MAKfam to Host Lunar New Year Dinner Fundraiser That Raises Awareness about Denver’s Forgotten Chinatown
Photo courtesy of Lucy Beaugard
Reservations open on Jan. 20 at 11 a.m. for the special Feb. 6 Lunar New Year Dinner that supports Colorado Asian Pacific United
DENVER (January 16, 2025)—MAKfam proudly announces Reclaiming Denver’s Chinatown, a special Lunar New Year fundraiser dinner on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 5 to 10 p.m. that will support Colorado Asian Pacific United (CAPU), an organization that strives to unearth and elevate little known Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander narratives in Colorado. 30% of proceeds from the dinner will go towards CAPU’s mission of celebrating and preserving AANHPI cultures and histories. Reservations open online on Monday, Jan. 20 at 11 a.m.
“2025 represents the year of the snake, a period of transformation, introspection, and growth,” says MAKfam Co-Owner Doris Yuen. “For us, CAPU represents these themes and we couldn’t be more proud of the organization’s tremendous work highlighting our city’s forgotten Chinatown and untold stories—and preserving this important part of Colorado history.”
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Denver’s lower downtown area was home to the largest Chinese enclave in the Rocky Mountains where nearly 1,000 residents populated a once thriving Chinatown that spanned from 15th to 17th on Wazee St. Numerous incidents, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, xenophobia, and a bar fight in which a white mob targeted Chinese residents and businesses that became Denver’s first recorded race riot and also resulted in the death of a Chinese man named Look Young, drove many of the original settlers out. Today, little evidence remains about Denver’s Chinatown besides a now-removed plaque that mischaracterized the 1880 riot as a “Chinese riot,” rather than an anti-Chinese riot.
CAPU worked to get the racist plaque taken down and in the area installed two murals and three historical markers to honor the history of Denver’s forgotten Chinatown. The organization also worked with the Denver Office of Storytelling on “Reclaiming Denver’s Chinatown,” a 50-minute documentary that premiered at the Denver Film Festival in 2022 and includes interviews with Denver’s Chinatown descendants as well as historians and experts about the overlooked history.
The Lunar New Year collaboration dinner with CAPU will feature a special Lunar New Year menu that’s available for counter service on the evening of Feb. 6 only. The specialty menu will include a mix of Chinese American as well as tradition-inspired Cantonese fare, an homage to MAKfam’s third culture experience. The cocktail program will highlight Baijiu, a Chinese grain spirit that dates back to the Ming Dynasty.
“We are excited that MAKfam is featuring the rich history of Denver's Chinatown through their culinary lens,” says CAPU Executive Director Joie Ha. “Food is a form of cultural preservation, and we hope the flavors they share will give participants a taste of what Denver's historic Chinatown was like.”
Reservations for the Feb. 6 CAPU fundraiser dinner at MAKfam will go live on Jan. 20 at 11 a.m. No walk-ins available on Feb. 6.
To learn more about Denver’s Chinatown, visit the Where is Denver’s Chinatown? Stories Remembered, Reclaimed, Reimagined exhibit at History Colorado that runs now through August 9, 2025.
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About MAKfam
MAKfam represents the essence of America’s new Asian culinary movement by reimagining tradition-inspired Chinese and Cantonese recipes through a modern perspective. Husband and wife team, Chef Kenneth Wan (2024 James Beard Emerging Chef Semifinalist) and Doris Yuen, first got their start through a series of street market-style pop-ups in Jersey City, NJ, and Queens, NYC before opening in Denver’s Avanti Food and Beverage in 2019 as Meta Asian Kitchen. Now MAKfam, which received a Bib Gourmand designation from MICHELIN Guide in 2024, aims to redefine the limitations of Asian fare with contemporary dishes like their málà mozzarella sticks and Spicy garlic butter rice cakes, while also paying homage to their traditional roots with classics like chicken congee, wonton soups, and beef stir-fry noodles with their brick and mortar under the rebranded MAKfam moniker in Denver’s vibrant Baker neighborhood. Visit their website at www.makfam.co and on Instagram at @makfamdenver.
About Colorado Asian Pacific United
CAPU works to unearth, celebrate, and memorialize local Asian American Pacific Islander histories, creating a platform for education, celebration, and collaboration. Our work includes multi-modal ways of remembering and story sharing including: exhibitions, oral histories, art, place-making, documentaries, and more. In the future, CAPU hopes to start the first AANHPI culture & history museum in the Rocky Mountain Region, and reactivate the alleyway that used to be Denver’s Chinatown. For more information about CAPU, visit ColoradoAsianPacificUnited.org.