Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
David Dresner loved Asian dumplings so much, he’d buy a bag from Chin’s Chop Suey on his way home from grade school and eat the whole thing. It’s no surprise, then, that the local entrepreneur has founded Crispy Edge, a company that aims to sell potstickers in the U.S. and beyond. His Crispy Edge restaurant is hosting an extended pop-up in January and plans to open at 4168 Juniata in March.
How did this whole potsticker thing get started? I had a grandfather who loved food, cooking, and traveling. My grandparents took me with them when they could. In Asian households, we saw that making dumplings is a family thing, and soon he and I were making dumplings. I inherited a huge imagination from my dad, which led to creating countless varieties of potstickers.
Why the obsession? Dumplings were originally peasant food that used whatever ingredients were available. In Chinese restaurants in this country, there’s no indication where the meat or filling comes from. As I got into my mid-20s, I wanted to know what I was eating, and there was no way to do that. So I set out to upgrade all of the ingredients. I wanted to make the perfect dumpling. Take the ordinary, and make it extraordinary.
What motivates you? I ask myself, "What would it take to make this happen?" In the case of potstickers, what’s the best way to caramelize the edge? Can I automate the process? What will produce maximum appeal for the product? I also believe in kaizen, a management philosophy for continuous improvement, in quality and efficiency, throughout the products and the company.
How important is Instagram in the food business? It changes perceptions, wants, and needs—instantly. In the case of food, you can judge a book by the cover.
How important is the dough? It’s 40 percent of the potsticker. That’s why I wanted all of the doughs to complement the fillings, using seeds and spices and textures to make them more visually appealing.
What’s the best way to eat a potsticker? In my opinion, with your hands. Touching food with your hands creates a trust. It builds a relationship. You can discern the texture and see if it’s too hot or too cold.
What’s on the menu, simple to complex? The traditional pork potsticker gets wrapped and skewered into chile garlic mini bok choy. There’s a Buffalo chicken pot sticker, made with ranch dough, organic chicken filling, celery, and ranch sauce with sesame seeds. One with turmeric dough with chorizo date filling and lemon pepper crema. And a Sweet Sticker with allspice dough, pumpkin pie filling, roasted pecans, and a bourbon caramel sauce.
What else is on the menu? You can only eat so many potstickers... The menu is potsticker-centric, so there are sides like tabbouleh, wasabi cucumber salad, and shiitake coleslaw. Soups come with a potsticker kabob.
Do you use non-stick skillets? I’m a machine and automation guy. They’re called potstickers because they stick to the pot, so don’t fight it by using a non-stick pan. Teflon has its place. Potstickers isn’t it.
Before Crispy Edge, you already had one foot in the food-service business. Right after business school and inspired by what was inside a fortune cookie, I started printing messages on cardboard coffee sleeves. Just like the Snapple bottle or a popsicle stick or a bubble gum wrapper, people look forward to that message. My goal with Sleeve a Message was to make the message as fresh as what was in the cup.
How big is Sleeve a Message? We have more than 4,500 active clients, big and small, in all 50 states. We’ll print 40 million sleeves in 2017.
How do coffee sleeves translate to the potsticker business? It taught me to be a businessman. Sleeve a Message is a manufacturer, so that part crosses over, except that Crispy Edge is a USDA-regulated factory, with a 48-page standard operating procedure on how to make one potsticker.
Why potstickers? Why not just do pizza or burgers—something universally appealing? Because potsticker lovers are everywhere. I know because they’ve been e-contacting me from all over the country, asking about our progress. They’re a favorite appetizer in Asian restaurants, the niche is new, and it’s underserved.
Potstickers are popular everywhere. Why launch Crispy Edge in St. Louis? St. Louis is a prime, prime, prime place to manufacture something. I can get a meeting with anyone because of the small-town feel. Among all this high-tech innovation, let’s not forget that we made things here and we were good at it. I’m a Chicagoan who moved to St. Louis and could have started this anywhere. I’m here because I want to be here.
