Dumpling Plus has entered plus-mode. The restaurant, known for its colorful soup dumplings, will open a second location in the former Chao Baan space at 4087 Chouteau in The Grove. (Chao Baan closed September 20, after seven years in business.)
The original Dumpling Plus location opened this summer at 6335 Delmar, in the former Blue Ocean space on the Delmar Loop. The Grove location will mark the concept’s first expansion.
Here’s what to expect when the brand’s sophomore restaurant opens in late November.
The Concept & Atmosphere
Dumpling Plus specializes in the cuisine of Jiangnan, a region in eastern China that includes Shanghai. The restaurant’s signature item is handmade xiaolongbao, delicate dumplings filled with meat and hot broth.
The atmosphere is expected to resemble the flagship location, where Shanghai’s Yuyuan Garden inspired a modern interior with backlit booths, illuminated Chinese folk art panels, and a palette of wood and neutral tones. Steamer basket lids decorate the area above a window where diners can watch dumplings being made by hand—details that put the restaurant’s specialty front and center.
The Menu
For a taste of the concept, look to the original location, where soup dumplings arrive in bamboo steamers with six fillings: pork, chicken, crab and pork, shrimp and pork, black truffle pork, and mala pork. The Lucky Six sampler offers one of each.
The flagship location’s menu also includes steamed and pan-fried dumplings, wonton soups, and such starters as cucumber salad, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, and wood ear mushroom salad.
Chef Yaya Wang, whose résumé includes the Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung, oversees the Loop kitchen. Additional menu details for The Grove location are forthcoming.
The Backstory
Owner Tony Liu and business partner Chin Zhang are part of the team behind a handful of Delmar Loop restaurants, including Zhanglala Beef Noodle (6316 Delmar), MOVOC Hot Pot (6329 Delmar), CHA i ENJOY (6331 Delmar), and Noodle Story (6315 Delmar), as well as Spicy Chef (8080 Olive) in University City. Under their tutelage and under construction are Pho Now (6665 Delmar) and Little Fish (6685 Delmar), where the tagline is “Pickled Mustard Fish & Hot Pot & Robot Kitchen.”
Liu, a native of Fujian, moved to St. Louis in 2013. Zhang grew up in Shanghai and came to the Midwest to study business management at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her restaurant experience includes more than a decade managing Mandarin House.
As Zhang explained when Spicy Chef opened, Liu’s travels in China frequently inspire his restaurant projects: He seeks out regional specialties while abroad and brings those ideas back to St. Louis. Dumpling Plus adds another expression of that approach—and, soon, another neighborhood to the team’s reach.
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