Burmese Dinner

Chicago Burmese Cultural Center will be hosting an intimate dinner and fundraiser on December 12th, in Ravenswood (5-8pm).

The dinner is a unique opportunity to try classic Burmese dishes, discover Burmese culture, and support the community here in Chicago.

Dishes will include:
Lehpet Thoke (Tea Leaf Salad)
Tohu Thoke or Mohinga Thoke (Tofu/Mohinga Salad)
Tohu Nuey (Kachin melted Tofu)
Khao Suey (Burmese-style noodles)
Fish Soup
Beer and Wine will also be provided



We are keeping the event small (and hope to hold additional dinners in the future, if anyone is interested and unavailable on the 12th). 10 spots are available.

The event will be hosted at an apartment on a Permit-parking street (passes will be available), right next to the Metra and blocks from the Damen Brown Line).

The evening will be pay-what-you-can, and all donations are happily accepted:
$25 will help purchase bus passes for job seekers
$40 will help fund events that bring together youth from Chicago's eight different Burmese ethnicities
$100 will help CBCC provide a stipend for a new community volunteer coordinator

We hope you're able to join us! And again, we do hope to hold further meals in the future- with the possibility of showcasing specific regional cuisines. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send me an email: peter.c.okeefe@gmail.com

All my best,
Peter O'Keefe
Board Secretary
Chicago Burmese Cultural Center

(note: though all photos are from Northern Burma, not Chicago, I've been promised by other Board Members that their cooking will put these photos to shame )

Hi,

I would love to attend, though I have a conflict that night. This is a great opportunity, because most of my Burmese food dining has been in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Regards,

We're pretty excited to provide Chicagoans an opportunity to try authentic Burmese food in the city. The population is not quite big enough to support an actual restaurant, but hopefully these dinners will sate all of our cravings!

All my best,
Peter


(Cathy, saw your message, and will do my best to drop you a line tomorrow!)

Echoing Cathy's post-would have loved to have joined you but I have a conflict that night. Hope you have another in January!

Given the wonderful Burmese restaurants in San Francisco, and some in New York and Washington, while there might not be a large Burmese community in Chicago, I would imagine that a Burmese restaurant could do very well in Chicago.

GAF wrote:Given the wonderful Burmese restaurants in San Francisco, and some in New York and Washington, while there might not be a large Burmese community in Chicago, I would imagine that a Burmese restaurant could do very well in Chicago.

Agreed! We went twice during a short October trip to San Francisco (to Burma Love and Mandalay), and fell in love with the cuisine! Best wishes to the CBCC for this event!

Thanks again, everyone, for the interest!

We are now full for this first dinner, but do hope to have a few more, soon.

Personally, I would LOVE if there was a restaurant closer than Indiana. Hopefully these dinners will show community members that the general-public interest is there!

All my best, and happy Thanksgiving,
Peter

Any chance you'd consider hosting one of these just for LTH? I'd bet that we could probably fill up a date in January...

boudreaulicious wrote:Any chance you'd consider hosting one of these just for LTH? I'd bet that we could probably fill up a date in January...

Seconded.

Thirded

Oh yes pretty please!

Fermented tea leaves from Amazon could only last me so long...

Hi,

That was what I have been trying to arrange. He just needs to contact me back!

Regards,
CAthy

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

That was what I have been trying to arrange. He just needs to contact me back!

Regards,
CAthy

Thanks Cathy!

Sorry for not replying yet! Crazy first holidays with a new baby!

We would love to, so honored that the interest is there.

Kathy, I really will call soon, I promise

All my best everyone, and really would love to line something like this up for LTH folk.

Sincerely,
Peter

peteouc wrote:All my best everyone, and really would love to line something like this up for LTH folk.

thank YOU!

Hi,

I had a very interesting conversation with Pete. It will be a few months before another meal, because of location logistics and holidays. They are delighted by our enthusiastic interest for Burmese food.

I will keep on top this.

Regards,

Thanks for doing so, Cathy. This is something I've kept my eye on and hope to attend when/if it materializes.

Hi,

They need to find a larger venue than what they are using this time around. People are leaving for holidays.

This guy was a Peace Corp worker in Burma, so he really has a lot of insight to offer.

Regards,

Hi Cathy,

any word on when/if this will happen?

Thank you,

Willie

Hi,

They need to find a larger space for this, which they estimated would be around this time frame.

I will nudge to find out more.

Regards,

For those interested in Burmese food, there is a terrific Burmese restaurant in Lansing, Michigan. They serve a beautiful Tea Leaf Salad. The restaurant is Naing Myanmar Family restaurant at 3308 S Cedar St, Lansing, MI. The strip mall it is located in is not impressive (quite the contrary), but inside the restaurant is very pleasant. I encouraged the very friendly owners to move to Chicago.

This is what I wrote on Trip Advisor:

Oh, how fortunate are the citizens of Lansing to have such a special restaurant as Naing Myanmar Family Restaurant. I was in town to give a talk and my hosts took me to Naing, where we had some dozen dishes, mostly Burmese, but a few Malaysian and Thai. The dishes were extremely flavorful and well prepared. I particularly admired the Coconut Noodle Soup with Chicken, the Shan Noodles, the Pickled Tea Leaves with Bean Salad, the Fried Spicy Egg Boodle, and the deep fried Bottle Gourd. Naing ranks with any Burmese restaurant on the coasts, and is the nearly the equal of the best restaurants in Yangon. Run by a husband and wife team (he serves, she cooks), the hospitality is genuine. It is true that one might not wish to have a picnic in the run-down parking lot of the strip mall, but the restaurant is clean and welcoming. Naing is a very special place for those who enjoy rarely served Myanmar cuisine.