10 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 November 8–14, 2019
RETURNING TO CITI FIELD
THIS WINTER
theworldsfare.nyc
Enjoy 21st Shanghai Century Soup Dumplings
at Flushing’s Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao
Flushing Favorite Nan Xiang Reopens as 21st Century Soup Dumpling Parlor
For more than a decade the restaurant
named for the county in Shanghai where the
dumplings were invented was a favorite of
everyone from the Michelin Guide to celebrity
chef and TV personality Eddie Huang. An
open kitchen, where a crew of ladies delicately
folded the dumplings greeted customers,
many of whom were happy to wait on line to
savor some of the city’s best xiao long bao.
For a long while I took Nan Xiang Xiao Long
Bao for granted, preferring to frequent the
neighborhood’s food courts, where there was
less of a wait. And then last May the neighborhood
institution suddenly shut down leaving
both New York City’s foodies and local
diners devastated.
“Thirteen years ago I was a Nan Xiang
customer,” recalls local businessman Eddie
Zheng the man behind the restaurant’s rebirth.
“Every time I would eat two orders of
soup dumplings.”
Back then there were only two kinds of
soup dumplings: pork and pork and crab.
Zheng, who has gone from customer to owner
and general manager, and his team have added
four others—black truffle, Chinese squash,
chicken, and foie gras—to the xiao long bao
roster at the reborn Nan Xiang Xiao Long
Bao, which opened in One Fulton Square on
November 1. The luxurious dumplings are
available as part of “Lucky Six” set that sports
jewel toned wrappers. As at the restaurant’s
first incarnation you can watch your dumplings
being made at an open kitchen that sits
at the center of the 5,000-square-foot space.
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“We are so excited to re-open our door
to the public and to serve this neighborhood
again with a brand-new look,” said Zheng,
who personally designed the mountains and
trees that grace the restaurant’s lobby. “The
original team has dedicated to elevating the
menu and the service in the past few months,
and it’s finally the time for us to share it with
our customers. It’s the new era for this legendary
restaurant, and we are so proud to
carry the legacy.”
Part of that new era includes the swanky
spacious dining room decorated by a gigantic
red lantern and plates with the restaurant’s
name in Chinese. Many of the old favorites,
including flaky turnip puffs and crisp multilayered
scallion pancakes can still be found
on the menu, along with traditional Shanghai
style fried rice cakes. I particularly enjoyed
Shanghai pan fried noodles, thick strands
with a slight char from masterful wok cookery.
Shot through with shredded pork, bok
choy, and house special sauce they are a great
accompaniment to the deluxe dumplings. I
also really loved an appetizer of four happiness
sponge tofu, comforting blocks of wheat
gluten and wood ear mushrooms served cold
in a sweet sauce.
“The re-opening of Nan Xiang Xiao Long
Bao means so much to this community,” said
Helen Lee, Executive Vice President of F&T
Group, who brokered the deal for the newly
reborn restaurant. “We are proud to work
with Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao to bring back
this local favorite restaurant and to continue
the culture and vibe our neighborhood.”
With space for more than 100 hungry xiao
long bao enthusiasts there’s unlikely to be a
wait either, and the restaurant will be open
until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
“When the old Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao
closed, many of us feared the special atmosphere
we all felt dining there would disappear
forever—even if a new restaurant opened
up again with the same name and menu,” says
John Choe, Executive director of the Greater
Flushing Chamber of Commerce. “However,
the opening of a revived Nan Xiang on Prince
and 38th is proving us wrong with the reintroduction
of their signature soup dumplings
and scallion pancakes as well as hungry fans
flocking from around the city, crowding the
lobby, glad to be out of the cold, patiently
waiting for their small piece of heaven.”
39-16 Prince Street, #104
7 1 8.3 2 1.3 8 3 8
https://nanxiangxiaolongbao.com/
BY JOE DISTEFANO
As the Culinary King of Queens, I’m so
very fortunate to live in the most diverse
and delicious destination in all of New
York City. Really I’m not royalty though,
I’m an ambassador, and a hungry
one at that. Today, we take a trip to
Shanghai, China, via the International
Express—aka the 7 train—to savor
xiao long bao and more at the recently
reopened Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao,
widely regarded as one of the best places
for the juicy soup filled dumplings in all
of New York City.
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