Zoey Xinyi Gong is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) chef, food therapist, registered dietitian, author, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York and Shanghai, China. Co-founder of the studio and event space The Red Pavilion in Bushwick, NY, she has hosted hundreds of pop-up dinners, workshops, and events featuring TCM food therapy. Zoey’s newest project, The Five Elements Cookbook, was released in February 2023 by Harper Collins. @zoeyxinyigong

Dages: It’s really exciting to see all the things you’re doing and the syncretic way that you’re integrating so many different types of thinking and expression. How did you end up bringing together things that in the past might have been seen as disparate, like a nightclub and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?

Zoey: I feel really lucky that all these things came together for me. I started down this path because I was sick and I was looking for cures. Through that process, I decided to study food and nutrition at NYU but, at that time, it was strictly Western nutrition, very clinical. I studied a combination of nutrition and public health, discussing food policy, food justice, and agriculture, which added another perspective. And I learned a ton, but I also knew there was something missing. The women’s health side especially left me with a lot of unanswered questions. On the side, I was doing a lot of culinary work. My family is big on food so I grew up loving food and being in the kitchen.