Eddie Huang is a man who wears many Kangol hats. When the chef/TV personality isn't running his celebrated East Village restaurant Baohaus or eating fritas with Bangbus stars for his Vice series Huang's World, he's chilling in Jamaica simply living the life you probably wish you were.
Oh yeah. He also recently took on the role of producer and turned his debut autobiography, Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir, into an ABC sitcom, reopening much-needed discussions about race on television. Which begs the question: what have you done this past year?
But don’t get it twisted: just because Huang hit the big leagues doesn’t mean he left his jokes behind. Best believe we fell victim to the prankster during our recent photo shoot at OC Ace Hotel where Huang convinced an OC manager to let him, well, be the store manager. Amidst manning the phones, Huang straight up catfished another associate via Gchat ("Eddie Huang arrived to set with herpes on his face,” read one Gchat from Huang. “The shits are BIG; dude went Hollywood!”). We took the bait.
Huang’s excellent sense of humor doesn’t check-in at Ace and stay there. We caught up with Huang to talk shoe game, working hard, and the accomplished task of doing laundry this week.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: You're involved with so many different projects—whether it's running your own restaurant, hosting your show, or producing a series. How do you manage to balance it all?
EDDIE HUANG: I think it's important to do the work when you're inspired to do it. I'm pretty good about telling my editor or producer if my heart isn't in it at the moment and we need to move dates. If I want to cook, it's the same thing: I just cancel everything and work on food. It's also really important that I have people around me that know I'm a psycho and trust me to come back with the record.
What sets each role that you have apart? Is hosting a show the same sort of stress as running a restaurant?
Hmm… my stress has all kind of just morphed into a singular fucking albatross so I can't really parse it. I run into a lot of the same shit, but it's cool. The first few years, I was on some “Woe is me, life is hard” shit, but now I just own it. Nothing in life is easy; it's supposed to be hard and the only reward for good work is more work so you either want it or you don't.
You've been pretty outspoken when it comes to your own critiques of your show Fresh Off the Boat. How did you find the strength to go against the grain and speak out?
Man, I have trouble not saying shit so it was never the strength to say it, it was the strength to say it in a measured and reasonable way that was actually true to how I felt. I have a tendency to be emotional or absolutist and I really try to hedge against it, center myself, and be surgical with my responses these days. I look back at things I've written at times and it's cool to see the energy I had three years ago or the belief in the things I said, but I'm a different person.
I look back on Fresh Off the Boat now and I'm glad I wrote it years ago because it was real to me then. It captures that energy someone has that has been silenced and rejected for so long. That book has the ILL chip on its shoulder and it's written in that context, but being
Oh yeah. He also recently took on the role of producer and turned his debut autobiography, Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir, into an ABC sitcom, reopening much-needed discussions about race on television. Which begs the question: what have you done this past year?
But don’t get it twisted: just because Huang hit the big leagues doesn’t mean he left his jokes behind. Best believe we fell victim to the prankster during our recent photo shoot at OC Ace Hotel where Huang convinced an OC manager to let him, well, be the store manager. Amidst manning the phones, Huang straight up catfished another associate via Gchat ("Eddie Huang arrived to set with herpes on his face,” read one Gchat from Huang. “The shits are BIG; dude went Hollywood!”). We took the bait.
Huang’s excellent sense of humor doesn’t check-in at Ace and stay there. We caught up with Huang to talk shoe game, working hard, and the accomplished task of doing laundry this week.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: You're involved with so many different projects—whether it's running your own restaurant, hosting your show, or producing a series. How do you manage to balance it all?
EDDIE HUANG: I think it's important to do the work when you're inspired to do it. I'm pretty good about telling my editor or producer if my heart isn't in it at the moment and we need to move dates. If I want to cook, it's the same thing: I just cancel everything and work on food. It's also really important that I have people around me that know I'm a psycho and trust me to come back with the record.
What sets each role that you have apart? Is hosting a show the same sort of stress as running a restaurant?
Hmm… my stress has all kind of just morphed into a singular fucking albatross so I can't really parse it. I run into a lot of the same shit, but it's cool. The first few years, I was on some “Woe is me, life is hard” shit, but now I just own it. Nothing in life is easy; it's supposed to be hard and the only reward for good work is more work so you either want it or you don't.
You've been pretty outspoken when it comes to your own critiques of your show Fresh Off the Boat. How did you find the strength to go against the grain and speak out?
Man, I have trouble not saying shit so it was never the strength to say it, it was the strength to say it in a measured and reasonable way that was actually true to how I felt. I have a tendency to be emotional or absolutist and I really try to hedge against it, center myself, and be surgical with my responses these days. I look back at things I've written at times and it's cool to see the energy I had three years ago or the belief in the things I said, but I'm a different person.
I look back on Fresh Off the Boat now and I'm glad I wrote it years ago because it was real to me then. It captures that energy someone has that has been silenced and rejected for so long. That book has the ILL chip on its shoulder and it's written in that context, but being