New executive chef at Shadyside's Soba "obsessed with Jiro ramen right now".

Pittsburgh Magazine takes a quick look at Lily Tran, the new executive chef at Soba. Tran, 30, says she will bring some changes to the menu.

Don’t expect by-the-books throwback cuisine at Soba, though. Tran says she’s interested in blending her heritage with contemporary foodways. Hawker markets, street food, robata grills are all on her mind, as is big Burrito’s deep relationship with area farms such as One Woman Farm and Who Cooks For You? Farm.

Tran says she’s still working on how she plans on changing the Soba menu, but did offer a clue as to what she’s thinking: “I’m obsessed with Jiro ramen right now. I want something towering with really rich broth and slurpy noodles and cabbage, with bean sprouts piled high,” she says.

Ramen Tokyo has a write-up on Ramen Jiro; an excerpt:

Ramen Jiro is certainly not for those who are health conscious, and those of weaker constitutions can feel a bit queasy after eating there for the first time, especially if they force themselves to finish the whole bowl. The general recommendation that I have heard from Ramen Jiro customers is that on the day you go to Ramen Jiro, you should eat a pear ("nashi" or 梨 in Japanese) for breakfast or lunch that day, and nothing else.

2016 movie The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) continues at AMC Loews Waterfront through February 17.

The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精), a 2016 release from Hong Kong will continue to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront through, at least, February 17.

"Zhang Ailing and Eileen Chang: Towards a Biography in Two Parts" at Pitt, February 12.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will host Chatham University's Karen S. Kingsbury and her colloquium "Zhang Ailing and Eileen Chang: Towards a Biography in Two Parts" on February 12.

1937 Chinese opera film Murder in the Oratory (斬經堂) at The Warhol from February 13.

To coincide with the exhibition Michael Chow aka Zhou Yinghua: Voice for My Father by the eponymous artist, The Andy Warhol Museum will show the 1937 Chinese film Murder in the Oratory (斬經堂) starring Chow's father, daily from February 13. From the museum's website:

Featuring Zhou Xinfang, Michael Chow's father, the film depicts a dramatic tale of deceit, murder, and family quarrels. Fei Mu merges the operatic and the filmic, crossing the stylized flair and song of Beijing opera with expressive camera angles.

The movie will play each day at 2:00 pm through May 8. The Warhol is located at 117 Sandusky St. on the Northside (map). It's open every day but Monday, and adult admission is $20.

BusinessWorld profiles Japanese chef, inventor, former Pittsburgher Machiko Chiba.

The Philippines' BusinessWorld has a profile on Japanese chef and inventor Machiko Chiba, who recently demonstrated her Cook-Zen microwavable cooking pot in Quezon City. Chiba lived in Pittsburgh in the late 1980s where she "discovered microwave cooking", according to her daughter.

"Pittsburgh Series" in Women's Joongang magazine.

The February issue of 여성中央 (Women's Joongang) has a brief profile on designer Ha Ji-hoon and his "Pittsburgh series" of chairs, as part of a profile on Korean designers who have made an impression overseas. The "피츠버그 시리즈" of furniture was designed for consultants Arumjigi and the Korean Heritage Classroom, which opened in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning on November 15, 2015. More photos of the chairs, and the teacher's desk to accompany them, are available at Ha's official site.

"The Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare February 6 to 23, 2016 to be 'LUNAR NEW YEAR' in the City of Pittsburgh".

Honoring Chinese Americans @CityPGH @TheNextPGH @billpeduto @CoreyOConnorPGH @WelcomingPGH pic.twitter.com/SCpxsH9olU

— Pittsburgh I&P (@PghIP) February 2, 2016

On February 2, Pittsburgh City Council issued a proclamation in honor of those who have organized the Lunar New Year Celebration in Pittsburgh, which will run from February 6 through 23 in Squirrel Hill.

2016 Hong Kong movies The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) and From Vegas to Macau 3 (賭城風雲III) in Pittsburgh from February 5.

Two new releases from Hong Kong will show at the AMC Loews Waterfront from Friday, February 5: The Monkey King 2 (西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) and From Vegas to Macau 3 (賭城風雲III).

2015's Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウ トライブ トゥー) at Row House Cinema in March.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville announced 2015's Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウ トライブ トゥー) as the fourth film in its Japanese film series this spring. An A.V. Club review of the "demented rap musical" offers a final take:

With its over-the-top violence, cast of bizarre bit characters (a beat-boxing henchwoman, a DJ granny, etc.), and a compulsion to interject phallic imagery that borders on coprographia, Tokyo Tribe throws so much at the viewer that it’s easy to get swept up in its deranged energy and overlook the fact that the movie doesn’t have a flicker of a brain cell, being not much more than a celebration of aggressive stupidity. Sometimes, that’s fine.

The other three films to play from March 18 to March 24 are: 1949's Late Spring (晩春), the 1991 Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ), and the 1985 Kurosawa film Ran (乱). Details will follow on the theater's official site.

Artist Talk: Michael Chow at Pitt, February 9.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of History of Art and Architecture will host restauranteur and artist Michael Chow on February 9, ahead of his exhibition Michael Chow aka Zhou Yinghua: Voice for My Father that opens at The Andy Warhol Museum on February 13.

Michael Chow joins Associate Curator of Art Jessica Beck in a discussion about his career as a painter, which first began in the early 1960s. After a 50 year sabbatical, Chow returned to painting and produced a new body of work, which will be on view for the first time in the U.S. at The Warhol. As a successful entrepreneur, Chow made a name for himself and surrounded himself with artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean Michael Basquiat, and Julian Schnabel. Chow also discusses a subtext of the exhibition, the influence and legendary career of his father Zhou Xinfang, a grandmaster of the Beijing Opera.

The talk is free and open to the public and starts at 5:00 pm, following a reception, in the Frick Fine Arts Building (map).