Daily Inspiration: Meet Janine YC Lai

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janine YC Lai.

Hi Janine, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers. 
Things started in a bleak place when I took on an unintended extended sabbatical for 3 years in Taiwan at the end of 2019. what was originally supposed to be a 7-months r&d trip that turned into full-time caretaking for my dad’s surprise cancers. In the off-moments of those darker times, I craved food and flavors from childhood that I could hardly find any longer, thus began a stint of searching and eventually finding all the things that felt most home to my tastebuds, in food form snack form as well as home goods form, and began a small curation of a shop that sold only those, which in Taiwan there’s an endearing term for – 古早味 guzaowei – flavors of a bygone era, is what I’ve translated it to. 

As the cancers passed (there were three) and I re-acclimate to New York again after being away for almost 3 years, I slowly began asserting what this guzaowei is to the New York market, first through Chinatown night markets I’d take part in, the wildest accolade in the first year was a shared storefront for lunar new year in 2023, things sold out quickly with lines out the door I quickly realized how this is sorely missed, even in such a metropolitan city as New York. A proper definitive assertion of what Taiwanese flavors are did not truly exist, and that led to the desire to cook what I know so well of since most of my childhood was spent in one of the oldest Taiwanese pork chop restaurants in Taipei, 東一排骨 DongYi PaiGu, where my maternal grandmother developed recipes older than me, and passed them through my mom, and inescapably, down to me, I am decidedly blessed to be endowed with the unique ability of discerning what accurately tastes “Taiwanese,” and therefore the ability to replicate it for the New York public now. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It could be described as the road not traveled, and for a good reason, but when reached the intended people, these seemingly strange endeavors feel all the more rewarding. 

Many moments of self-doubt, of whether this is as valuable as I feel it is, entered at their whims. There were so many times when imposter syndrome would knock the wind out of me. Because I am, at best, “self-taught,” it can sometimes feel like how dare I give myself the authority to believe I can share what it is I feel invaluable to share with the world. And that is to assert Taiwanese food as its own cuisine, definitely allow it to be experienced so more curiosity, more understanding of the culture and why it IS its own identity and country. 

But because it IS bigger than me, and I know the superpower that is my sense of smell serves me in this extreme way, I can always return to a sense of calm and purposefulness and continue forth. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Since the start of this journey, I’ve been slowly moving into recreating authentic guzaowei Taiwanese food, using distinctly Taiwanese and Taiwan-sourced ingredients wherever possible, alongside having an online provision and home goods concept shop that’s centered around the flavors of a bygone era of Taiwan. Outside of this, I’ve also taken up other endeavors that further assert a slice of Taiwanese identity, such as curating an art show of 8 Taiwanese/Taiwanese American artists in a New York gallery and cooking generational Taiwanese dishes at the behemoth art hub Pioneer Works in New York, for their eminent Science Talk event, Climate Futurism, as well as other happenings. 

The journey is still journeying, so who knows what I’ll truly be known for down the line but for now, my hope is that I am known for fiercely representing Taiwan to the best of my abilities and knowledge and continue to do so by any aligned means necessary, to amplify Taiwan, as a nation of its own. 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
Learning about my human design and getting to know my inner child shadows and wounds has been a big part of overcoming my doubts about who I can be in this lifetime. A few influential podcasts and channels I love information from to sit in are Erah Society, Human Design with Jenna Zoe, Expanded/To Be Magnetic, each of them expanded a different side of me that has helped me get to the most innately original version of myself, to see my conditionings and overcome them. 

Contact Info:

• Website: gamadiamgoods.square.site
• Instagram: instagram.com/ga.ma.diam_goods
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gamadiamgoods

Image Credits
Way Wang
Alice Yutong Hua
Janine YC Lai