Table of Two Cities

🎉 We’re excited to share that Table of Two Cities is now available at two wonderful Hong Kong stockists — ACO Books and Lion Rock Press! 📚✨ @artandcultureoutreach @thelionrockpress This bilingual book brings together food stories, recipes, and traditions from refugee communities who have made this city their home. It’s more than just a cookbook — it’s a celebration of culture, unity, and hope. With Refugee Week upon us, there’s no better time to grab your copy and show your support. Every book you buy directly helps empower refugees in Hong Kong, offering them a platform to share their rich cuisines and stories with us all. So drop by ACO Books or Lion Rock Press today and take home a piece of this remarkable collaboration. Support a community, celebrate food, and connect through stories — because when we gather at the table, we find we have more in common than we realize. ❤️🥣 Illustrations: @chanwanvincyart #tableoftwocities #refugeeweekhk #refugeeswelcome #refugeestories #grassrootsfuture

Between the Pages is a special evening of storytelling, poetry, and community, celebrating the voices of displaced and migrant writers during Refugee Week. Organised by Grassroots Future, this free event marks the launch of Table of Two Cities, a powerful anthology that captures the lived experiences, resilience, and creativity of Hong Kong’s refugee and asylum-seeking communities. Join us for talks from contributors to the book, poetry readings from local poets from the refugee community to witness personal stories that transcend borders. Whether you're a poetry lover, advocate, or curious newcomer, this is a chance to connect through words and shared humanity. Copies of Table of Two Cities will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of ACO Bookstore. Light refreshments will be provided. Come and turn the page with us — every story matters. Free entry but RSVP required (link in bio) Thanks to Venue Sponsor ACO! Date: 19 June 2025, 7-9pm Location: ACO Books, 14/F, Foo tak building, 365-367 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai RSVP: https://shorturl.at/cYXTG #refugeeweek #refugeeweek2025 #poetryreading #tableoftwocities #refugeeweekhk #refugeengo #booklaunch

Recap ✨️ some photos from the last two weeks of our three events launching the @tableoftwocities publication! We are delighted to have had the opportunity to share it with you. Firstly our thanks to @thehivehongkong Poho for hosting us in their beautiful space in Sai Ying Pun - we heard from two of the refugee contributors on a panel and had a food sharing of dishes from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Togo. Thanks to @carla_acepcion and Thaddeus for all their help putting this first big launch for us together, we could not have done it without you. Thanks to Zamira Monteiro of Amplify Consulting for moderating our panel! We held a pre-launch on 21 November with @coloursofhumanity in collaboration with Eunice of @currentplans as well and attendees got a glimpse of what went inside the book, asking questions in a fireside chat. One community chef prepared a celebratory tumpeng. Lastly, we wrapped up our second main event today at @hkbaptistu @tiis_hkbu - our thanks and gratitude to @marija_todorova_ for helping us to engage her translation students who greatly assisted the Chinese language content of the book to be of a high standard. We had two panels, one on mindful storytelling moderated by Dr Chitat Chan and panelists included @anjkel (Recipe Testing Lead, Design) and @wendykwanwy . The second panel featured the five students who interned with our organisation and was moderated by Dr Marija Todorova, focusing on impactful translation. We then had a tasty Egyptian lunch prepared by a chef from the refugee community. Books are still available on Stripe or via Amazon (for international orders / those preferring direct delivery): 1️⃣ Stripe - https://shorturl.at/SPz0U 2️⃣ Amazon - https://shorturl.at/3Bhe2 #grassrootsfuture #withrefugees #tableoftwocities #refugeengo storytelling #refugeeshk

November is a few days away, and we're delighted to announce not one but two launch events for our publication, 'Table of Two Cities: Untold Stories of Refugees in Hong Kong'! Registration for our events is required: https://linktr.ee/Grassroots_Future If you have pre-ordered already, you can pick up your copy at one of these events. Otherwise, you can buy your copy on the day. Our first event (23 November) is hosted by The Hive Poho and will be our official first launch event with a panel featuring interviewees who contributed their heartfelt stories to the book, a spice bottling experience to bring the flavours of these stories to life and small bites to enjoy. Our second event (30 November) hosted by Hong Kong Baptist University will feature discussions from those involved in producing the book - editing, recipe testing and translation - followed by a light lunch by a chef from the community. We are grateful to the Dr Martens Foundation for their support of this project. #grassrootsfuture #welcomerefugees #withrefugees #tableoftwocities

We have two upcoming events to launch our publication, @tableoftwocities 'Table of Two Cities: Untold Stories of Refugees in Hong Kong' in November! Stay tuned 😉 To kick off, we will have a panel of interviewees from the book to give a sharing about the project, the opportunity to bottle your own spices to take home. We are grateful for @thehivehongkong The Hive Poho for sponsoring the venue for this event. Light bites will be served. The second event will be a fireside chat with those involved in the book, covering mindful storytelling and impactful translation - both of which were required in the production of this book. A light lunch and a sharing from a chef will be included as well. If you've preordered your book, you can pick up your copy at the event. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, you can still do so, please follow the QR code in this poster or via our link in bio. We're so excited to see you there! We are grateful for the support of Dr Martens Foundation for their sponsorship of the book and launch events. #grassrootsfuture #welcomerefugees #withrefugees #tableoftwocities #booklaunch

