At Hoy!, a new casual Filipino joint on the Lower East Side, the choking sign features the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson helping Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) cough up a lumpia, or Filipino egg roll. During this summer’s fated game, the Spurs choked on the lead… and so on the poster, Wemby chokes on something from Hoy!’s menu. Los Angeles-based artist and creative director Kristofferson San Pablo came up with it while himself in New York for the finals, when he was also helping his cousin, owner-chef Cyed Adraincem, bring the longtime idea of Hoy! to life. The two grew up in California’s Inland Empire and talked about opening a restaurant for years. When Cyed finally called with the keys to a corner space in the Lower East Side, Kristofferson took on everything creative, from logos and merch to the hand-painted interior and plans for music. The concept draws on Filipino night markets, with Kristofferson bringing his years in fine art, streetwear, and DJing into the mix. Our conversation follows those connections through the restaurant: how their choking sign doubles as a basketball comic, how their Filipino DJ friends will contribute to a planned mixtape series and live sets at Hoy!, and how their restaurant concept reflects and brings awareness to the Filipino-American cultural identity. We also talk about Kristofferson’s recent first museum exhibition at UC Irvine, his journey with his commercial and fine art practices, and his insistence that his cousin Cyed get in front of the camera, so people can see the Filipino team behind Hoy!’s food.

Hoy!: @hoy.nyc

Kristofferson San Pablo: kristoffersonsanpablo.com

For more information: rheakapur.info and culturalfingerprints.com

Ray Sison was a regular at Maya Congee Cafe in Bed-Stuy for months before its owner, Layla Chen, asked what he did for a living. When she found out he ran Playlist, a design studio, it sparked an organic collaboration: one that actually turned into a full rebrand once Layla decided to open a more grown-up, sit-down second location of the restaurant. Ray brought in his studio partner Yuan Wei, and together the three of them built an identity around something deeply personal to Layla: a 90s calendar print of Shanghainese women playing mahjong that she'd kept since childhood, an image she tied to a specific era of newfound freedom and comfort for women in China. In this episode of the Cultural Fingerprints podcast, we talk about how that calendar print hanging on the walls found new life on Maya's choking sign, how popular folklore about the Lazy Susan’s American origins gave the branding its cross-cultural throughline, and how Ray’s years teaching design shaped his approach to running a studio and mentoring the people in it.

Maya Congee Cafe: mayacongeecafe.com

Playlist Studio: playlist.studio

For more information: rheakapur.info and culturalfingerprints.com

Ask chef Jeff Miller how he knows someone, and the answer is often through Rosella: regulars, others in the restaurant industry, and even his wife, who first walked up to their counter as a guest. Illustrator Peter Arkle is on that list too. Bold yet comforting flavors solidified their friendship during the pandemic, when Jeff would pass bites to Peter from behind a screen at Grape and Grain. After Rosella opened on Avenue A in the East Village, the choking sign was the first thing Jeff asked him to draw. Peter came back with two namesake Rosella parrots in collared shirts, swapping wings for slender arms (with painted nails) to allow for clear visual communication of the steps of the lifesaving maneuver. In this episode of the Cultural Fingerprints podcast, we discuss how drawing may actually be one of the best ways to learn about the world, why Rosella diverged from the fine-dining omakase craze in favor of accessibility, and how eating out around New York City functions as an ongoing cultural and culinary education.

Peter Arkle: peterarkle.com

Rosella: rosellanyc.com

For more information: rheakapur.info and culturalfingerprints.com