Brooklyn Bugs

The Annual Meeting and Dinner is one of my favorite moments of the year.

Where else do you find yourself in a room with people who’ve mapped the arctic, orbited earth, descended to the ocean floor, and uncovered lost cities — all before dinner? They’re called the most interesting people in the world, and honestly, that’s not hyperbole.

But what draws me most isn’t the résumés. It’s the shared conviction that exploration should leave the world better than we found it — for humanity, for the planet, for those who come after us.

They say the company you keep is a measure of your character. If that’s true, then being in my third year as a member of this remarkable institution is one of the quieter honors of my life. These colleagues — many of whom have become genuinely dear friends — have pushed me to grow into the chef, explorer, and Edible Insect Ambassador that I’m still becoming.

There are so many incredible people from the week not pictured or tagged here — platform limitations, not lack of appreciation 🦋🦋

It’s time we finally step into 2026, and share more videos and reels about our work around edible insects! Drop an emoji in the comments to support this upcoming move for us—launching this month!

April Fools.

Thank you for eight incredible years—and many more to come! We have never believed in what we are doing now more than ever, and have a lot of assertive goals that we will be launching this month. Stay tuned!

We love you, xox Joseph

*Update* April Fools!

After eight years of bugs, scrutiny, criticism, sacrifices, and soul-searching — I’m done.

I’m going vegan. Brooklyn Bugs is evolving (Brooklyn Bites?), and I’ll be continuing my advocacy around global food systems and sustainability as a vegan chef.

Thank you for everything, more soon 🌱

I needed a fresh start to this year to reimagine the limitless possibilities of being an Edible Insect Ambassador with newfound purpose, vision, and a light-footed, creative whimsy, all while driven by great conviction. These ingredients have led to an assertive set of goals that will begin seeing the light of day next month!

I’ve also been eating at home more than ever, and have been trying to add some form of edible insects into every meal I prepare. You may wonder how this is even possible, and it’s all part of what we’ll begin sharing with you soon.
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After living in Valencia, Spain for one year, I have a very special fondness to Spanish Tortillas, and every bite of this dish made me feel nostalgic. The superworms have an interesting cheesy flavor to them, and worked really well in this dish, and the cricket powder is virtually ubiquitous in all my cooking.

The superworms are available at , and the crickets are available at both for 15% off using our discount code BBUGS at checkout.

This was so good that I was tempted to keep it a secret for the briefest slice of time, but then thought—what good is anything if we just keep it to ourselves? Isn’t everything better enjoyed and appreciated when shared with others? With that in mind, we are thrilled to be deep in production for a video series that will share our joy of eating insects, and answer all the interesting questions we’ve ever encountered regarding them!

If you have a question about edible insects, feel free to comment below, and we’ll make sure to answer all your pertinent questions when our video series debuts next month.
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Delighted to further develop our cricket chili crisp, and love adding it to virtually all of my foods as it quickly becomes one of my favorite condiments. And yes, we’ll share the recipe for how to make it in an upcoming video!

What a great joy to share these beautiful pics from our, “Spring Metamorphosis: A Thirteen Course Tasting,” at last week. We haven’t hosted a ticketed event without working in tandem with a university or museum in quite some time, so we weren’t sure of what to expect. We were so grateful to pack the space with so many friends and ento-enthusiasts, and make some new friends along the way.

Big thanks to our ever supportive sponsors - , - for providing all the ento-products (besides the cicadas which we foraged). All their delectables are available for a 15% discount with the code BBUGS at checkout.

A really big special thanks to for taking these photos. If you are unfamiliar with his brilliant work, he is a disruptive environmental artist who creates large-scale installations at global gatherings (Art Basel, COP, World Economic Forum), transforming discarded materials into potent symbols of change. I’ve been a huge fan of his work for years, and it was an honor to have him document our event.

We look forward to hosting more events - please do consider contacting us if you are interested in collaborating with us in the future.

I love demonstrating every day ways we can easily incorporate edible insects into our diet. I have a variety of salt seasonings that incorporate cricket powder for an added nuance to my dishes. Any salad dressing that I’ve made for myself over the past eight years has incorporated cricket powder or black ants. I love knowing that I can responsibly and deliciously add protein to my meals that’ll keep me from getting hungry shortly after I finish eating and have found that edible insects really works for me.

Listen, I know it’s boring to read text, and as we scroll through our various social media platforms, reading long texts isn’t what most people want to do…so, we’re finally preparing to share a lot of our content in video form! Standby, as we will be launching our video programming very soon!

I can’t wait to share this cricket kimchi (귀뚜라미 김치) with everyone at our Spring Metamorphosis dinner on Thursday. This literally took years of study and practice, a lifetime of consuming kimchi, and innovation to recreate flavor profiles of the most iconic Korean dish utilizing insects instead of seafood or shellfish.

We only have two tickets remaining if you are interested in joining us on Thursday (3/19). If you are facing financially difficulty but really want to come, please DM me to discuss a barter or to receive a discount. Ticket link here - www.luma.com/odnygy8p

Special thanks to our dear sponsors: Thailand Unique, 3 Cricketeers. All their products are available with a 15% discount using our special code BBUGS at checkout.

Want to guess which container is my personal stash, the event stash, and my daily stash?

Happy to present the menu for our upcoming Spring Metamorphosis dinner next week! We can’t wait to share the ento-cuisine we love to eat with all our guests. Special thanks to our sponsors Thailand Unique and 3 Cricketeers.

Get your tickets here - www.luma.com/odnygy8p

The price of scallions was hovering consistently at $3 at all my local groceries - including the Asian groceries that have regularly sold two bunches for $.99 - so I stopped buying them for the first time in my life. When the price dropped to $2 a bunch, I acquiesced and finally bought a bunch.

To celebrate this reacquired mother aromatic, I decided not to use it mundanely as a garnish, but char it and enjoy the whole scallion—bulb, roots, and all—in this delicious cream of cricket asparagus and potato soup.

Crickets and cricket powder are available at 3 Cricketeers for a 15% discount with our special code BBUGS.