EP28 | Phoebe Lao | Football, Food and Fusion| Local Heroes Podcast

Phoebe Lao’s journey takes some beating. Born and raised in Los Angeles to Chinese immigrant parents, she grew up surrounded by bold flavours and deep-rooted food traditions. Her dad brought the fire of Indo-Chinese fusion, while her mum kept Southern China’s rice-based comfort food at the heart of every meal.

Before food became her calling, Phoebe worked as a produce trader in Canada and was chasing a dream of becoming a footballer. That football journey brought her to the UK, right as lockdown hit. With football on pause and life at a standstill, she turned to what she knew: food. Batch cooking chicken noodle soup for friends and flatmates sparked something bigger. That spark became Craving Asian, a Newcastle based street food venture blending heritage, hustle, and a whole lot of flavour. And yes, we get into that iconic MISO COOKIE!

Plus, in true Local Heroes fashion, Chris goes off on another nostalgic rant, this time about his old PE teacher, Mr. Williams, aka ‘Whiplash’.

Consider it gym trauma meets gratitude.

⚽ From goalkeeping to gastronomy

🍜 From lockdown soup to street food innovator

🍪 From miso cookie to cult favourite

📣 From PE nightmares to podcast gold

This is the Local Heroes Podcast.