Martin Yan has been on TV longer than ESPN or the Food Network. He goes way back.
In 1978, Yan’s first cooking show began a run of a few hundred episodes in Canada, after which he then started on PBS in the Bay Area in 1982. Millions know the phrase, “If Yan can cook, so can you!”
In that original era, Yan Can Cook was the only Chinese cooking show of its kind on Bay Area television. Celebrity chef culture had not yet morphed into tattooed alpha males pounding tequila shots with Sammy Hagar. There were no podcasts, no Instagram business accounts and no affiliated marketing funnels.
Now, with more than 3,500 culinary and travel episodes, plus almost three dozen cookbooks, Yan still commands a worldwide following. He returns to San Jose on Sept. 21 for a spectacular lunchtime fundraiser for the San Jose Public Library Foundation.
Always a supporter of libraries, Yan will present a five-course meal featuring his own award-winning menu, complete with premium reserve wine pairings generously provided by Bouchaine Vineyards. There will also be a live auction as well as a performance by Chinese Lion Dancers. Autographed copies of his newest releases, Best of Yan Can Cook (2023) and My Asian Kitchen (2024), will be available.
A few years ago, the library foundation threw a spectacular 35th anniversary gala, but this year marks the first time a celebrity author event has unfolded to raise money. Foundation CEO Dawn Coppin hopes to make it an annual blowout.
“Far too few people in San Jose know that the public library has a foundation they can donate to,” Coppin said. “So this is both fundraising, and friend-raising, and awareness-raising, together.”
Even as a successful entertainer, Yan is a humble dude. After all these decades, he still just wants to cook and teach people and make viewers happy. Everyone loves him.
Rifling through Yan’s bio and credits from any previous source is a fantastic experience. He studied food science at UC Davis. He taught at the world’s culinary mecca, Johnson & Wales University, where he also received an honorary doctorate along with Julia Child. He won a daytime Emmy Award in 1998. He bagged James Beard Awards for Best TV Food Journalism in 1996 and Best TV Cooking Show in 1994—30 years ago. In 1999, The Colorado Institute of Art likewise conferred upon him an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters.
Yan was doing the culinary travel shtick before most others envisioned the concept. He was decades before his time, connecting disparate cultures and revealing how food brings everyone together.
This is not the first time Yan has rolled into San Jose. Many years back he appeared at the Berryessa Library to a capacity crowd. Earlier this year, he showed up at Cinequest to attend a documentary about Chinese painter Chang Dai-chien. Yan is never far away from San Jose.
Now, due to September being National Library Card Sign-Up Month, the San Jose Public Library is unleashing all sorts of initiatives in addition to Yan’s fundraiser. For example, late fees for overdue books will no longer be charged. Just last week, Krazy George—another Bay Area celebrity even more seasoned than Martin Yan—celebrated the “waving away” of late fees with an appearance in the San Jose City Council Chambers. He led a version of the Wave, the legendary cheer he invented in 1981 at an Oakland A’s playoff game. George also predates ESPN. He’s only a few years older than Yan.
Ultimately, the San Jose Public Library contains much more than most people realize. A search for Martin Yan brings up several books. If you don’t want to buy a 2000-era copy of Chinese Cooking for Dummies, two copies exist at two different branch libraries. Similarly, five copies of Martin Yan’s China from 2008 can be found throughout the library system.
“A lot of people forget that libraries don’t just contain fiction,” Coppin said. “They contain a lot of nonfiction books and a lot of practical, how-to type books. And our cookbook collection is quite large and very well used.”
No one has any excuses. If Yan can get a library card, so can you.
