Roundtable Series — Food, Community & Connection.
PAGU is launching Roundtable — a series of gatherings rooted in food, community, and connection; bringing together chefs, organizers, and neighbors for dynamic discussion of actionable sustainability.
Just in time for Earth Day, please join us for a delicious journey into the deep featuring seafood that makes our coastal ecosystem and working waterfronts thrive.
Five chefs will bring their creativity to kelp, farmed shellfish, green crabs, and lesser-known fish from our local waters.
David Vargas is a three time James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northeast semi-finalist and New Hampshire Lodging & Restaurant Association “Chef of the Year, 2022”. David is proud to share his Mexican heritage by featuring beautiful, local, seasonal products on every plate at his restaurants Vida Cantina in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Ore Nell’s Barbecue in Kittery, Maine.
Jordan Rubin is the chef/owner of Mr. Tuna, co-owner of Crispy Gai and Bar Futo, which are located in Portland, Maine. He is best known for his creative take on sushi hand rolls using traditional techniques and unexpected flavors, with a large focus on local, sustainable seafood. Jordan has received national recognition from Bon Appetit, Bloomberg, and Thrillist.
Christine Lau’s resume spans the nation and includes One Market in San Francisco, Alto, Centovini and Bar Chuko Izakaya in New York City. In August 2020, just a few months into the pandemic, Christine opened Kimika - her take on Itameshi. Kimika was named a semifinalist for the 2022 James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant award. Many of her dishes have been featured in the NY Times, Eater NY, Food & Wine Magazine, and more. Currently, Christine is consulting on various projects around the globe and can also be found popping up in cities across America on her quest to connect cultures through food.
Kenshi Imura is the chef/owner of his family’s restaurant Cafe Sushi, which has been a Cambridge, MA stalwart for over three decades. After graduating from college with a B.S. in chemistry, Kenshi started learning sushi at the family business and has continued his learning for over twenty years. He and his brother transformed their family business from a small sushi bar into a James Beard nominated Boston staple, while maintaining its reputation as a local, neighborhood gem. Since Covid-19, Cafe Sushi has evolved to include a shoten, a retail shop next door celebrating Japanese ingredients and artisanal makers of specialty soy sauces, sakes, teas and more.
Tracy Chang is the chef/owner of PAGU, a Spanish Japanese tapas restaurant in Cambridge, MA. She is the co-founder of Off Their Plate and Project Restore Us, two mutual aid initiatives she launched at PAGU during covid to empower restaurants and essential workers to make meals for frontline healthcare workers and then pivoting to provide meals and culturally appropriate groceries for essential worker families. These volunteer-led, grassroots initiatives combined have in two years raised over $12M in funding in 11 cities nationwide, and provided more than one million hot meals, and 10,000 lbs of groceries to food-insecure families.
Chang is a 2020 James Beard Foundation Best Chef northeast semi-finalist and PAGU is a 2023 Outstanding Restaurant semi-finalist.
Five Chefs.
Five Courses.
Lots of Big Ideas.
All seafood for the event will be provided by Wulf's Fish. Kelp provided by our friends at Atlantic Sea Farms.