(EN below) Single copy: /fZebLT5T94NG27meVq Bundle of 3: /5kAaHPepF0xq9zOfZr 「倆城共宴」是個始於2016年末的民間項目，此項目旨在呈現居於香港的難民的故事。 此項目的啓發理念源於為了反駁仇外媒體對難民和尋求庇護者群體的負面敘述，例如，給他們塑造一個負面形象，或以憐憫的說辭引起短暫的注意，但卻無更深遠的影響。 這些美餚適合於任何場合：從慶典到療癒美食到日常 餐。不論是各式各樣 的烹飪技巧、五花八門的香料和地域界限，最終，所有這些美食都能喚起每位廚師 快樂的回憶。這些美食同時也 是他們感到最能代表他們的。 每本書的收益將用於支持書中受訪者和與我們的難民合作組織。 提前訂購一份副本，以便從我們的辦公室 (Dream Impact) 或在即將舉行的發布會上領取，無需額外付費。 可根據要求提供本地運費。 Table of Two Cities is a grassroots project that started in late 2016 to hold space for refugee stories in Hong Kong. It started as an idea to counter xenophobic media narratives around the refugee and asylum seeker community, which characterised them negatively or used pitying narratives to momentarily raise awareness and nothing more. These are dishes for all occasions: from celebrations to comfort food to everyday meals. The common thread across the wide array of cooking techniques, spices, and geographies is, ultimately, that these dishes evoke happy memories for each cook. These are dishes they feel best represent themselves. Proceeds from each copy of the book will be used to support those interviewed in the book and the refugee organisations, which are our community partners. Order a copy in advance to pick up from our office (Dream Impact) or at an upcoming launch event for no additional charge. Local shipping rate available on request. #grassrootsfuture #withrefugees #welcomerefugees #hkngo

We’re delighted to share that our book length and bilingual publication, ‘Table of Two Cities: Untold Stories of Refugees in Hong Kong’ (倆城共宴: 香港難民的秘聞), is launching very soon. Stay tuned for our upcoming event announcements 🌟 Our gratitude to Dr. Martens Foundation and Trivial Disaster Publishing for making this milestone possible for us. Our thanks and gratitude to Refugee Union (a long-time partner) @refugeeunion for their trust and involvement in the project since 2016. And of course, thank you to all volunteers who made the publication possible, through writing, translation, recipe testing, photography and illustration. Illustrations: Vincy Chan #grassrootsfuture #tableoftwocities #withrefugees #refugeengo #refugeeswelcome #refugeestories #rightofasylum #asylumseekerswelcome #hkngo

Last Friday, we held a design thinking workshop at @dreamimpacthk under the instruction of Anjali Kelkar of Studio for Design Research. The purpose of this exercise was to engage cooks from the refugee and asylum seeker community affiliated with our organisation to consider creative ways to repackage foods from their respective countries of origin into small bites and canapés. We had 5 countries from Africa and Asia represented. Many different potential fusion dishes were presented - some of which will appear on the menu of our upcoming Grassroots Future anniversary on 14 September. Tickets on sale now: https://lnkd.in/gz_jcGTN Thank you to Anjali for a fantastic session and our gratitude to @drmartensofficial Foundation for their sponsorship. #designthinking #grassrootsfuture #servicedesign #designresearch #refugees #asylumseekers

June 20 is World Refugee Day! We hope you are engaging with our @refugeeweekhk events with different NGO partners, to provide visibility and agency to the local refugee and asylum seeker community. Here are 3 simple actions you can take today to support refugees locally: 1️⃣ Register for @refugeeweekhk events! Check out the page to see what's on. 2️⃣ Donate to support Grassroots Future's work. Our charity builds capacity with refugee-led organisations through wellbeing, education and community outreach programs. We are currently working on our annual fundraiser to support refugee children with their textbook expenses. Donate here: https://give.asia/charity/grassroots-future 3️⃣ Book a CSR experience or workshop with our organisation ❤️ we offer experiential workshops with craft and food, as well as food based experiences as a vessel to share refugee stories. A great way to engage with the issue while also having fun. #RefugeeWeek #worldrefugeeday #grassrootsfuture #refugeeweekhk cover image by @bradley_aaron_portraits

Our organisation has been running events around food for several years, initially under @tableoftwocities - the project that launched our charity. We run meaningful experiences and interactions with refugees and asylum seekers and the wider community over food. If you would like to support our organisation, please consider contacting us to run a food experience for your group. Grassroots Future is a charitable institution under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance with No. 91/17131 #grassrootsfuture #refugeengo #withrefugees #refugeecharity

Thanks to @mill6chat for having us last Friday to collaborate on an event to commemorate their current exhibition with @jakkai - we provided Indonesian specialties as well as dishes broadly eaten in SE Asia, such as kue lapis (or khanom chan ขนมชั้น) and acar (or achat อาจาด). #grassrootsfuture #tableoftwocities #foodsweetfood #hkngo #refugeengo #hkcharity #refugeeswelcome #withrefugees

Thanks to @talk2mayerbrown for having us at their event yesterday. We served flexitarian Afro-Asian canapés and made crochet items for the firm's pro bono lawyers using sustainable yarn. All items made by the local refugee and asylum seeker community. We're looking forward to holding more events in 2024. If you'd like us to provide a food experience, a workshop or more please contact us at [email protected] #grassrootsfuture #withrefugees #welcomerefugees #refugeengo #refugeecharity #refugeeswelcome #foodsweetfood