Enoki Presents Reflections of Home
Matsar celebrated the Asian Diaspora in the Hudson Valley
I thought I swore of markets. No really I thought I did. I’ve done enough markets in Philly with my first company, Dahsar, that made me think about what is the point of doing markets since I’m not getting any satisfaction out of it. As in, I’m not feeling the love from people actually liking our product for who designed it, sourced the material, and learn about our story. We were a hat company that transitioned into a studio because the love for creating and designing hats, didn’t share the same sentiment of love as food does. We were selling to people who looked at our work for what was benefitting them. I wasn’t pushing them hard and one punk kid had to ruin it all by saying it was expensive to my face. It wasn’t, that’s just how Philly is. So we stopped doing markets. It was weird because in Philly, we were a vendor at all the Punk Rock Flea Markets our friends at R5 Productions ran. A run of the mill, old school market in established venues that catered to our taste but this little shit said this to me when we did a market at the BOK building, an old school turned work space for makers, nonprofits, small businesses, and artists in Philadelphia. Even though the building was for the greater good and it changed the way creatives in Philly moved, you might as well move to NYC to cut your teeth further than stay behind and watch your practice run dry.
Moving to NYC and being chewed up and spit out multiple times was worth it. I wouldn’t have Wear Many Hats and I most definitely would not have Matsar. I mentioned before about getting into matcha after working at Office Coffee at the Canal Street Market. The setup was gorgeous and I was inspired because of our friend Manny Mutuc (Manny Diamentes) knew what he was doing. Mod Bar set up in the cafe to make espresso and steam milk with a gorgeous wand. That was Manny’s doing. Last but not least, we used a Sugyokuen electric tea whisk that held the Chasen together to make us look like matcha professionals whisking in our bowls. Every time I bring up Manny, people says he knows everyone. Now when I bring up Enoki, everyone knows Tommy and Shirley and continues to say the nicest things possible about them. All of it is true. Tommy and Shirley are the sweetest people you will ever meet and I’m so glad my New York journey continues with crossing paths with them.
We first learned about Enoki through the grapevine of them opening up a shop in Catskill and every summer I’ve been trying to make it over but never happens. Enoki moved to Saugerties, NY on Main St., and now I’m going to make it known to stop at their shop on the way to Catskill or Hudson. We share a talented mutual friend and I knew right off the bat we’d be friends. Hopefully, fingers crossed.
Back in March, Enoki put out feelers for Reflections of Home. A two-day celebration on May 10th & 11th that weaves together the stories of the Asian diasporic community, where the intersectionality of identities meets and reflects upon each other. Reflections of Home is happening in tandem with Basilica Farm & Flea, an event that brings thousands of people near and far to support Hudson Valley local makers, farmers, and collectors.
The following criteria:
Must be selling handmade goods, original concepts, and/or showcasing something related to Asian heritage.
Must identify as part of the AANHPI community.
Must be able to provide food for at least 500 attendees.
Matsar soft launched in February but we were asked if we wanted to do a market in the Lower East Side. I said sure why not, I didn’t think much of it but I did have a vision for my setup. The past ten years, pop ups and markets have evolved. The issue is that each year they get cornier and cringy with people’s setups and the people vending them. I said I’ll give it another chance for Matsar and we did well.
In March, when I filled out the form for Reflections of Home for Enoki, I did it with the thought of nothing after. If we get accepted that’s great! If not, no hard feelings, there’s always next year. I was working at a cafe to get back into the game of meeting new people and if I was comfortable talking with people again after the pandemic. Turns out I was comfortable and the only people I despised was my co-workers and the guests because lets get it straight. Working in Times Square sucks. Although they turned out to be perfect characters for the Wear Many Hats newsletter.
Shirley reached out after and we got on the phone, chatted about Matsar, how I knew Enoki, and what our product was. They wanted to try our matcha, bought one and a few days later they told us they loved it.
Matsar was selected to be a part of Reflections of Home and it felt like I hit the jackpot. There are all these talks of layoffs but have you heard of a lay on? This is that feeling. Keeping it PG-13 folks.
I need a lot of work done. Internally, not cosmetically. No BBLs just ILUs.
People tell me they love our matcha. I love it too but just to hear people say they love our product means a lot to me since last year I put it out into the universe to find the perfect matcha. Who knew that Malaysia was there for me all this time. It’s so good to hear everyones responses and it means a lot. I fight my demons every day when it comes to imposter syndrome, when people ask me what I do, and they tell me they like my photos, studio work, and beverages I provide.
I do identify as part of the AANHPI community but I gripe with it because growing up I didn’t have any Asian friends. I was the token Asian kid that called himself Hawaiian. I wasn’t proud of where I came from because of the bummer my extended family treated my immediate family. The only family that live in the states are my immediate family and they are also hard to get a hold of. In my teenage years and into my early twenties, I remember not eating rice for so long because I was so sick of it. Now I can’t wait to eat it all the time even though white rice is compared to white sugar. We can’t have nice things and sugar needs a PR rebrand.
I love that we have AAPI month and that we get to celebrate it by looking at bus signs celebrating us. It’s always a celebration downtown, my good friends are part of the Chinatown community and dresses up beautifully during the celebrations all month. I feel more proud than ever before and I’m glad I got to throw the Matsar hat in the ring by celebrating it with Enoki.
Shirley & Tommy are so communicative and organized that leading up to the event it went smoothly than ever before. I had quit the cafe job to focus on Dahsar and Matsar for pop ups and what the future holds for them. Wear Many Hats has been taking a backseat but its still moving along and now promoting both Dahsar and Matsar. It was real spooky hours the week leading up to the weekend. With learning about our setup, what we should bring, the list goes on. So many last minute touches. I ordered our signature stickers to promote us, a sign to showcase what we were selling, and a new stainless steel food table that everyone was freaking out about even though our USM was right next to it which got love half of the time. The usage of the stainless steel foldout table was inspired by me and Everything Alex Cooks pop up the week before when we did our pop up on an industrial kitchen sized stainless steel table.
Shirley and Tommy greeted us with open arms upon arrival at Basilica. The two guided us to where we would set up and we were right by the door of where people would arrive and enter. We backed up our car and started unloading like no tomorrow. Out of nowhere we made new friends who that were our guardian angels the whole time, Sanjay and Letitia, of The Healing Acres, who helped us setup but I was confused. I was confused as to how come them and Enoki, were the most sweetest, most friendliest people we’ve ever met. We set up, and Shirley asked us if we needed anything. We got it going and the first day went so well despite the weird weather. Later that night we all went out for food and drinks. Recapped first day, went to our Airbnb which was a nice elegant home up the block and did it all over again the next day.
The next day, the weather was blooming out and everyone came back for seconds and popped out for round 2. We had multiple lines, people telling us that the green drink was everywhere and that they wanted it. We made new friends that also wanted multiple drinks to try on the menu. I was so confused. I was in shock. I did not know how to compute my feelings. People loved our drinks just as much as we did. I love where I come from. I love being Asian. American too. Just not in this moment.
When my friends, Heartbreaker Flower Farm, Jenn and Honey came on Mother’s Day to surprise me, it felt like I was on Maury and I wanted to go behind the curtain and sob. Those two mean the world to me. I am so inspired by them both. Catching up with them, reminiscing the time when we were at Phoenicia Diner last year that I told them I was starting a matcha brand at brunch sounded silly. Here it is now.
We sold out of matcha.
Thank you so much Enoki, Shirley and Tommy and all our new friends for all the love you given us. My love for markets are alive again.