Bright red cherries, pastel soft-serve swirls and dreamy crayon-colored characters adorn the walls of Midori Matcha in Little Tokyo. It’s as if you’ve wandered into a long-awaited tea party in Wonderland filled with the sweetest delights and the fondest memories. 

The host of your tea party is Kai — or Kayan Tam, a senior majoring in art as well as East Asian languages and cultures — whose signature blend of food illustration and visual storytelling transforms everyday moments into something out of Alice’s rabbit hole.

Originally from Hong Kong, Kai is a 22-year-old artist, model and creative, known by her Instagram handle @nomkakaii. She specializes in drawing food and capturing contemplative experiences through illustrations.

Having lived in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, her art is a diary documenting her travels and encounters with friends, fans, strangers, baristas, cafe owners and fellow wanderers of her favorite cafes across cities.

Kai’s rise as a food illustrator started with a single piece of toast. In October 2022, after being inspired by a Roski professor’s challenge to find something to do every single day, she began drawing toast. 

As a transfer student struggling to belong in a new city that requires a car to survive, she began posting these toast illustrations on her social media. It was meant to be a five-minute ritual, a break, a way to connect with herself. But it didn’t stop there. The daily toast drawings became a streak, a comfort and eventually a community of 300,000 followers on Instagram.

Rui Zhang, a junior majoring in communication as well as East Asian languages and cultures, has been a long-time follower of Kai.

“She’s a food artist, first and foremost. She’s really good at visually conveying the yumminess of the food, whether that’s the texture, the composition or the colors,” Zhang said. “Just looking at her art, you get a really good sense for her own passion for the food.”

As a massive foodie, illustrating food at cafes became Kai’s favorite pastime. She draws her way into communities, leaving behind napkin doodles as thank-yous and little love letters to the places that made her feel less alone. This quickly evolved into collaborations with small businesses from Shibuya to Silver Lake, turning everyday places into magical ones with her illustrated menus, tote bags and zines.

One of those places was Midori Matcha in Little Tokyo. It was there, between sips of matcha and chitchats during her regular visits between classes, that Kai formed a relationship with the owner — who’s also from Hong Kong. She eventually asked if she could hold an exhibition in the cafe. 

“Little Tea Party” is exactly what it sounds like: a celebration of sweets, girlhood and feeling grateful about life. The exhibit features risograph prints, acrylic paintings and original stickers in collaboration with Midori Matcha. 

The exhibit was designed specifically for the physical space, paying close attention to the texture of risograph ink, the symmetry style of each composition and trying to give people a unique reason to visit the space. She also created merchandise for visitors to have something to bring home.

At her opening event, Kai made unique, customized doodles for every guest based on their favorite things. No two were the same. That’s the kind of artist Kai is.

“Human interactions matter so much, especially more so now, because everything’s more digital,” Kai said. “I know [small businesses] don’t have time to put into marketing when their most important priority is to focus on food and what they do best. What I do best is art, so if I can collaborate and give back to them in that way, but also use art in a way of marketing to bring more people from international communities to see these local places.” 

Kai first understood what it meant to belong in a “third space” through growing up in Chinese restaurants while her parents held business meetings over dim sum. She got to know the staff like family, helping out with toothpicks and table setups in exchange for sweet little rewards. That compassion, care and effort of restaurant life grew into a deep appreciation for small, independent food businesses. 

Now, through her art, Kai collaborates with cafes she’s come to know and love across the world, using her skills to encourage these dream-built spaces and the people who keep them alive one plate, one print and one story at a time. 

Elizabeth Yip, one of Kai’s long-time friends, noted that many of her whimsical character drawings document girlhood, drawing from her experiences of navigating university, finding friends, taking pictures, getting flowers, having coffee and hanging out. 

“[Kai] started being more confident in her skills, in interacting with more people and having more experiences, to actually translate that to her art, where now she can reflect on every experience that she has and have … these characters have a story of their own and create stories of their own,” Yip said.

Through her artworks, Kai gives the audience a refreshing breath of air to slow down and taste the moment. 

“[Her art gives] connection to the audience. You don’t feel alone. You don’t feel like, ‘Oh, I’m the only one feeling lost or feeling kind of rebellious or feeling kind of girly,’” Yip said. “Her art gives a sense of comfort where you can enjoy a piece of toast, or you can enjoy what you’re eating and have a romantic kind of time in everyday life.”

That feeling of slowness, of presence, of finding “home” in people and places is in every corner of her work. For Kai, home isn’t just a city. It’s a collection of moments and people she found warmth with. And when life gets rocky, she believes we need to return to these values.

“When you’re looking for other things in life, it’s easy to forget what you already have. So it’s really just reminding yourself of the daily gratitude, to be grateful for things that are already in your life, and not necessarily look at what you lack,” Kai said. “There’s a point when self-improvement gets to a toxic level where you don’t recognize where you are … but I think it’s just a reminder to be okay with where you are in the present.”

Kai’s current developing concept is called “cookiedevilz,” a concept of the world she created that embodies feminine rage — a rebellious attitude of ambition and desire to be anything you want. This has first taken shape as a magazine where she featured her favorite places she’s visited, family and friends, an L.A. guide, a cookie recipe and sketches from her diary. She wants to continue to explore diverse opportunities and artistic mediums with this concept such as fashion or modeling.

As she prepares to leave USC and pursue graduate studies in sociology at the London School of Economics to learn about how art impacts the community, Kai is excited for what growth the new risks and new changes will bring her. She believes that art can and should exist in the spaces we live in. Not just in galleries, but in cafés, on napkins and in moments. Her dream is to continue using art as a way to uplift small communities, especially those often overlooked, and connect people through her artwork and a whole lot of heart.

“Art exists for a reason, whether that reason is you trying to find or figure out yourself. What I ultimately want to do is that I want to make sure that my art has a use and a place to exist,” Kai said. “It’s really important that as an artist, you have that community and that your art is impacting others, inspiring others, helping or serving a use in society that’s not just aesthetic.”

So if you’re in Little Tokyo this weekend, swing by Midori Matcha and take a peek through Kai’s looking glass. You might find a cherry-topped daydream, a pink-winged girl or just a reminder that joy still lives in small things like toast, friendship and taking the long way home. 

“Little Tea Party” is on display at Midori Matcha in Little Tokyo through May 4.