatery
- Pho Craft
- Pho Thaison
- Pho Yes
- Sa-Tén Coffee and Eats
- Sazan Ramen
- Sharetea Austin
- Steamies Dumplings
- SXSE Food Co
- Texas Sushiko
- Thai Fresh
- The Peached Tortilla
- Tso Chinese Takeout & Delivery
- Yeni's Fusion
Could sit in this airy shop all day.Photo by Chad Wadsworth
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