What do you say to people who take issue with someone representing something that originated in cultures other than their own? I think it’s a ridiculous argument. Somebody invented the wheel and somebody else expanded upon it. We observe and learn from other people’s cultures. The country is a melting pot, so let it melt. The whole category of culinary fusion is based on it.
Do you have a chef who does the research and development? It’s a fusion effort. My chef is Tori Foster, a Johnson & Wales grad with a master's in nutrition from Saint Louis University. We collaborate on recipes, and she upgrades my ideas. Born in Hawaii, she’s 24, plays the ukulele, she’s a soccer star and a superstar chef in the making.
So it’s way more than a restaurant. I bought the building as a real-estate venture that could act as both a manufacturing facility and a restaurant. Part of the building is leased, which helps both businesses. I also bought another building on Jefferson Avenue, for when we need more manufacturing space. Acquiring the real estate is a tricky part of any business, so it’s now one less thing I have to worry about. The tools are in place to expand, to mass produce our vision.
Why is the interior at Crispy Edge so dark? Since potstickers tend to be a neutral color, to draw attention to the plate, the walls needed to be as dark as possible. We painted them a dark purple, a color called Virtuoso. The lighting was as soft and complementary to the plate as we could make it.
Why a residential area? Why not choose a main thoroughfare or even a block over, on Morganford? The building was perfect from a business standpoint ,and the neighborhood cried for high-quality coffee and high-quality food. St. Louis businesses used to be in corner shops, on corners, not in districts, and it’s getting back to that. So I’m OK not being on the main drag—and having parking.
Talk about the beverage program. What beverages pair best with potstickers? We have a full liquor license—believe me, I know, I knocked on all the neighborhood doors to get signatures—so there are no limitations. A more fatty potsticker pairs well with a tannic wine; the chorizo date with a robust Rioja; the bourbon pumpkin is perfect with a dark beer or a chocolaty, low-acid coffee. We built a cocktail menu for pairing as well.
What is the vision, long term? I want to provide gourmet, wholesome, globally inspired potstickers to all the people throughout all the lands, U.S. and international. Some of the potstickers we eat here are shipped in from abroad, and who knows what the regulatory body is or if there is one at all? People need to appreciate places like the USDA and the MDA [Missouri Department of Agriculture], which follows USDA practices. We get inspected every single day, sometimes for a few minutes, other times for hours. Or they can come and go.
Your tagline is “Global Potstickers.” Explain. I eat all over the world and am constantly inspired by amazing foods and flavor combinations. And if you consider the different components—dough, filling, edge, sauce, and ancillary pairing—potstickers are the perfect vehicle to experience them.
Why not crisp up all sides of a potsticker? Mine have a crispy golden shell, a light fry, and a just cooked noodle, so you get to explore all three textures. Deep-frying or crisping up the whole thing defeats all that. It totally eviscerates the dough.
Is there such a thing as a breakfast potsticker? How about a frittata potsticker with a parsley dough, roasted vegetables and Gruyere cheese, breaded with parmesan potato pearls, which is part of an entire breakfast line? If you think about it, a hand-held potsticker is the perfect on-the-go breakfast item.
You’ve been making potstickers for years, yet you chose to open Crispy Edge slowly and deliberately. Why? I have the luxury of being able to move cautiously, make corrective changes, and slowly gear up. We are lucky to be in that position. When we finally open, we have to be ready. You can’t afford not to be.
Why add the restaurant component at all? Wouldn’t wholesale and booking private parties be more cost-efficient? Besides being a part of the neighborhood, the restaurant is a marketing tool, another way to enjoy what we do. It’s a minor part to the vision from a dollar standpoint but a very important one. And we hope to do more of them, to spread the word, expand the brand.
Crispy Edge also has a wholesale and retail component. We’re developing a line of fully cooked, non-shelf-stable frozen potstickers, which can be thawed and cooked or held in the refrigerator for a few days. And I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum, but I’m also working on a crispy, microwaveable version, inspired by the tinfoil Hot Pocket.
Which will come first: retail, wholesale, or restaurant? It’s a three-way race. They’re all chasing each other. Time will tell.
